BOSTON _ Texas Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels said that he will continue to play catch for up to another week before ratcheting up his throwing program and getting back on a mound.
Hamels threw Wednesday for a second consecutive day after feeling no side effects from throwing Tuesday for the first time in three weeks. He will also increase his workouts and have his strained right oblique examined next week.
"Just the initial plan was it takes three weeks to heal and build back up, and then just stretching it back out," Hamels said. "I'm not starting at the bottom, but I think I'm pretty close. I think I can accelerate quickly, but I want to be safe. I don't want to have to think about it."
Despite Hamels' progress, he still isn't likely to return until early July. Tyson Ross, though, could be back by next weekend.
The right-hander will work six innings Monday for Triple-A Round Rock at Omaha in what should be his final rehab start. He allowed only two hits and a walk over 73 pitches in five scoreless innings Tuesday at Round Rock.
Ross (back) will just be fine-tuning and continuing to build up his pitch count.
"I've got to believe there's an element of just making sure there are no setbacks," Banister said.
Outfielder Carlos Gomez is making nice progress on his strained right hamstring. General manager Jon Daniels said that Gomez is running at 60 percent in addition to throwing and hitting in the cage.
Gomez, injured May 14, is expected to be out four to six weeks.
