Angels’ Sean Burnett takes ‘positive step’ in return from elbow injury

TEMPE, Ariz. -- It wasn’t exactly a “full-gorilla” bullpen workout, as Angels Manager Mike Scioscia likes to say, but Sean Burnett threw 30 pitches off the slope of a mound on Sunday, a workout the left-hander said “was a positive step in the right direction.”

Burnett was limited by elbow injuries to 13 appearances in 2013 and underwent season-ending surgery to repair a small tear in his elbow in August. With so many powerful left-handed bats in the American League West, a healthy Burnett would be a huge boost to the Angels bullpen.

“It was a good bullpen considering it had been about seven months since I threw off a mound,” Burnett said. “I had some fatigue at the end, but the big thing is coming in today and feeling pretty good. I played catch for half an hour and feel loose, nothing constricting. Everything was positive.”

Scioscia said he expects Burnett to progress to a true mound workout, in which he throws from the rubber, within the next week. It’s doubtful Burnett will be ready by the March 31 season opener, but he could be ready in early April.

“I don’t make the decision -- my job is to get ready and try to make it a tough decision for them,” Burnett said. “At the same time, I’m going to be conservative enough to know that it’s my body. I don’t want to push it too much. But I did push it bit [Sunday] and got good results.”

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