Valdes’ Recovery Taking Longer Than Expected

Pitcher Ismael Valdes isn’t recovering quickly from his strained stomach muscle, and he isn’t expected to be activated Tuesday when he’s eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list.

“It doesn’t look good right now for Tuesday,” Manager Glenn Hoffman said.

“He’s thrown a little bit but not off the mound.

“We’re being real cautious with him, and we’re just going to have to wait for him to come around. The good thing is that all the other guys--guys like [Dave] Mlicki and [Brian] Bohanon--have really picked us up.”

The situation has been frustrating for Valdes.

He was pitching well when he suffered the injury, winning his previous three starts to improve to 9-9 with a 3.92 earned-run average.

And then he was sidelined on July 27.

“I never thought it would be this long,” said Valdes, who has sat out the last 13 games. “The pain is still there and it hasn’t really improved a lot.

“I want to be out there with my team, but this is something that’s out of my control. I just don’t know [when he’ll return].”