Ted Lilly to throw bullpen Friday, but status remains unclear

Ted Lilly is back with the Dodgers in San Diego as they finish their three-game series with the Padres, one night after his minor league rehab start with Triple-A Albuquerque. Lilly pitched six innings and allowed five runs on Wednesday, and his next course of action hasn't yet been determined.

Most importantly Lilly, who was placed on the disabled list retroactive to Mar. 28 technically as recovering from left shoulder labrum surgery, is healthy.

"From Teddy's standpoint, he felt good. That was really the main thing when I talked to him today. I saw the numbers but it was more how he felt. He said he felt better than the time before. He felt like the ball was coming out better," manager Don Mattingly said. "I know Rick (Honeycutt, pitching coach) looked at the tape and felt like there were a lot more quality pitches in that game, so he's obviously going in the right direction."

Lilly will throw a bullpen session on Friday when the Dodgers are in Phoenix. After that, the options are to have Lilly make another minor league rehab start, which would likely be Monday; activate Lilly and put him in the bullpen, which would likely mean optioning Paco Rodriguez (less likely) or designating Matt Guerrier for assignment (more likely); or designate Lilly for assignment, which likely means eating most if not all of his $12 million salary.

Mattingly was noncommittal beyond Friday's bullpen session.

"We haven't made any decisions at this point. The one decision that we've made is that he'll throw a bullpen tomorrow," Mattingly said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now he's going to throw a pen tomorrow, and we'll see where we go from there."

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: Prime Ticket (no shenanigans)

MLB Gameday