Doolittle simulated game Friday, Hellickson bullpen tomorrow

PHILADELPHIA - Left-hander Sean Doolittle threw in the bullpen again today as the closer recovers from a toe injury, and the session went "really well," according to his skipper.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez says Doolittle will now take a big step to returning to the active roster later this week.

"Sim game," Martinez said. "We will do a sim game on Friday. He's progressively getting better, feels better. The ball is coming out pretty good now. So, get him to face some hitters, and then we will go from there."

Doolittle has been out since July 7 with the left toe inflammation, a span of 45 games. He has a 3-2 record with a 1.45 ERA and 22 saves in 35 appearances.

Martinez does not believe that Doolittle has had to alter his mechanics to put less pressure on the toe.

"The last time I saw him throw his bullpen he looked pretty normal," Martinez said. "Towards the end he started getting a little ... and I thought it was just fatigue. But today he threw the ball really well, so like I said, we'll have a sim game on Friday and we'll go from there."

But Martinez said the pain from the toe problem likely won't completely go away until after the season is completed. So the skipper believes that Doolittle will have to gut it out as the Nats race toward the finish line.

"I think the pain is going to be there the rest of the year, I really do," Martinez said. "But it's manageable. And he says he feels a lot better than he has the last few days. Hopefully, it's just going to go away."

Akin to not having Daniel Murphy or Adam Eaton at the beginning of the year and Stephen Strasburg absent for a long period of time, not having Doolittle available to close for almost two months has adversely affected the Nats' chances to win the division.

"Yeah, he's one of the best. Knowing that you have him to close in the ninth inning is awesome. He's definitely missed."

* Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, on the disabled list with a right wrist sprain since Aug. 16, confirmed he will throw a significant bullpen session tomorrow here in Philadelphia.

"Breaking ball has felt OK, just throwing some slow ones," Hellickson said. "Last three or four days have been fine. Played some long toss and getting a little velocity on it. It's feeling good. Throwing a bullpen tomorrow and see how that goes and go from there."

"I'll probably try to get a good amount in tomorrow because I haven't been on the mound in probably 10 days or so. I'll probably throw a lot of fastballs. I'll try to probably get up to 50, 60 pitches.

"I haven't thrown any hard curveballs or cutters or anything like that yet. Feels fine coming out of my hand. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. That's really all I can do."

Hellickson's goal is to return and start, but he wants to make sure he feels much better before doing so.

"I definitely want to get at least four or five more (starts). But at the same time, if I don't feel 100 percent, I'm not going to go out there if I can't throw, probably, my best pitch. It's not really worth it."

Hellickson will throw Wednesday and then see how his wrist feels when the club returns to D.C. Thursday and Friday.