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Nick Kingham Making Progress in His Rehab, Starting For Altoona on Monday

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ALTOONA, PA – After two starts for High-A Bradenton, Nick Kingham has been promoted to Double-A Altoona, and he will get the ball on Monday for the Curve.

Working his way back from Tommy John surgery in May 2015, Kingham made six starts for the GCL Pirates beginning on July 8th. He worked his way up to five innings on July 25th before tweaking something in his back and taking about a week off.

“I did something to my back when I was pitching my first five inning game,” Kingham said. “We were just playing it safe and giving full rest to be sure it was nothing crazy.”

He returned to pitch three innings on August 6th then five on August 12th before being promoted to Bradenton. In Bradenton, Kingham pitched five innings in his first outing, followed by six innings in his next, both of which were shutouts.

I spoke with the Pirates Director of Minor League Operations Larry Broadway, and he said that Kingham will make at least two starts for the Curve with the first having a six inning limit.

Broadway explained that the organization does not increase both the level and workload at the same time. After throwing five innings in his last GCL Pirates start, he moved up to Bradenton and had a five inning limit. After pitching six innings his last time out for Bradenton, he will be on a six inning limit for Altoona on Monday.

Kingham may also be available to pitch in the Eastern League playoffs for the Curve if they qualify.

“I think our expectation is that he will make two starts here then get to the end of the season,” Broadway said. “With the potential for these guys to make the playoffs, being able to get even another start under his belt [after the two] is what we are hoping for.”

While Kingham was pitching for the GCL Pirates, he told our own Tim Williams that he would be limited to five innings this season; however, that plan had obviously changed. When I asked Kingham when and why his workload was changed, he said that he had no idea where that came from.

“I can’t tell you; I don’t know,” Kingham responded when asked about his workload change. “I went on a six-day rotation [in Bradenton], and they had me scheduled for six innings that second game. I don’t know where that came from. That was news to me two days before my start, and that’s when I heard about it. Whatever they want me to do, I’ll go out and throw until they tell me not to.”

When asked how he is feeling and where he is at in his rehab, Kingham expressed that he feels he is “towards the end” of his road to recovery.

“I pretty much have a full bill of health, as I get back to pitch at higher levels now,” Kingham said. “Feeling-wise and health-wise, I feel like I’m pretty good. It’s just getting repetitions in against live hitters at higher levels, and that’s basically where I’m at. I’m feeling pretty good with everything right now.”

Kingham went on to say that he is extremely happy with how all three of his pitches are progressing after the surgery. He has been able to locate his fastball well, and he said that his change-up and breaking ball have been consistent.

“They came back well without much trouble to get a feel for them,” Kingham said. “Luckily, everything came back good without much difficulty.”

Typically, he would have somewhere around a 90 pitch limit in those six innings on Monday. The way that Broadway was explaining, it seems like they could possibly let him go further in his second Double-A start if all goes well.

As for all of his friends that have made their MLB debuts this summer, Kingham is excited about the possibilities of joining them in the future Pirates’ rotation.

“I’m seeing them do it right now, and they are getting it started,” Kingham said about the likes of Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl. “I hope I’m fortunate enough to make it up there to make an impact for the club. I’d want nothing more than to continue playing with them at that level.”

As Jameson Taillon has a 1.93 ERA in four starts this month, and Chad Kuhl has a 2.37 ERA in five starts, Kingham is excited to get his name back in the fold of players to make an impact for the Pirates in the near future.

“We compete well against each other, and we make each other better,” Kingham said, referencing Steven Brault as well as Taillon and Kuhl. “One guy will go out and pitch really well, so another will want to go out and pitch even better. We feed off of each other’s successes. It will be fun to be together and hopefully win ball games.”

Altoona has yet to activate Kingham, and they will have to make a corresponding move to make room for Kingham on their roster.

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