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Hernandez (forearm) threw a strong 38-pitch bullpen session Friday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. "Oh man, I was excited," pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said, after watching Hernandez's bullpen outing. "He had life on everything and was pain free. I told him at the end he needed to assimilate a hitter and he turned the dial up a little bit. Outstanding. I'm convinced he's ready to go into a game."

It was the perfect set-up for Hernandez's scheduled multi-inning minor-league outing Monday against the Padres and marked his second time pitching off a mound during his current rehabilitation. King Felix has been setback-free during and after each of his sessions dating back to when he was throwing off flat ground, and his ability to ramp up the intensity Friday clearly made an impression on his pitching coach. If all goes well Monday, Hernandez projects to have time for one Cactus League start before Opening Day, but manager Scott Servais has gone on record that the 31-year-old right-hander will need to be capable of throwing 70 or more pitches to be considered regular-season-ready.

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