Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that the team envisions Mears (elbow) playing catch in the coming days, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.
Mears has been shut down for two weeks after he experienced right forearm tightness following a rehab start at Triple-A Indianapolis in June. However, the right-hander had his rehab transferred to the Pirates' alternate spring training facility in Florida and is close to resuming a throwing program. Once he's ultimately cleared to resume throwing, Mears will presumably need to build his workload back up following his shutdown.