Hughes cleared to begin playing catch

Via Meredith Marakovits: Phil Hughes has been cleared to play catch as he works his way back from the bulging disk that has sidelined him for a little less than two weeks. Yesterday we heard he could start throwing this weekend if his workouts went well, and apparently they have. Hughes told George King that as long as he’s able to get into Spring Training games by March 14th, he’ll be good to go for the regular season. Good news obviously, but the right-hander isn’t out of the woods just yet.