Rehabbing Doolittle throws for Nationals, with simulation game the next step

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 13, 2018 file photo, Washington Nationals relief pitcher Sean Doolittle delivers to the New York Yankees during the ninth inning of a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York. Sean Doolittle was just ...PHILADELPHIA | Sean Doolittle moved back and forth, catching a five-foot wooden stick as one end dropped slowly towards the carpet while he worked out in the air-conditioned Nationals clubhouse.

“Act like a tennis player,” said a member of the Nationals’ medical staff, giving pointers to the lefty pitcher before Monday’s game.

Doolittle, who was working on the agility of his feet while roaming the baseline, continues to make progress as he tries to return from…