Ashland native and former University of Kentucky right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb threw to batters for the first time in almost 17 months over the weekend. Check out a video from Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic of the simulated game above and links from the aftermath of the session below:

• Piecoro recaps the simulated game for the Republic, writing “Webb’s smile made clear how he felt, and both he and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. spoke with high degrees of confidence that the light at the end of the rehab tunnel was within sight.”
• Piecoro included quotes from Webb and Stottlemyre in a post on his blog.
• Diamondbacks interim manager Kirk Gibson told Piecoro he hopes to get Webb back in time to pitch in some games in September.
• You can see the second half of the simulated game here.
• Despite missing all of 2010 so far Webb will still look for a substantial contract for next season. Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors quotes Webb’s agent, Jonathan Maruer: “Webb loves Arizona and they will be considered highly, but Brandon WILL be looking at an incentive-based contract [with] a guaranteed base where [Brad] Penny and [Rich] Harden at $7.5MM, [Ben] Sheets at $10MM and [Tim] Hudson’s $9.33MM average annual value are all conversation starters.  Webb, when healthy, is one of the top pitchers in the game.”