I dropped an email to the A's today just to check in on Justin Duchscherer.  I hadn't heard much about Duke and what his progress had been.  I heard this:

Justin was cleared to begin a conditioning program tomorrow and could be throwing soon. There's no time frame for that yet though.

The A's need their one proven pitcher back.  Yes, the starting pitching hasn't been the only issue, but getting Duke back and pitching for the team should be a huge help and it would have the bonus effect of taking someone who shouldn't necessarily be in the rotation out of it.  Ahem, Mr. Eveland.

Any way, I just wanted to pass along that info since I hadn't seen it anywhere and was curious about the A's missing ace.