Dodgers’ Zack Greinke to pitch in minor league game on Friday

Less than four weeks removed from shoulder surgery, Zack Greinke is scheduled to pitch in a minor league game.

Greinke is expected to start on Friday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga when the Quakes play at Lake Elsinore.

The start would line up Greinke to return to the Dodgers’ rotation on Wednesday, when they host the Washington Nationals in the final game of their current nine-game homestand.

Greinke fractured the collarbone on his non-throwing, left-shoulder on April 11, when Carlos Quentin of the San Diego Padres charged him on the mound. When Greinke underwent surgery two days later, the Dodgers initially said they expected him to be sidelined for eight weeks.

Because Greinke resumed throwing soon after the operation, he didn’t lose much arm strength. He has already thrown three bullpen sessions, touching 90 mph with his fastball.

With Greinke throwing 60 pitches in his last bullpen session, he figures to throw about 75 pitches on Friday.

“I don’t know how I’d be throwing over 100 pitches, but throwing 50 to 75 should be pretty easy at this point,” he said after his bullpen session on Tuesday. “I’ve just got to get consistency and be able to get hitters out. That’s what I’m working on in the bullpen, making good pitches. You take some time off, you’re a little rusty.”