Philadelphia Phillies Cliff Lee – DL- Playing it Safe ?

When Cliff Lee woke up on the morning following his 10 innings of work against the San Francisco Giants, he felt some soreness on his left side. after trying to play some catch on Friday the soreness was still a factor. Saturday morning the Phillies placed All-Star pitcher Cliff Lee on the 15 day DL. No one is going to say how serious an issue this is, but abdominal muscle issues are serious for pitchers.

To his credit, leave things you only miss a few starts and could be activated May 4.  He acknowledged that the team erred on the side of caution and played it safe. We agreed with that philosophy.

Cliff Lee has made trips to the disabled list three times with abdominal problems in his 11 year career.  “We’re being very cautious with this,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “There’s no reason for him to kind of completely blow it out because it’s an injury that if he hurts himself and really pulls it, we could lose him for a long time. We’ll shut him down, get him right and hopefully he’ll miss only a couple of starts and go from there.”

Losing a pitcher the caliber of Cliff Lee would hurt any team. Provided he comes back in early May the filly should be able to absorb the loss.

Pitching Notes: Several pitchers landed on the 15-day DL Saturday: Cubs right-hander Ryan Dempster (strained right quadriceps; Chicago will recall right-hander Randy Wells from Triple-A Iowa to start Sunday); Diamondbacks right-hander Daniel Hudson (shoulder impingement); Royals right-handed reliever Greg Holland (left rib stress reaction); and Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos (right shoulder inflammation)The Yankees shut down right-handed pitcher Michael Pineda after he felt weakness in his shoulder during an extended spring training game.