Breaking news: Lee placed on DL with oblique strain

The Phillies have placed pitcher Cliff Lee on the disabled list with a left oblique strain, CSNPhilly.com reports. Lee, who pitched 10 shutout innings Wednesday in a loss to San Francisco, was scheduled to pitch Monday in Arizona. Kyle Kendrick will reportedly make the start instead. The Phillies also recalled lefty reliever Joe Savery from Triple A Lehigh Valley. Beerleaguer: Abdominal injuries are nothing new to Lee. Hopefully, this is a minor setback and he only misses a couple of turns, but obviously, losing one of their aces for any stretch puts the already scuffling Phils in a very tight spot. We're thankful for Kendrick, but still. Obliques can drag on for weeks. He could miss all of May. The Phils can't really afford that.

Comments

[NEPP]

Yeah...we're in trouble.

At least KK is a reliable 6th starter/swing guy.

[GBrettFan]

GBrettFan: Oh, no. The "pitiful offense" part was all me. But the injury info came courtesy of Gelb. But it does just about figure. How often has a team even needed a pitcher to go 10 because not only are they unable to score, but said pitcher is also a bigger hitting threat than anyone on the bench?

Posted by: GTown_Dave | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 08:11 PM

* *
GTown, I agree, although at least the opposing pitcher was Cain. Even when we're hitting well, he has the ability to shut down the offense. If we weren't proving every night that we're feeble as mice, I'd have chalked that loss up to two great pitchers - and some inept D by Wigginton.

[gobaystars!]

Strangest thing is that the pre-game show from the casino doesn't appear to know about it yet. Myabe they're caught up in producing the show and the news broke too late.

[Jack]

Can't wait for Phlipper to make a post on how this is no big deal and is probably a good thing.

[NEPP]

whats the recovery time for a strained oblique? Isnt it like 3-4 weeks for a pitcher?

[NEPP]

Sorry, make that 4-6 weeks.

[Fatalotti]

At least KK is a reliable 6th starter/swing guy.

Posted by: NEPP | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 08:17 PM

Yeah, in a general baseball sense, for sure.

Except that the Phillies are ridiculously top-heavy, and when of those 4-5 players goes down with an injury, you're in big trouble.

The oblique injury to a pitcher is generally not something that goes away quickly. It lingered forever with Becket, Happ dealt with it for a while. This is NOT good news.

If Lee is out for a couple months, our chances of winning the division become slim.

[NEPP]

I pretty much agree, Fat.

KK would be fine if we had any offense at all. I could see him giving us 6 IP and 3-4 ER a lot of times and taking the loss. Chris Perez had the same exact injury in ST and missed a full month.

[Ryne Duren]

UH OOOOOOOOOH!

[GTown_Dave]

Halladay, Hamels, Blanton & Worley have all started at least one game in which the Phillies scored 3 Runs or more.

The Phillies have scored a TOTAL of 3 Runs in Cliff Lee's 3 starts.

[Unikruk]

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[Jack]

Pretty much a typical Phillies inning there.

[bay_area_phan]

I was going to write my obligatory first-inning post that, "This feels like a loss." But, by the time I got to the word "feels," the inning was already over.

[GTown_Dave]

6 Pitches. Not small ball.

[GTown_Dave]

Plate discipline.

[Fatalotti]

Phillip Humber pitched a perfect game.

Phillip Humber is on my fantasy baseball team.

Phillip Humber is on my bench.

I hate fantasy sports.

[bay_area_phan]

At his current pace, Luebke won't hit the 100-pitch mark until the 13th inning.

[GTown_Dave]

b_a_p: Yeah, but then he'll strain an oblique muscle. Joke's on you, Luebke!

[limoguy]

I guess Lee strained his oblique n the 10th inning of his last start. Otherwise, Cholly would have sent him out to pitch the 11th.

[Let's eat]

20 20 hindsight -- you kind of wonder what was lee or manual thinking by putting him out there in the 10th inning.

[curt]

Doc's currently working his way carefully through a string of 6 straight guys hitting at or below the Mendoza line.

[GTown_Dave]

In all fairness, it's just bad luck. Lee only threw 102 Pitches all night, which is hardly a ridiculous number.

[3r0ck]

Doc is throwing quite a few balls ....

[Fatalotti]

let's eat, he hadn't thrown more than 13 pitches in any one inning all night. Pitch counts are semi-important, but the real killer is long inning (kind of like what Doc is doing right now). Lee didn't get a strain from being overused that night. It was probably a freak thing, or something that was bothering him beforehand and was bound to rear its head eventually.

[bay_area_phan]

Well, this is one ugly inning.

[Fatalotti]

Kind of reminds me of that weird game last year against the Cardinals where Lee walked 6 guys on the night.

Let's hope there's not something bothering Doc physically.

Also, what a play by Galvis.

[curt]

Somehow this is all Schneider's fault.

[GTown_Dave]

I think we all know this is entirely Schneider's fault.

Also, Freddy Galvis is friggin' awesome.

[limoguy]

Human highlight reel.

[MG]

Ugh. Looking forward to seeing Lee start next Sunday. He's gone until at least Memorial Day I imagine.

Question of whether this team can grind though. Hope that they don't take on too much water & stink in the interim before June.

[NEPP]

Game over.

[bay_area_phan]

That was a great play in an otherwise vomit-inducing inning.

[GTown_Dave]

Halladay: 2 IP, 40 Pitches, a very un-Doc-like 22 Strikes & 18 Balls.

[Fatalotti]

For anyone who is a fan of the "unwritten rules" that you don't steal bases when you're up big, and other such ridiculous rules, I present to you today's Sox/Yankees game.

Up 9-0, and the Yankees scored 15 unanswered.

I don't care what your lead is. You keep trying to score runs by any means necessary, and if the incredibly overpaid athletes on the other side of the field don't like, screw them.

[GTown_Dave]

I don't like the Red Sox or Muppet Valentine, so this afternoon's game was very satisfying for me.

[awh]

We need to think of a nickname for Freddy.

[curt]

Problem here is that a single by pierre won't score Schneider.

[cut_fastball]

Kyle Kendrick is 38 - 27 with a 4.50 ERA as a starter. For those scoring at home, in the starter's role, he's won 11 times more that he's lost. How does that make him a "sixth" anything, let alone a "sixth" starting pitcher?

[MG]

Might be a record for Red Sox friends I have on giving up on a season after today.

On pace for their worst start since '96 when they started 6-19 (made a run in the 2nd half but still ended up only at 85-77)

[awh]

Fatti, I agree.

[3r0ck]

Anyone else bothered by Pierre wearing his hat under his helmet?

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

I thought Pierre wasn't supposed to ever strike out....

[MG]

Yanks-Sox game today was only 3:52. Actually kind of a fast pace considering how that game unfolded. Been to a few 4+ hours slugfest/death crawls games between those 2 teams at Fenway.

[Andrew]

Galvis is the man.

[NEPP]

Galvis can pick it.

[Unikruk]

I do believe Cliff Lee just deleted a tweet he made during the game.

[lets eat]

our record may not be as bad as boston;
but (hope i am wrong) but will we even make the playoffs?

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

Rube, get on the freakin' phone and arrange an in-game trade for Headley (NOT Hedy) already!

[lets eat]

the way he's pitchin...

is doc hurt?

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

Game over.

[bay_area_phan]

At 1-0, there was still a chance. At 2-0, it's over.

[NEPP]

Doc picked one hell of a night to have one of his 5 sh!t starts of the year.

[Mick O]

Boston needs a closer bad. I wonder if they'd be interested in Papelbon

[bay_area_phan]

Even though Hundley is slow, I'm still quite surprised he didn't try to test Pierre's arm. He very likely would have made it.

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

Next inning prediction: Ground-out by Polanco, pop-up by J-Roll, line-out by Pence. Overs/unders?

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

Yay, I'm wrong.

[Allan Thornburg (AT), Chairman of the Bury Charlie Manuel Under the Bleachers Committee]

Beerleaguer reverse jinx! Now I pronounce that Pence will strike out.

[bay_area_phan]

Rollins tried so damn hard to hit into a killer DP, and Bartlett had to go and take it away from him.

[bay_area_phan]

Speaking of Rollins . . . is it me or does it feel like it has been about 2 weeks since he had a hit?

[GBrettFan]

Salisbury tweeted that according to Elias Sports Bureau, that was the first time Halladay ever walked 3 in a row.

[lets eat]

does pence need glasses????

[Fatalotti]

Pence, professional hacker.

[THe Incarcerated Dude]

Anyone notice that Doc has not thrown a pitch over 89mph tonight? And he looked really pissed off in the 1st inning.

[GBrettFan]

We really stink.

[Phillies Dude]

The news about Cliff Lee is quickly spreading all around. I'm getting texted from all over. That totally sucks. We need his artistry and we need his competetiveness. And only 15 days for an oblique? Yeah right - this could affect his pitching for quite a while. Damn!!!!!

[lets eat]

lets help the padres pitcher...shane

1st and 2nd -- no outs

1st and 2nd 2 outs

[NEPP]

Vic and Pence really need to come through there.

Brutal.

Doc is fine, his velocity is the same as its been all year. He's just having one of his off days.

[bay_area_phan]

"And only 15 days for an oblique? Yeah right."

Going on the 15-day DL does not, in any way, shape, or form, suggest that you're only going to be out 15 days.

[wes covington's ghost]

didn't clay condry have an oblique strain for about 2 months when he was with the phils?

[Fatalotti]

Going on the 15-day DL does not, in any way, shape, or form, suggest that you're only going to be out 15 days.

Posted by: bay_area_phan | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 09:29 PM

Yeah, should they have put him on the 60 day DL? Even if he'll be out 40 days, the 15 day DL is the way to go.

[lets eat]

bases loaded -- the heart of order u

[bay_area_phan]

Galvis is not exactly the guy I want at the plate right now. But maybe he'll surprise me.

[Allan Thornburg (AT), who's about to head out to the bar]

C'mon, Freddie, try for your first career grand slam here...

[NEPP]

FRED-DY
FRED-DY

[NEPP]

I'd rather have Galvis up here than Jimmy or Polly.

[MG]

Oblique strain are a horrible injury for a pitcher to get and can be reinjured.

[GBrettFan]

Another instance of 2 on , 0 out that results in zip, zilch, nada.

[Fatalotti]

Can of corn.

[MG]

This lineup is terrible.

[lets eat]

its going to be a lonnnnng year

[Ray of Sunshine]

Although they didn't score... It did sort of seem like they COULD possibly score.

[lets eat]

anyone in LV or Reading that could help us??
other than Ryne Sandberg>

[Fatalotti]

I have no doubt that Galvis could play 3rd base.

[lets eat]

Is the possibility of scoring = a moral victory?

[NEPP]

Galvis definitely has the arm for 3B...of course, he's a natural SS so that's where he'll play if/when he becomes a true regular. Jimmy ALSO has the arm for 3B thankfully.

[Fatalotti]

I think the Phillies lead the league in "Could possibly scores"

[pb]

Can Charlie please move Galvis up to 2 and Polly down to 8

[Raul's grandpa]

Things are looking o-blique.

Why the hell can't these guys move anybody over?

[Fatalotti]

I'm so glad they re-signed Schneider.

Just a quality move.

[bay_area_phan]

"This lineup is terrible."

That pretty much sums it up. 3 guys in the lineup who are lucky to have big league jobs; a 1st baseman who wouldn't be starting on any other team in the majors; a 3rd baseman and No. 2 hitter who'd be a utility infielder on most teams; and a No. 3 hitter who hasn't had a league average OPS since 2008. There's nothing flukey about the fact that we're scoring 2 runs a game.

[lets eat]

Can we move Schneider to the curb for trash day?

[Joe Cowley's 15.43 Career ERA with Phils]

is it possible that over the next few years we will be seeing a rebirth of the horrible Phils teams from the mid 80's to late 90's?

Oh yeah and those teams could actually score 2+ runs a game

[lets eat]

doc hit the ball better than pierre

[bay_area_phan]

Playing Galvis at 3rd would be a massive waste of his defensive abilities. With Rollins' range being nowhere remotely close to what it used to be, the logical move for 2013 would be to put Galvis at SS & move Rollins to 3rd -- thereby continuing the Phillies' rich, decade-long tradition of getting inept offense out of the 3rd base position.

[DH Phils]

McCarthy and Matthews both talking about the silly idea that pitchers pitch worse when the offense is bad, because of pressure or perfectionism or something.

1) How could you possibly draw that conclusion from this Phillies season when the Phillies are on pace to have the worst lineup in history and the best pitching staff in history?

2) If that was true, wouldn't the same logic imply that the Phillies offense would "relax" and "play loose" or something, knowing they only need a few runs? Clearly that is not happening.

[Raul's grandpa]

Polly's swing is steadily getting slower.

[Mick O]

I'd feel comfortable predicting a perfect game against the Phillies this year if the defense of our main opponents didn't suck so bad.

[NEPP]

Pitchers are not human, they are WAR programmed machines that toss a ball towards HP at various speeds and angles.

[MG]

Ask Selig to have a 'Designated Fielder' position for Polanco this year?

[Pblunts]

Charlie Manuel.

The manager who won't thow his starters on short rest in the World Freakin' Series, but will gladly run a starter out there for 10 innings in a meaningless regular season game.

In April.

In San Francisco.

None of my friends agree with me and I posted something similar after the first week, but the dumber, more frequent and glaring the in-game managing blunders become, the more Chollie better start looking over his shoulder in the direction of Allentown. Beause I don't think ownership will fire RAJ anytime soon, and hey, sh&t flows downhill.