Phillies righthander Jon Lieber could miss the rest of the season because of a torn tendon in his right foot.
Lieber, who injured the foot Wednesday in Cleveland, said he has been told it would take six to eight weeks for the tendon to heal without surgery. At that point, Lieber then would need to begin a throwing program. But being realistic, it would take Lieber at least a couple weeks to get his arm back into shape and by that time it would be the end of the season. Lieber also said he has been told that if he does not have surgery, he would lose muscle strength in the right leg. Lieber is seeking a second opinion Monday in Philadelphia with team physician Michael Ciccotti.
The Philllies expect to fill the hole in their rotation from within at the moment.
Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Brett Myers is not an option for the rotation, even with Freddy Garcia and Lieber likely lost for the season. The Phillies now need a starter for Friday's doubleheader against the Mets and Saturday's game against the Mets. Amaro indicated those holes will be filled internally. Personally, I think triple-A Ottawa lefthander J.A. Happ will get a shot in one of those starts. I'm not sure about the other.
Regardless, this is a major blow. Lieber had pitched poorly lately, but he is streaky and is capable of getting hot and pitching four of five quality starts in a row.
Comments (9)
Sadly, sounds like Rowand is gone for sure now. Can he take Burrell with him?
Posted by John in LA | June 23, 2007 7:04 PM
Posted on June 23, 2007 19:04
Who do they have internally? Kendrick was a definitely a roll of the dice that has worked out so far. Is Happ an option, or is he not fully recovered yet.
Remember back when we had a surplus of starters? ughhhhhh
Posted by SC | June 23, 2007 9:02 PM
Posted on June 23, 2007 21:02
Happ has only gone three and four innings in his starts since coming off the DL--is he really ready to go? If I read their rotation right he should be starting for Ottawa today; how he does might tell us a lot.
Other possibilities that have been mentioned include Carlos Carrasco, who just got promoted from Clearwater to Reading, and J.D. Durbin, who appeared in one game earlier in the season for the Diamondbacks and gave up seven runs in 2/3 of an inning for a presumably league-leading (but not in the good way) ERA of 94.50. Carrasco looks like he would be on schedule to pitch on Wednesday, and I wonder if it might not make more sense to run a guy making his major league debut out against the last-place Reds instead of the Mets. If they do it that way, they can push Eaton back into the Mets series; if they don't, it's Hamels and three guys with little or no big-league experience against the team the Phillies are trying to catch...that can't be good.
Posted by zzx | June 24, 2007 10:31 AM
Posted on June 24, 2007 10:31
Ubelievable that they wouldn't consider Myers a candidate to return to the starting rotation. With Flash coming back (and hopefully 100% healthy for a change), and Alfonseco (or as I call him, AlFATseco because he gets fatter by the day) pitching decent, it seems to me that ALF could serve as the setup man and Gordon returns as the closer.
Leaving Myers in the BP as the setup man/closer only complicates things and creates a traffic jam at the back end of the BP.
who pitches what night? in what situation? how many batters is he facing? etc.
Charlie can't manage a little league game, what makes anyone think he can handle rotating 3 guys in the closer position?
Pick on closer and stick with him....and get Myers back into the starting rotation - WHERE HE BELONGS!!!!
Posted by dave | June 24, 2007 10:57 AM
Posted on June 24, 2007 10:57
for some good news, it looks like smoltz and his big mouth is at it again. except this time he's annoying his own team. it seems he questioned chipper jones' injury through the media and jones didn't like it- not surprisingly. some in-fighting in atlanta would mean one less team to worry about.
Posted by mike | June 24, 2007 2:40 PM
Posted on June 24, 2007 14:40
This really sucks. It's hard to believe a team that went into the season with 6 starters now has only 3. I suppose if they'd sucessfully traded Lieber they may have been better or may not of if all they got for him was prospects. You can count on Hamels for a lights out performance. Moyer tends to keep his team in games more often than not and so does Eaton when he's on his game. The starting pitching on this team is questionable at best though.
Posted by paul | June 24, 2007 10:35 PM
Posted on June 24, 2007 22:35
Next year, Lieber and Garcia are free agents, and Moyer may retire. The Phils are looking at losing 60% of their rotation, with little help on the farm...
How do they replace those three without absolutely breaking the bank?
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June 25, 2007 1:34 AM
Posted on June 25, 2007 01:34
he can be out for the season because if he tried to run a base his foot could start to actup and he would have to grab his foot while he is running. He could put more pressure on the left foot and less on the other one.
Posted by Anonymous | July 14, 2007 3:59 PM
Posted on July 14, 2007 15:59
ANYONE STILL HERE?????????????????????????
Posted by Anonymous | July 14, 2007 4:03 PM
Posted on July 14, 2007 16:03