The Zo Zone

In a season of major injuries, this could be the worst.

At a time they can least afford it, Cole Hamels will miss tomorrow night's start against the Dodgers because of a mild medial strain in his left elbow. He will have a precautionary MRI tomorrow.

J.D. Durbin will start tomorrow night for the Phillies instead.

"His treatment and how much time he misses will be dependent upon how he feels and that MRI," team physician Michael Ciccotti said.

Ciccotti said Hamels has had some elbow soreness since before he last pitched Thursday in Washington. Hamels, who is 14-5 with a 3.50 ERA, has thrown 167 1/3 innings this season. He threw a career-high 181 1/3 innings last season at four different levels.

"He pitched in Washington, though," Ciccotti said. "And he felt fine while he was pitching, but it's just persisted and today he brought it to our attention. And as I said, his exam shows a mild medial elbow strain. We'll see what the MRI shows. Obviously, he's going to miss tomorrow. And any time that he might miss subsequent to that will be dependent upon the MRI findings and how quickly his mild pain resolves."

Ciccotti said Hamels could miss a week to three weeks.