Sunday, Phillies ace Roy Halladay left his start against St. Louis after just two innings and 36 pitches.
Roy Halladay Injury: Shoulder Problem Means 6-8 Weeks On DL
The reason? Shoulder soreness.
Tuesday, we’ve learned the soreness was actually caused by a strain. From the Phillies:
Phillies place Roy Halladay on 15-day DL (retroactive to May 28) with right latissimus dorsi strain.
— Phillies (@Phillies) May 29, 2012
The latissimus dorsi, if you’re wondering, is a muscle behind the shoulder. Or a character on Game of Thrones. Or, ideally, both.
The Phillies haven’t announced a timetable, but Jon Heyman says Halladay will miss 6-8 weeks.
The good news is that Cliff Lee’s back in the rotation after a DL stint, and the Phillies do have five four legitimate starting pitchers, if you count Kyle Kendrick. Or five, if you count Dave Bush, who’s been pitching well in Class AAA. The bad news is that Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are still out of action, and Jimmy Rollins still isn’t hitting.
The Phillies are still only four games out of first place, and they might be heartened by the Braves’ eight-game (and counting) losing streak. But their margin for error just got a little thinner. And considering Halladay had thrown at least 220 innings in each of the last six seasons, it was hard to see this one coming.
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