Astros’ Lyon Back on DL; Surgery Looming

Last week at this time, we were talking about the return of Astros’ reliever Brandon Lyon and how he was hoping his stint on the DL would allow him to get back to the pitcher he knows he can be.

Only a week later, Houston is again sending their former closer to the disabled list.  This time Lyon is bothered by biceps tendinitis, and he will meet with a specialist on Friday to see if surgery will be necessary.

Lyon is seeking a second opinion, after being presented with two options from team physician Dr. David Lintner.  GM Ed Wade discussed those options with the Houston Chronicle.

“Dr. Lintner, when he was first disabled, said there were probably two courses of action to take regarding his biceps tendon,” Wade said. “One would be to rehab it conservatively non-surgically and expect to have some discomfort going forward. Or to have a surgical procedure done, have the biceps tendon placed back in the channel, have a lengthy rehab and have some discomfort.”

“I think it was in Brandon’s best interest and our best interest to handle this conservatively, and hopefully that’s the message that we get when he goes through the next series of examinations.”

Lyon, who struggled before and after his last stint on the disabled list, sounds ready to just figure out what the problem is and move on.

“It’s hard to decide if you’re a little bit banged up or you’re really hurt,” Lyon said. “I’ve pitched through some things before so it’s hard for me to decide whether it’s just some painful stuff I can pitch through. I feel like it’s time to explore other options and get some different opinions.”

“I needed to come back and test it out again, and the longer you wait to try to figure out what’s going on, the longer you put off things that have to be done,” Lyon said.

The 31 year old, who took a 7.15 ERA with him during his first DL stint, has appeared in 3 games since rejoining the Astros.  He’s allowed runs in each contest, and 8 total in only 2 innings of work.  He gave up a home run in each of the 3 games and walked 2 over the span.  He has amazingly managed to increase his ERA to a mark of 11.48.

However, the story isn’t all bad for Houston.

In Lyon’s absence, reliever Mark Melancon has stepped into the team’s closer role and has performed very well.  He’s completed 6 of 8 save opportunities and has maintained an outstanding 1.67 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 32.1 innings this season.

Lyon was replaced on the Astros’ roster Wednesday by Triple-A pitcher Fernando Abad.