Cliff Lee to DL; Phillies Slide Kyle Kendrick into Rotation
By Editorial Staff
The Philadelphia Phillies have placed left-hander Cliff Lee on their 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique. Lee sustained the injury during the 10th inning of his last start against the San Francisco Giants. Philadelphia has recalled left-hander Joe Savery and confirmed that right-hander Kyle Kendrick will take Lee’s spot in their rotation.
The Phillies are saying that Lee didn’t strain his oblique because he pitched 10 innings in his last start. Instead, Philadelphia said this is the type of thing that could have happened during any of the other nine innings Lee logged that night.
While the Phillies said Lee has shown improvement over the past few days, they are proceeding cautiously with the left-hander. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. admitted that “you just don’t know how long” oblique injuries will take to heal. Amaro added that the Phillies are hoping Lee will only miss a couple of starts.
In Lee’s place, Philadelphia will go with 27-year-old right-hander Kyle Kendrick. Entering 2011, Kendrick had struggled to put it together at the major league level. However, last season the former top prospect maintained an ERA and WHIP of 3.22 and 1.221 over his 34 appearances including 15 starts. So far this season Kendrick has allowed a single run over his 4 2/3 innings of work out of the Phillies bullpen.
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