going to the DL....surgery is possible

credit:mlb.com

MIAMI -- For the second time since Spring Training, Marlins ace A.J. Burnett is going on the disabled list.

The fear is this trip could be more serious because surgery is a possibility since this is Burnett's third trip to the disabled list since last Aug. 19.

 

Burnett will be placed on the disabled list Monday, retroactive to Saturday, because of swelling in his right elbow.

 

"A.J. Burnett has re-injured his right elbow," Marlins general manager Admin Beinfest said Saturday evening. "He has swelling in the right elbow with a lack of flexion in the elbow. When he came in today, he had even more swelling and less flexion."

 

Burnett (0-2, 4.70) pitched 5 2/3 innings Friday night and was on the losing end of a 9-2 decision to the Cardinals at Pro Player Stadium. In 5 1/3 innings, he gave up five runs and walked six while throwing 111 pitches.

 

Shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, Burnett's arm was examined by team Dr. Dan Kanell. An appointment has been made for him to visit orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday. On that day, he will officially go on the disabled list, and the Marlins will call up a minor league pitcher.

 

Among the candidates in line are left-handed relievers Tommy Phelps and Juan Alvarez. Phelps started the season on the Marlins roster because Burnett opened the year on the disabled list after experiencing inflammation in the elbow in a Spring Training game on March 15.

 

Projected as the Marlins' Opening Day starter, Burnett missed two starts to begin the year. Burnett said his arm hurt when he left Friday night's game.

 

"Surgery is a possibility," Beinfest said. "We'll leave that up to Dr. Andrews. This is his third episode in eight months."

 

Left-handed reliever Michael Tejera will take over for Burnett in the rotation. Tejera (0-0, 5.17) will start at Arizona on Wednesday.

 

Tejera was inserted into the rotation early in the season when Burnett was on the DL.

 

On April 4 in Atlanta, Tejera was not involved in the decision in a 12-7 Braves' win. He worked five innings, giving up two runs.

 

A year ago, Tejera appeared in 47 games and made 18 starts.

 

"I'm back in the rotation," Tejera said. "I've got to do a good job."

 

Beinfest isn't speculating on how long Burnett might be out, but the team is preparing to move on without him for some time.

 

If the team needs additional starting help, minor leaguers Justin Wayne in Triple-A Albuquerque and Dontrelle Willis in Double-A Carolina have been discussed as options.

 

For now, the team is prepared to go with Tejera.

 

This was expected to be a breakthrough season for Burnett, a hard-thrower with a fastball that topped at 101 mph in 2002. Last year, he finished 12-9 with a 3.30 ERA in 204 1/3 innings. He posted five shutouts and seven complete games.

 

But Burnett's velocity had dropped in his last two starts. After throwing 98 mph in Philadelphia on April 14, his fastball struggled to hit 94 mph at the Mets on April 19.

 

On Friday, his fastball barely hit 95 mph. In the first inning Friday, Albert Pujols swatted a 93 mph fastball over the right-center field wall for a two-run home run.

 

"He's used to throwing 96 and 97, and he was throwing 93 and 92 yesterday," catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. "There are always other guys to pick him up until he comes back. A.J. is always good. But if there is something wrong with his arm, his future comes first."

 

Rodriguez feels the Marlins can still compete without Burnett.

 

"Absolutely," he said. "We're going to be fine. He's going to come back, and we're going to still be playing baseball. We're going to have another pitcher in the starting rotation. We're going to keep doing what we're doing, and keep playing baseball."

He hasn't pitched amazingly well this year(I know it's early), injures could be a continuing problem down the road. Should The Fish start listening to offers?

listen to offers? no....

 

i still think/hope we can do well without him...

 

bring up Dontrelle!

listen to offers? no....

 

i still think/hope we can do well without him...

 

bring up Dontrelle!

I'm not saying that try to trade him but let Teams outside The Division know that he can be had for The right price but The Right price is steep, VERY steep.

yea, why not...listening to offers cant hurt....but unless its a crazy deal in favor of us...there is no point

 

i dont see any GM's giving up prime players for "an arm problem"

Marlins have done OK without him winning games (he's 0 and 2)....Plug in another pitcher....I'd like to see Dontrelle come in for an audition...

 

 

If it was a AJ for Adam Dunn/ OR Austin Kearns type deal, I'd say go for it...otherwise I'd give AJ a chance to come back

Team cant let this set-back get to them..Business as usual..Go back out there and win games...I hope they don't cave because of this

Why does AJ gets injured so much. His mechanics are fine and he isnt doing anything worng. Today after the game he was fine he was talking in his cell and even bended it to talk on the phone. I hope this isnt true...I would bring up Tommy Phelps, he did good with us before AJ was reactivated from the DL

I hope this isnt true

I doubt MLB would put something up if it was not true.

I would love Dontrelle up in the bigs already... See how he does after maybe 2-3 starts, and determine if you should keep him or not...

no one's going to be making great offers for a guy who's on his 3rd elbow problem in 8 months. as long as he recovers, we need him here.

there is no way that they would bring up tommy phelps? phelps is nothing but a 10 year verteran of the minors who might do great in the minors who will never do anything in the majors.

 

do you remember what he did in that big meltdown game at turner field? nothing impressive.

 

i say they should bring up dontrelle willis.

 

or maybe sign a free agent or make a small trade for a decent starter.

 

because i have a feelng that a.j. will be out for a while.

 

because when you are put on the d.l. for the same injury within a month one of two things happen.

 

1. there was an injury that was overlooked by the doctors.

 

2. the injury got even worse, than it was previously

 

i have a feeling, even though i dont want it to be, that we wont see a.j. till september.

 

sorry to say it but its obvious something is very wrong.

I've said before and I I'll say it again, bringing up young arms - read that Justin Wayne and Dontrelle Willis - to cover for AJ is in my mind is a bad bet. Not only aren't their arms mature enough, emtionally they aren't prepared for the level of competition and skill they'll be facing. A Justin Wayne might not recover from back to back shellacings from say a Bonds or a whole team just taking him apart, everything invested in him will have been wasted. Does anyone really think at this point in the season it won't take more than two or three starts before every team in the league would know what DW was all about. The problem with a complicated pitching motion like his is that it includes all kinds of hints as to what he's throwing, The DW that starts for the Marlins two or three years from now will most likely have a much more compact delivery than the guy you see today in AA.

 

Or it could be as simple as blowing out the phenom's arm, ala David Clyde and a hundred others. For the Marlins to succeed as is the market and the economy in 2003 and beyond, they have to keep bringing along homegrown pitching. I would much rather these guys threw a couple hundred more innings before getting here, learning to win, to compete and carry their respective teams.

 

From my standpoint, too much can go wrong to jepordize these valuable commodities. Leave them alone.

 

Bring up whoever's the best starter on the 'Topes (God, they have a terrible website, the Cannons last year was remarkably rich). I guess it's Olsen. Absolutely mediocre but he's expendable and has experience in the bigs. He may have a low ceiling but if he can provide 30 innings over six starts with a 4.25 era I'd be very very happy.

If I was torborg I would make the wrong move anyway so I'm safe if this is wrong

 

Bring Tommy up for a few games to give Willis or Wayne a few starts telling them that they have two starts whoever puts up the better showing goes up and Phelps is brought back down.

 

No need to have to get Wayne and Willis up right now if A.J. has surgery that's plenty.

hey rune is phelps a starter? i tohugt he wa areliever? is he starting in the minors?

The problem with a complicated pitching motion like his is that it includes all kinds of hints as to what he's throwing, The DW that starts for the Marlins two or three years from now will most likely have a much more compact delivery than the guy you see today in AA.

 

Marlins2003, I just don't agree with that at all. If what you say is true about Willlis's pitching motion then why would pitching coaches not have gotten him to change it long before now? If he's going to change his entire delivery then he's just wasting his time right now with this "flawed" style. I think they would have changed his delivery right off the bat if they thought it would be a problem.

 

By the way, Justin Wayne was shelled a few outings last year already.

Hey Jrod can you read? :banghead

 

If Willis is brought up I doubt they would put a double A pitcher in a starting role. He would probably be placed in the bullpen. If you also remember The Marlins bullpen is not top class. They are going to need some bullpen help and Tejera will be The Starter also Lord Byron who was brought up when A.J. was injured last time?

How many of you feel Torborg's use of AJ last year is a reason why this is happening ?

 

I recall many 130 pitch counts lsat year.

I'm pretty sure what they're going to do is put Tejera back into the rotation. I would like to see Willis get called up but I don't see it happening.

I wont think torborg would be bringing up Dontre, the candidate that i would o for is phelps. He ismature enough and has very good stuff. Just one game he pitched bad, i would be seeing him soon or Alvarez. I really havent seen Juan Alvarez play o much so i go with Phelps

Hey Jrod can you read? :banghead

 

If Willis is brought up I doubt they would put a double A pitcher in a starting role. He would probably be placed in the bullpen. If you also remember The Marlins bullpen is not top class. They are going to need some bullpen help and Tejera will be The Starter also Lord Byron who was brought up when A.J. was injured last time?

I'm pretty sure DW won't be a in the Bullpen if Marlins call him up.Anyways I doubt the Marlins bring him up even though I wish they do.If Tejera struggles watch for Wayne to be call up.

Exactly. I would think they would go for Tejera first, then Wayne, then Dontrelle if those two failed. But what I would most want to see is Willis.