Phillies closer Brad Lidge will be shutdown for the first 3-6 weeks of the 2011 season due to soreness in his right pitching shoulder.
The injury will not require surgery.
Once the soreness in Lidge’s shoulder begins to subside he will resume baseball activities and will essentially restart his spring training program.
He will likely be out at least two months before pitching in a major league game.
“We got the results from Dr. (Michael) Cicotti’s MRI on Brad Lidge,” said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. “He has a posterior rotator cuff strain. It’s going to take him some time to get back. Hopefully we can get him back in a reasonable amount of time.”
Lidge was shutdown last Friday after reporting pain in his shoulder during his outing on Thursday. He was also shutdown earlier in the spring due to bicep tendinitis. However Lidge says the pain in his shoulder is new and he is concerned about the injury.
“I don’t know. I know I wish there was no pain,” when asked if the new pain was a particularly bad sign. “There was always a little bit of pain in the back (of the shoulder) that we thought was from the biceps tendinitis, but there is that. So I’m not really familiar with the shoulder, I haven’t had shoulder injuries before – at least not in a long time – so I’m not really familiar with the pain and discomfort I’m having so we’re going to have the doctor do a look at it tomorrow.”
With Lidge on the shelf, Jose Contreras will assume the Phillies closing role.
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