An MRI Thursday confirmed what the Phillies suspected about Cliff Lee's injury: it's minor. Lee has a grade 1 external oblique strain, the least-severe type.
"It's exactly what we thought it was," general manager Ruben Amaro said before Friday's game against the Cubs. "We thought it was a good idea since we did put him on the DL to make sure and confirm this.
"I'm optimistic, but that doesn't mean anything."
Lee is eligible to come off the DL on May 4, and Amaro said its still possible Lee could pitch against the Nationals that week. The lefthander was injured in the 10th inning of a scoreless gem against the Giants on April 18, a game the Phillies lost, 1-0, in 11 innings. Lee threw 97 pitches in that start.
If he has to miss three or four starts, that's what it will be, Amaro said. Hopefully it will be shorter than that. We have to be cautious. I don't want to have this thing blow out and lose him for a longer period of time.
Amaro also had news on the Phillies two injured stars. Ryan Howard will be seeing a wound specialist soon, possibly as early as Friday tonight. He also had a promising update on Chase Utley, who is expected to spend another week rehabbing in Arizona, working on getting his strength and stability back to major league level. The Phillies will then see where he stands.
He seems to be progressing very well, Amaro said. He has a real good demeanor about him. I think he feels good about how things are going. He's feeling stronger and a little more stable.... Hopefully, when he gets to the point where he's feeling significantly more comfortable, we'll get him down to Clearwater and get him going.
MLB
Phillies reliever Michael Stutes also had an MRI yesterday; hell be shut down for 2-3 weeks due to a mild right rotator cuff strain and will head to Clearwater to rehab afterwards.
E-mail Dan McQuade at mcquade@gmail.com