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Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (pictured) was on his way to his second strong performance in a row when he grabbed at his side and exited Sunday's game with a right oblique strain. That's very bad news for a team that already has called on four Triple-A starters to fill in the fifth slot in the rotation and replace injured Miguel Gonzalez. It was a tough week already, after so-so outings by Jason Hammel, Freddy Garcia and Steve Johnson, and that was reflected in the combined numbers. The rotation posted a 2-2 record with a 6.03 ERA and averaged just five innings per start. Even though the team managed to go 4-2 in those games, this is starting to get scary.
Grade: D (Hannah Foslien / Getty Images /May 12, 2013)
“I’m hoping when I throw tomorrow I’ll just feel like nothing’s wrong and I’ll be able to go from there,” said Hardy, who last played Monday night in Bradenton.
Hardy, who has been dealing with the soreness in his shoulder for several weeks, said he had never had a cortisone shot in his shoulder before. The soreness he is feeling, he said, is typical for the spring.
“Every year, I’ve said before, I’ve had it and it goes away the first couple of weeks of spring. This year it’s just taking a while,” said Hardy, who is hitting .278 with a .381 on-base percentage, one homer and two RBIs in 36 at-bats over 13 games. “So we are just basically kind of taking it easy and, hopefully, a couple days off, we’ll get over the hump and I’ll be fine.”
Hardy rested the shoulder Wednesday and Thursday per team orders. He said he doesn’t feel any soreness when he swings a bat, just when he throws. If it were the regular season, he said he would play through it, so there’s no question in his mind that Opening Day, April 6, is not in jeopardy.
“No chance,” Hardy said. “Even the way it was this spring, I was playing through it. I can play through that.”
