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TORONTO — The mystery surrounding the seriousness of Shaun Marcum's latest arm injury intensified the intrigue as to what the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation will look like in 2009.
The right-handed pitcher departed with numbness that extended from his right forearm down to his hand in the third inning of the Blue Jays' loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. After undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging exam yesterday, the club chose not to divulge the results and instead will have the findings examined by orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, the noted sports injury specialist from Birmingham, Ala.
"The way he had to leave the game, the numbness in his fingers and elbow, there's always a fear," Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. "We're just hoping it's not as bad as we're all thinking it might be."
"We just want to make sure what we're seeing is what we're seeing," general manager J.P. Ricciardi added. "We'll have confirmation [today]. I don't want to speculate."
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald throws the ball to first to get the final out against the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth inning in Toronto on Thursday. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)
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If Marcum, 26, requires surgery to repair his arm, the setback puts the Jays rotation in further flux for next year. Dustin McGowan may not be ready for the start of the season after undergoing right shoulder surgery in late July and A.J. Burnett is expected to opt out of the final two seasons of his contract with the Jays and test free agency.
Burnett is finishing up the third season of a five-year, $55-million (all currency U.S.) contract that would pay him $12-million a season in 2009 and 2010. Ricciardi said that he was willing to extend Burnett's deal, but that the Jays would not engage in "a bidding war" with other interested teams.
Whatever news travels in from Andrews's office, it appears Marcum's season is over. The Blue Jays have nine games remaining after a 3-2 victory over the Orioles before 29,063 at the Rogers Centre Thursday night.
Marcum went 9-7 in 25 starts and missed June with a sore right elbow. Before Thursday night's game, he confirmed that his arm is "still tender."
Marcum's next turn in the rotation was to be in the weekend series finale against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. Gaston said that Marcum's replacement will be right-hander Scott Richmond of North Vancouver, B.C. in what could be an audition for next year.
Marcum wasn't the only Toronto player to undergo an MRI Thursday. Catcher Rod Barajas learned he has a Grade 2 tear or pull in his right hamstring. With such an injury, there is usually immediate pain but it's not considered catastrophic. He is listed as day-to-day with the injury.
One of the Jays projected starters for next season is Jesse Litsch. After four runless innings, he ran into trouble in the fifth when he walked the bases loaded and allowed Baltimore shortstop Alex Cintron's two-run single. past a diving Jays second baseman Jose Bautista for a 2-1 lead.
Litsch, 12-8, who struck out six and yielded four walks, gave way to reliever Brian Wolfe to begin the seventh inning, but not before veteran catcher Gregg Zaun put the Jays in front in the bottom of the sixth with a pinch-hit, two-run double. into the right field corner. He was, however, thrown out trying for the extra-base hit to a triple.
After Wolfe, southpaws Jesse Carlson and B.J. Ryan mopped up. Ryan allowed a one-out single, a walk and Jay Payton reached base on catcher interference to load the bases against his old team, but worked out of the jam to earn his 31st save.
Bautista, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates last month, knocked a 3-2 pitch for home run to left field in the first inning for his third with Toronto.
With the busy day on the injury front for the Jays, there wasn't time for Ricciardi and Gaston to sit down and finalize Gaston's contract for next season. The new deal is expected to be completed before the Jays' 2008 home finale against the New York Yankees on Thursday.
Gaston has steered the Jays to a 47-32 record, the third best record in the American League since he replaced John Gibbons on June 20.
