Florida Fan
04-24-2005, 09:54 PM
One of the Marlins relief Pitchers is out with a stress fracture.
MIAMI -- An MRI on Friday revealed Marlins reliever Antonio Alfonseca has a stress fracture in his right elbow and will miss at least two months.
Alfonseca experienced pain on the mound in the seventh inning Thursday night and was immediately removed in the Marlins' 10-1 loss to the Mets.
The veteran hurler was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday and the Marlins selected the contract of right-hander Travis Smith from Triple-A Albuquerque.
After Thursday's game, Alfonseca downplayed the severity of the injury, believing he just needed a few days of rest. But the 33-year-old setup man did say that his arm has been ailing him for about three weeks. Alfonseca also has been hindered by a lower back problem. In fact, he failed a physical because of a herniated disk days before he signed an incentive-heavy contract with the Marlins last December.
"He told us he was fine," manager Jack McKeon said. "We kept asking him. He kept saying he was fine. All you can do is what the guy tells you."
In six games, Alfonseca is 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA.
But for a while, the Marlins noticed Alfonseca's velocity was dropping. For much of Spring Training, his fastball was clocked in the 92-94 mph range. But when the season started, he was in the 86-88 mph vicinity.
"I'm not upset, but if the guy had said something, we could have given him some time," McKeon said. "I don't know if it would have made any difference anyway. He hadn't pitched a lot. None of the guys in our bullpen have pitched a lot."
The Marlins relievers hadn't had much work in general because the starters have gone deep into games, and the team has five complete games
MIAMI -- An MRI on Friday revealed Marlins reliever Antonio Alfonseca has a stress fracture in his right elbow and will miss at least two months.
Alfonseca experienced pain on the mound in the seventh inning Thursday night and was immediately removed in the Marlins' 10-1 loss to the Mets.
The veteran hurler was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday and the Marlins selected the contract of right-hander Travis Smith from Triple-A Albuquerque.
After Thursday's game, Alfonseca downplayed the severity of the injury, believing he just needed a few days of rest. But the 33-year-old setup man did say that his arm has been ailing him for about three weeks. Alfonseca also has been hindered by a lower back problem. In fact, he failed a physical because of a herniated disk days before he signed an incentive-heavy contract with the Marlins last December.
"He told us he was fine," manager Jack McKeon said. "We kept asking him. He kept saying he was fine. All you can do is what the guy tells you."
In six games, Alfonseca is 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA.
But for a while, the Marlins noticed Alfonseca's velocity was dropping. For much of Spring Training, his fastball was clocked in the 92-94 mph range. But when the season started, he was in the 86-88 mph vicinity.
"I'm not upset, but if the guy had said something, we could have given him some time," McKeon said. "I don't know if it would have made any difference anyway. He hadn't pitched a lot. None of the guys in our bullpen have pitched a lot."
The Marlins relievers hadn't had much work in general because the starters have gone deep into games, and the team has five complete games