MIAMI -- Cliff Lee will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a mild elbow strain, and thePhiladelphia Phillies are relieved the injury isn't more serious.
Lee might be able to return as soon as he's eligible to come off the DL, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said late Tuesday.
"It's never good news when you lose one of your No. 1 pitchers, but it's pretty mild," Amaro said.
When Lee underwent an MRI on Tuesday in Philadelphia, there were concerns the left-hander might become the latest major league pitcher to be sidelined by a serious injury.
Lee pitched 6 2-3 innings in a win over Cincinnati on Sunday. He has experienced mild elbow discomfort for the past three weeks.
"He has been able to pitch through it," Amaro said. "On Sunday, he felt a little more uncomfortable in his last couple of innings."
More than a dozen major league pitchers this year already have undergone Tommy John elbow surgery, including All-Stars Jose Fernandez, Patrick Corbin, Josh Johnson and Matt Moore.
The Marlins' Fernandez wore a sling as he watched batting practice Tuesday after undergoing surgery last week.
Lee was diagnosed with a grade one/two strain of his flexor tendon.
"That's better news than the other," teammate A.J. Burnett said. "You're happy for that."
The 35-year-old Lee is 4-4 this season with a 3.18 ERA in 68 innings. Amaro declined to say who will start for Lee on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lee will rest for a week and is expected to resume throwing after that.
"We want to be cautious with him, and there's no reason to push it," Amaro said following Tuesday's 6-5 win over Miami.
Lee has thrown more than 200 innings every season since 2008, when he was the AL Cy Young Award winner.
When Cliff Lee's mild elbow pain turned into more serious discomfort, an MRI was ordered. The 35-year-old Lee, who has had no arm problems in his 13-year career, initially fought it.
"Cliff hates being hurt," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr said. "He hates having an issue. We had to kind of convince him."
Lee underwent the MRI on Tuesday in Philadelphia and later arrived in Miami. Amaro said the problem is purely an elbow strain, specifically a flexor pronator strain. Lee (4-4, 3.18 ERA) pitched through pain in his last three starts.
In a year that has seen Tommy John surgeries spike throughout baseball, a long-term injury to Lee – the rock of the Phillies' rotation – would be devastating.
Lee is also the Phillies' best trade chip should they be in a fire-sale position at the trade deadline.
Understandably, Amaro and the Phillies are worried.
"[When] one of our starters has to have an MRI, it's alarming," he said.
Lee has pitched 1,401 2/3 innings since the 2008 season, an average of 200 per season. Only Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, James Shields and Felix Hernandez have thrown that many innings in that span.
Should Lee miss significant time, things could spiral downward fast. Cole Hamels and his still-massive contract would become the Phillies most desirable trade option, something the club would likely have to consider. A.J. Burnett, who has said he doesn't want to pitch beyond this year, could be attractive for a contender.
Having an injured Lee on the books could also be crippling for the Phils. He is owed at least $37.5 million over the next two seasons. With Hamels and Ryan Howard slated for more than $20 million apiece through 2015, Amaro's hands are tied in trying to create a competitive roster.
And without Lee on the field, the back-end of the rotation would weaken tremendously. It's hard not to think about the wide, relief-filled grin on Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg's face when the team signed Burnett over the winter. Without one of those top-three pitchers, the rotation was a liability and Sandberg knew it.
Lee's prognosis, however remains unknown. Many pitchers have missed little time with flexor pronator injuries, sometimes as few as two weeks. Others end up having Tommy John surgery.
The Phillies hope to have a diagnosis by Wednesday.
"Hopefully it's nothing serious, but we'll find out soon," Amaro said.
Lee is scheduled to start Saturday's game in Philadelphia, pending the MRI results.
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