Lannan placed on DL with strained tendon in knee
PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies left-hander John Lannan thought he simply tweaked his left knee in the first inning Wednesday against the Reds in Cincinnati.
He did much worse than that.
The Phillies placed Lannan on the 15-day disabled list Thursday because of a strained quadriceps tendon in his left knee. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and manager Charlie Manuel said Lannan could miss six to eight weeks.
"It's a fairly serious injury," Amaro said. "I know John was upset about it, but there's not much you can do other than rehab it and come back as soon as possible."
The Phillies will call up left-hander Joe Savery before Friday's game to temporarily take Lannan's spot on the 25-man roster. But a replacement for Lannan's spot in the rotation will need to be announced before Monday's game against the Pirates, which would have been Lannan's turn to pitch.
The Phillies have options in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but their best option there might be left-hander Adam Morgan and he pitched Thursday in Pawtucket. Amaro said right-handers Tyler Cloyd, Jonathan Pettibone and Ethan Martin also will be considered. Amaro said Double-A Reading prospect Jesse Biddle is not an option. He also said the Phillies could look outside the organization to find a replacement, although he said the choice likely will come from Triple-A.
"We have a few options there," Amaro said. "We're kicking them around right now."
Because Morgan (1-0, 1.42 ERA in three starts) threw 100 pitches in five innings Thursday, Amaro said it is unlikely he gets the nod to pitch Monday. But that does not mean Morgan could not help at some point. Amaro said they will choose a pitcher for Monday then continue to evaluate the spot.
"That could be kind of a day-to-day thing," he said. "See how that person performs and if that person performs well, then we'll stay with them. A lot of it depends on how that guy throws and we'll kind of take it one day at a time on that."
Cloyd (0-2, 7.07 ERA in three starts), Pettibone (0-1, 9.64 ERA in two starts) and Martin (1-0, 4.82 ERA in two starts) have not pitched as well as Morgan, but they are on the 40-man roster.
"It's frustrating because I actually feel really, really good," Lannan said, referring to the way he was pitching before the injury. "It's just this little thing. It just sucks it had to happen. Right now I'm just playing it by ear, just getting healthy no matter how long it takes."