CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a detached muscle in the back of his right shoulder, an injury that will almost certainly end his season.
"Obviously this isn't good news," Peavy said Wednesday after having an MRI. "You know ... having something completely detached from the bone that's retracted down in my lat. Not good."
Peavy was hurt early in Chicago's victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. With two outs in the second inning, Peavy delivered a 2-2 pitch to Mike Napoli and then jumped off the mound and raised his right arm before walking straight to the dugout with team trainer Herm Schneider.
The team described the injury as a detached latissimus dorsi muscle in his right posterior shoulder.
Peavy said the injury was so rare that he would visit or consult with two of the leading orthopedic surgeons in the country, Dr. James Andrew and Dr. Lewis Yocum, to figure out what will be his next step.
"Obviously surgery looks the way that we probably have to go and if that is it, we'll just ride it, you know," Peavy said.
"We're going to go the best road, whatever the doctors think feels best for me and my career. We're going to do it and obviously I'm going to bust it in rehab and do all I can to be back and be back feeling better and healthier than I am."
That's likely not going to be this season.
A former Cy Young Award winner with the San Diego Padres, Peavy is 7-6 with a 4.63 ERA in 17 starts this season. The White Sox had won 20 of their last 25 games through Tuesday to climb back into the AL Central race.
Peavy pitched through a sore shoulder last month but said after he was hurt Tuesday night he wasn't sure if that was connected to the latest problem.
"This was almost in an area different from the other one," Peavy said of his earlier discomfort.
"I don't think anybody made any bad choices here. ... I don't think anybody is at fault here, myself for wanting to be out there, the team for letting me be out there."
Peavy's scheduled start against Pittsburgh on June 17 was pushed back two days because his shoulder was hurting, and then two days later he pitched a 3-hit shutout against the Nationals.
"We've been fighting this for quite a while and I thought we could maintain it. Obviously I was pitching as good as I have all year," he said.
Peavy was 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA with San Diego and Chicago last season when he was limited to a career-low 16 starts due to a strained tendon in his right ankle. He went 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three outings with the White Sox after being on the DL for nearly three months.
He was dealt to the White Sox by the Padres at the trade deadline nearly a year ago.
The White Sox filled Peavy's roster spot by recalling right-hander Jeffrey Marquez from Triple-A Charlotte, but they're expected to recall right-hander Daniel Hudson later in the week to take Peavy's spot in the rotation. Hudson has gone 11-4 with Charlotte.
But replacing Peavy, known for his bulldog-like demeanor on the mound, will be a big task.
"It's tough to see. Unfortunate. You feel for him," said fellow starter John Danks. "He's not going to walk off the mound if he's not hurting. ... We have some guys who can fill the void. We'll be all right I think."
Manager Ozzie Guillen said the White Sox had to move on and the rest of the rotation had to keep pitching well.
"We are not going to make any excuse regardless of what happens from now to the end," Guillen said.
"If we finish last, it's not because of Peavy. If we finish first, it's not because of Peavy. I think we still have a good ball club."
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