Felix makes precautionary exit in first with elbow stiffness

[Porter]

SEATTLE -- Felix Hernandez, the Seattle Mariners' 21-year-old phenom, has given his team and Mariners Nation concern over the health of his exquisite right arm.
The Venezuelan right-hander exited Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins after just one-third of an inning. Moments after throwing a 2-1 fastball to Justin Morneau, Hernandez called out the medical staff. The trainer, manager Mike Hargrove and the entire infield quickly surrounded Hernandez. He was removed for precautionary reasons.

Team doctor Mitch Storey later examined him and said that he had tightness in his right elbow. He will be reexamined on Thursday.

Hargrove, asked if he could give his perspective on Hernandez's status at this point, said, "I really can't, because I don't know where it's at. Obviously, I don't feel real good about it, and I don't know if I should feel real bad about it.

He later added, "Gut feeling: Felix will be OK. But I have nothing at all to base that on."

Hernandez was off to a dazzling start. He had allowed just four hits and no runs in his first two starts (17 innings), both victories. He was seeking the club record for scoreless innings to open the season at 17 2/3, but he struggled uncharacteristically in the first inning.

Source: Mariners.org

I just want to have massive amounts of Crown Royal right now.

[BuckFoston]

Bad news for the Mariners they really need him. Looks like he will miss at least 2 starts. But I can't feel to bad because I swear every Yankee pitcher is hurt.

[Porter]

Id take Felix over the guys the Yanks have hurt right now.

[Saber]

He'll miss a couple of starts with a strained flexor tendon. He should be fine in the short term, but his awful mechanics will eventually get him anyway.

[catman]

The Mariners' website reports he may miss 10-20 days with this problem and that the MRI results were better than they expected. No damage to the ligaments, just some "repetitive" damage to the tendons. Rest and a bit of re-tooling of his mechanics should heal him completely.

[Porter]

I think they shouldn't rush him back and risk what happened to Prior, Liriano and Wood. Make the adjustments in his mechanics before sending him back out there.

[mntwinsfan]

The coaches need to fix what is causing the injurys. Look at Liriano for an example of a team NOT knowing how to fix the problem right away. IF we had Liriano in the lineup this season we would have another two wins and the fat bastard Ponson would have NEVER been signed!

[Porter]

We have expierences with Meche, Pineiro, Ryan Anderson.