Late Saturday morning, the Phillies announced that right-handed relief pitcher Jose Contreras was placed on the disabled list with a "right elbow strain." As a corresponding move, right-handed reliever Michael Schwimer was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Contreras, 40, was removed Friday night without even throwing an official pitch (see the photo here). The Phillies announced Saturday that an MRI showed Contreras tore his ulnar collateral ligament and requires Tommy John surgery to repair. He is getting a second opinion, but if the diagnosis is the same, Contreras will miss the remainder of the 2012 season.
"Unfortunately we're pretty confident he's got a couple very, very serious issues," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said of Contreras (MLB.com). "I feel badly for him. He worked pretty hard to get back to the point where he started to be pretty effective. It's a tough piece of news to take."
Contreras began the season on the disabled list following offseason elbow surgery. He had a 5.27 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings this season since returning, however, he hadn't allowed a run in his last seven appearances.
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