CLEARWATER, Fla. — Confronted with the choice between surgery, which would have knocked Cliff Lee out for the entire 2015 season, or yet another attempt at rehabilitation — which has failed twice in the past — the Phillies placed Lee on the 60-day disabled list Monday and plan to send him home from spring training.
“It’s a big blow to us,” admitted general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who is now left with a gaping hole in his starting rotation with opening day just three weeks away. “Clearly, it’s a big loss. But we’re going to try to rehab him again.”
However, after having twice tried and failed to rehab Lee’s left forearm strain last season, Amaro conceded, “It’s not the greatest odds, I guess.”
A dejected Lee admitted the strain in his left forearm has been "steadily getting worse" in recent days.
“It’s tough to stay positive about it there’s nothing I can do,” Lee said. “To me, it came down to either have the surgery, or don’t. I’m going to give it a chance of not to. The doctor wanted me to have the surgery and recommended it, but I can still do that two to three months from now if I’m not able to pitch.
“We had to make a decision and this is the route we have chosen. It’s definitely frustrating when your body is not allowing you to do what you want to do.
"Hopefully, I’ll get back to pitch for the Phillies yet this year."
MLB
But he's not expecting this time to be any different.
“It’s fairly likely things will remain the same,” the 36-year-old Lee said.
“Surgery still remains an option. I could still have the surgery if this doesn’t work out. We have time to stop the rehab if it’s not making any progress.
“As we get closer to when I would have to have the surgery and be back next year, we’ll have to make that decision.”
That decision would probably come in two or three months.
However, as Lee admitted, “With the surgery, there’s risk every step of the way.”
Asked if surgery might signal the end of his career, Lee said, “I don’t know. I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Right now, I’m still hoping to pitch again this year.”
Amaro said the Phillies will try to find a starting pitcher to take Lee’s place in the rotation from within the organization. He mentioned Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Joely Rodriguez, Paul Clemens and Kevin Slowey as possible candidates.
“Somebody is going to have to pitch for us,” Amaro said.
The Phils will bring Lee back to Philadelphia for periodic evaluations to determine when he might be able to resume a throwing program.
Lee was limited to just 13 starts last season because of an elbow injury that kept him out from May 18 to July 21, and then again from July 31 through the end of the season.
He is entering the final guaranteed year of his five-year, $125 million contract with the Phillies. He is owed $25 million for 2015 and has a $12.5 million buyout for 2016, effectively making the team's commitment $37.5 million.
Prior to the injury, Lee was seen as one of the Phillies' top trade chips. He is now impossible to move.
The Lee contract has not worked out as planned. After returning to the Phillies in the offseason prior to 2011, he has gone 41-30 with a 2.89 ERA in 106 starts. He went 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA in 2011, when the Phils won a franchise-record 102 games.