TORONTO (AP) -Blue Jays right-hander Dustin McGowan has a tear in his rotator cuff and will miss at least four weeks.
McGowan, 6-7 with a 4.37 ERA, was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Wednesday’s game, with right-hander Brian Wolfe recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his place.
McGowan, 26, left Tuesday’s start after just four innings and 66 pitches, saying the pain he had been feeling in his shoulder over the past few outings had become too much to bear. He underwent an MRI on Wednesday that revealed the tear.
“We’ll know more as the inflammation in there calms down,” general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. “We’ll know what the process is.”
Ricciardi said tests last year revealed a tear in McGowan’s rotator cuff, but the righty was able to keep pitching. He worked a career-high 169 2-3 innings last season.
McGowan will visit Dr. Timothy Kremchek in Cincinnati in the coming days, Ricciardi said.
“The best-case scenario is it calms down and he’s able to get throwing again,” Ricciardi said. “We won’t know that until Dr. Kremchek looks at him. Right now, we’re probably looking at longer than four weeks.”
Asked whether surgery was an option, Ricciardi did not rule it out.
“Not today, but obviously anytime you talk about stuff like that it could be,” he said.
Toronto has been without right-hander Shaun Marcum (right shoulder), since June 19, but he is expected back following the All-Star break. John Parrish will make his second start in place of Marcum against Baltimore on Thursday, with left-hander Brian Tallet coming out of the bullpen to start in McGowan’s place against the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Ricciardi said he won’t call anyone else up from the minors for now.
“We’re going to just get through the All-Star break and then regroup at that point,” he said.
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