TORONTO (AP) -Toronto Blue Jays right-hander A.J. Burnett felt pain in his right shoulder during a throwing session Sunday and was scratched from his next scheduled start, June 23 against Colorado.
“He was a little tender so he won’t make that one,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “We’ll probably throw him on the DL. We’ll know something Tuesday.”
“We’re not going to throw him out there if he’s still feeling it,” Gibbons said.
Burnett, who did not speak to reporters, is 5-6 with a 4.00 ERA in 14 starts this season. He left a start in San Francisco last Tuesday after 4 2-3 innings because of pain in his shoulder.
Burnett, who had two stints on the disabled list last season, had been the only Toronto starter to make all of his starts this season. Josh Towers pitched in Burnett’s place against Washington Sunday.
Twelve Toronto players have spent time on the disabled list this season, including ace Roy Halladay, who missed 18 games following an appendectomy.
Left-hander Gustavo Chacin (sore shoulder) and right-handers John Thomson (sore shoulder) and Victor Zambrano (forearm strain) have also missed significant time.
In addition, closer B.J. Ryan is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery to replace a ligament in his left shoulder in April.
“You get used to it,” Gibbons said of the rash in injuries. “It doesn’t phase you anymore.”
Burnett signed a five-year, $55-million dollar contract with Toronto before the 2006 season, then went 10-8 with a 3.98 ERA in 21 starts. He started the 2006 season on the DL because of scar tissue in his right elbow from a previous operation and made just two starts before going back on the DL for two months, returning June 22.
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