MIAMI, May 9 (UPI) -- The Florida Marlins Friday placed pitcher Josh Beckett on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, with a mild elbow sprain.
The team might consider that news a blessing, considering the numerous injuries to its rotation. At least this news was not the worst-case scenario.
The Marlins already have lost A.J. Burnett for the rest of the season to an elbow injury, and lefthander Mark Redman is gone at least a month with a broken thumb.
The talented but oft-injured Beckett left his start Wednesday after one inning because of elbow soreness, and met with world-renowned specialist Dr. James Andrews Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.
Andrews gave the Marlins good news for a change, diagnosing a mild elbow sprain after an MRI did not reveal any ligament damage. The righthander was advised to rest for a week before undergoing a treatment program.
"One week of no throw and resume, I would put that as encouraging and good news," Florida General Manager Larry Beinfest told the Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Beckett, who turns 23 on May 15, is regarded by many scouts to be one of baseball's best young pitchers, but he spent three stints on the DL last season because of recurring blisters on the middle finger of his pitching hand. As a minor leaguer in 2000, he was sidelined with a rotator cuff injury.
This season, Beckett is 2-3 with a 3.76 ERA in eight starts.
"(In the San Francisco game) I went up to him in the dugout, as soon as he came off the field," said Manager Jeff Torborg. "I said to him, 'How badly do you hurt?' He looked at me in disbelief. He said, 'I could give you a good five innings.' I said, 'That wasn't the question. I asked how your arm feels.' He said, 'A little tight.' He didn't want to wear out the bullpen. I said, 'That's it. You know what we just went through?' We're not going to go through that again."
The Marlins considered their rotation a strength before losing three-fifths of it.
After placing Beckett on the disabled list, they purchased the contract of pitcher Dontrelle Willis from Double-A Carolina of the Southern League. The lefthander will make his major league debut Friday against Colorado.
Willis was 4-0 with a 1.49 ERA for Carolina, and is 27-5 with a 2.31 ERA in 54 minor league games, including 46 starts.
The Marlins have lost six in a row to fall to 15-21, tying them with the New York Mets (14-20) for fourth in the National League East.
