GOODYEAR, Ariz., March 20 (UPI) -- Cleveland Indians reliever Kerry Wood will be out 6-to-8 weeks with a strained shoulder muscle, team officials said Saturday.
Indians head athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer that Wood had strained his right latissimus dorsi muscle, located under shoulder, and underwent an MRI examination Thursday after complaining of pain in his right arm pit.
"It's a setback," Tribe General Manager Mark Shapiro told the newspaper. "In the second half of last season Kerry showed dominant numbers and was a dominant guy. We haven't really had any challenging news this spring. You expect something to come up."
Soloff said Wood's injury was a "moderate strain," adding, "This is an area that Kerry usually experiences soreness in during spring training. After the soreness hadn't resolved in four or five days, we worked it up diagnostically with an MRI. The MRI revealed the strain."
The injury means Chris Perez -- obtained in a trade from St. Louis last year -- will open the season as the Indians' closer, The Plain Dealer reported.
