The offensive juggernaut that is the Toronto Blue Jays has hit the first roadblock to AL East dominance: Closer BJ Ryan, former All-Star and doppelganger to the "that thing got a hemi?" guy, has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained elbow.
This comes on the heels of his last few, un-BJ-like appearances, including Saturday night's loss to the Tigers which saw him cough up four runs in the top of the ninth. In this young season, Ryan's carrying a 12.46 ERA and two blown saves compared to four blown saves throughout all of 2006.
But is it just a strain? In a newspost at bluejays.com, Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi offered a worst-case scenario.
The initial tests performed on Ryan's arm by Toronto's medical staff didn't indicate any structural damage, according to Ricciardi. Still, the Jays' GM said he couldn't rule out the possibility that the left-hander might have to undergo Tommy John elbow-ligament replacement surgery -- an operation that would effectively end Ryan's season.
"I prepare myself for the worst. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't," Ricciardi said. "But I don't think that's the case. The preliminary [tests said] it's not that, but if it is, then what are we going to do? Call the league up and say we don't want to play anymore?
"When you lose a guy like that, it puts you behind the eight ball," he added. "But I also think, if he's not right, it's not helping us either. So we have to get him right and see where it goes from there."
With Jason Frasor stepping in to take on the closer role, the question will be, can the Jays keep themselves from losing any ground 'till the Beej comes back. For today at least, the answer was "yes"; in their first game sans Ryan, the Jays kept the Tigers in check, winning 2-1 behind Josh Towers.
