For anybody who watched Brandon Webb get lit up by the Rockies on Opening Day it was pretty obvious that there was something not quite right about the Diamondbacks ace. His velocity was down and he was leaving his sinker up in the zone, allowing Rockies hitters to tee off pretty liberally.Afterwards Webb and the Diamondbacks said it was just some shoulder stiffness and that it really wasn't anything to worry about, Brandon would be fine for his next start. Well guess what? Webb came to the park today and told the team his shoulder still didn't feel right and now he'll be missing his next start.
After playing catch on Tuesday, Webb said his shoulder felt good, but when he reported to the ballpark on Wednesday, he told the training staff he still had some stiffness in it.In Webb's place will be Yusmeiro Petit on Saturday against the Dodgers.
D-backs manager Bob Melvin said the team will wait to see how Webb feels on Thursday before deciding whether tests will be required. Webb was scheduled to see team physician Michael Lee on Wednesday.
As Melvin said in the excerpt above, the team is going to wait until Thursday to see how Webb feels before deciding whether or not to take any further steps, but the prospect of possibly having to put Webb on the disabled list can't be one that's helping Melvin sleep at night.
It's not time to panic in the desert quite yet, but you can probably start chewing your nails.
