Scratched from his Thursday start and placed on the disabled list with the same elbow problems that shelved him earlier this season, Joe Blanton will now get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews.
Meeting with Dr. Andrews is never a good thing for a pitcher and beyond that Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “the Phillies are still unsure of the problems inside Blanton’s right elbow” and “Blanton expressed some doubt as to what is going on in his elbow.”
In other words no one knows what’s going on, although at this point the decision to let Blanton pitch through elbow pain previously looks like a very questionable call for the pitcher and the team. In between the DL stints Blanton had a 5.50 ERA in six starts.
At the very least he figures to miss a few weeks and even if Dr. Andrews doesn’t discover anything that requires surgery you can be sure the Phillies will be a lot more patient bringing Blanton back this time.