Season Update

Since my last post about Jamie Moyer at the beginning of the month, there have been three losses, an upward creeping earned run average, and now this - not good news for my favorite pitcher. Also, my oldest son and his family went to a Mariners game in Seattle last week - Boston beat my team in 13 innings. On top of all that, he and his family were all decked out in Red Sox fan garb. This is definitely not a good week in baseball for me.

Phillies' Moyer Not Ready to Call It a Career Just Yet

It's uncertain whether the 25-year major-league career of Jamie Moyer ends here. Until doctors present him with a full diagnosis next week, Moyer doesn't want to speculate publicly about his future. However, when asked, the 47-year-old pitcher said he was indeed holding out hope on making a return this season.

"That's my goal," Moyer said at his locker before Friday's game. "But again, without having a full diagnosis, I think it's only fair [to wait]. I think that's the competitor in myself, that I want to pitch. But if my arm doesn't allow it to happen, then it's not going to happen.

"But right now, I believe I'm going to make some sort of - I don't want to say 'comeback,' but I'm going to make some sort of an attempt to be able to get out and pitch competitively."

After throwing 18 pitches in the first inning Tuesday in St. Louis, Moyer was replaced by Drew Carpenter, who had been recalled earlier that day from triple-A Lehigh Valley.

On Friday, Moyer said he didn't feel anything unusual prior to Tuesday's game, other than the day-to-day aches and pains players normally endure. Moyer was put on the 15-day disabled list with sprained ulnar collateral ligament and strained flexor pronator tendon in his left elbow.

"I didn't really feel I had a major concern about anything at that point, up to that start," he said.

Moyer will undergo further tests to determine the severity of the sprain. He said Friday that he's not sure when a prognosis will become available or when testing will be complete. However, he said it's possible he will hear from doctors sometime in the middle of next week.

On Thursday, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Moyer's "going to be out quite some time."

Moyer's MRI exam on Thursday showed injuries. Surgery remains a possibility. He underwent two operations during the off-season, neither to his pitching elbow, and returned with a clean bill of health, working his way into the Phillies' rotation.

Through 19 starts this season, Moyer went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Moyer said he feels the need to fulfill his contract and work toward putting himself in a position where he could return to the mound. And while the possibility looms that he's perhaps played his last game, he doesn't want to concede that just yet.

"It's one of those situations where you don't want it to have happened," he said. "But if it happens, it happens. There's nothing I could do. I can't turn back and change anything. The injury's the injury. You live with it. I really feel I can look myself in the mirror and know that if that was my last outing, then, you know what, so be it. I've given it my best and I've really enjoyed my career. But at this point, I'm not looking at that being the case."

By Mario Aguirre

Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted on Sat, Jul. 24, 2010