Geoff Baker reported earlier that Cliff Lee took a flight back to Seattle. Larry Stone tells us why:
Mystery solved: Cliff Lee has a right lower abdominal strain and was treated in Seattle today by team doctor Edward Khalfayan.
...
Lee underwent ultra-sound and was given platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection. He'll be re-evaluated in seven days.
On its own, this isn't horrible news. But then you go to the online injury tool and plug in "Cliff Lee" and get some unpleasant results. In 2003, Lee strained his right abdomen in camp and missed a bunch of time, only making 23 starts on the year between AAA and the bigs. Then, in 2007, Lee again strained his right abdomen in camp and missed most of April. That's a history, and when there's a history, one becomes worried.
PRP is promising, as it seems to have worked well on other injuries to other players, but this is both disappointing and ominous. Not only will Lee miss time now - these sorts of injuries also have a nasty tendency to linger, which, yeah. Welcome back, baseball!
I'm guessing this will probably stretch into the season. What a day.
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Hilarious* update: Stone says the team believes Lee got hurt in his home plate collision with Chris Snyder.
*not hilarious