Well I'll be damned, as recent as last week the Phil's were in a quandry about which one of their six starters was going to be pushed into doing some time in the pen.  Now all of a sudden, they may be starting the season with a pitcher too few in their rotation.

Projected ace and giant offseason aqcuisition Freddy Garcia is nursing a sore bicep, and may very well be on the DL on April 2nd when Brett Myers takes the field opening day against the eastern division rival Braves.  Though there doesn't seem to be any severity to the injury, there is a chance Freddy may not go in the second game of the year.

No big deal, right?  We had an extra starter in Lieber anyhow, he hasn't even gotten a chance to get used to his bullpen role yet, just throw him into the number two role until Freddy's ready to throw... Only problem is - Lieber's hurt now too.

Uncle Charlie announced Sunday that he expects the right hander to miss about ten games with a sore oblique.  I have a question, after the ten days are up and Lieber  is ready to throw again, will he be able to pitch on an everday basis without re-aggravating the injury? 

There was a lot of question as to whether his body would be able to handle the rigors of middle relief pitching while he was "healthy".  If he can't go an inning or two on a regular basis he's not going to be a very effective relief pitcher.

So what are the options now?  I guess Eude Brito's trip down to the minors will be ultra brief, and Charlie Manuel is going to have to adjust his rotation a bit after opening day to allow Garcia enough time to be 100%.  The last thing the Phillies need is an ongoing problem with the pitching staff early in the season.

I thought, finally, my days of worrying about starting pitching in Philadelphia were over.  Suddenly the weight of the world is looming very close over my shoulders again.  Hurry up and get better Freddy, the hopes and dreams of an entire city are resting on that right arm and you can't possibly hold all that weight with a sore bicep.