John Lackey returned to the mound after a 17 month absence following reconstructive elbow surgery. Unfortunately his return would be truncated after he re-injured his right arm in the 5th inning vs the Blue Jays.
As reported by ESPN Boston the injury took place after Lackey threw a 2-2 pitch in the dirt to Jose Reyes, and Lackey immediately grabbed his arm in agony.
Lackey is flying back to Boston for an MRI and for now he’s listed as having suffered a bicep strain. Red Sox skipper John Farrell explained what transpired after Lackey left the mound:
“The testing he went through in the training room after some time elapsed, the test strengths, the manual testing in here showed good strength, almost full strength,…So there are some initial positive signs here, but we can’t rule anything out and that’s why the exam will take place.”
After the game which was a 5-0 Red Sox loss Lackey stated:
“It felt like a pretty good cramp, almost like … all biceps, wasn’t elbow. Pretty frustrating. It was scary when it happened, for sure…I felt a little something tight on the pitch before, but it grabbed me pretty good on the last pitch,”
This scare is just another setback for the 34-year-old right handed pitcher who hasn’t pitched since September 25 2011. Lackey has held his own in his return until the snag, with 8 K’s.