CLEVELAND — Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona is expected to be sidelined four weeks with a strained left hip. An MRI exam revealed a moderate strain of an exterior muscle in Carmona’s left hip, Lonnie Soloff, Cleveland’s head athletic trainer, said Sunday.
“The good news is that there was no damage to the interior, which would have been much more serious,” Soloff said. “If all goes well, Fausto should be able to start playing catch in about seven days.”
The Indians are expected to activate right-hander Jake Westbrook (strained rib-cage muscle) to take Carmona’s place in the rotation, which has an AL-best 3.21 ERA this season.
Footnotes.
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada expects to play four or five games in extended spring training as he continues to rehabilitate his injured throwing shoulder.
Posada is headed to Tampa, Fla., where he will hit and catch but not be allowed to throw during the first two games. If all goes according to plan, he’ll add the throwing in his third game. Manager Joe Girardi hopes to have Posada back within two weeks.
• Jon Lester’s father has a highly treatable form of cancer, the Red Sox left-hander and lymphoma survivor said in an interview with ESPN.
Lester, who threw a no-hitter against Kansas City last week, made a return to the majors last year after being diagnosed with a rare form of non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006.
• Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus was back in the lineup after a brief bout with stomach pains, which forced him out of a game the night before and resulted in a trip to a hospital.
• Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson will spend extra time at Double-A Altoona on a rehab assignment, but still plans to rejoin the Pirates on Tuesday.
