Cliff Lee has tear in elbow, will try to pitch through it

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee will attempt to pitch through a torn flexor tendon this season, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced Tuesday.

Lee experienced soreness in his left elbow Friday, and the club sent him to have an MRI. He received a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, which confirmed the torn flexor tendon.

The 36-year-old Lee was limited to just 13 starts last season due to similar elbow pain. He opted to rehab the injury after being told by three different doctors that there was a 90 percent chance it would heal without surgery.

[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Baseball: Sign up and join a league today!]

While Lee will attempt to pitch through the issue, Amaro said the team was “not terribly optimistic” that he can avoid surgery this time around. If Lee has surgery, he would miss six to eight months. Lee recently told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that having surgery now could end his career.

“If I have the surgery, this season will be done, possibly my career, I guess,” he said. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

The list of pitchers who have been able to successfully rehab this type of injury isn’t particularly long. Twins pitcher Ervin Santana opted for the rehab route back in 2009, and has averaged 207 innings per season since then. Roy Halladay was shut down with forearm soreness that he was told would eventually lead to elbow surgery, but he managed to pitch through it. 

Until last season, Lee had been a workhorse throughout his career. From 2008 to 2013, he averaged 222 innings per season with and a 2.89 ERA over 186 starts. He was limited to just 81 1/3 innings in 2014 after having similar elbow issues. 

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik