Music: {allcanada} Drabek has ligament tear, may need surgery

TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation took another hit Friday when it was revealed Kyle Drabek has suffered a ligament tear. He is scheduled to see Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

"The odd part about it is he doesn't have any pain," Blue Jays Gm Alex Anthopoulos told reporters Friday. "Guys have tears, there's guys all over the game that have tears and can throw with it. So from that standpoint, we just need to make 100 per cent sure."

Earlier in the day the team announced via a press release that Drabek was being placed on the 15-day disabled list with "a right elbow UCL sprain" and that left-hander Brett Cecil had been recalled from triple-A Las Vegas.

Cecil will make his season debut for the Blue Jays on Sunday at home vs. the Philadelphia Phillies.

Already down Brandon Morrow for an indefinite period due to a strained left oblique, losing the sophomore right-hander further depletes a staff that had been so strong to start the season but has tailed off some of late.

Drabek left Wednesday's 6-2 loss to Washington in the fifth inning after feeling a pop in his elbow while throwing a fastball. Initial tests showed no loss of strength or stability in the elbow, but further exams revealed the strain.

He had been hopeful after the start to avoid a DL stint.

"I had the Tommy John in '07, it's nothing like that, but it's always frightening," Drabek said on Wednesday. "Not too concerned. Once I ran through all the tests and I was strong, it was a relief. … It's just a little sore right now, obviously I want to go back out and pitch but it's up to the trainers and coaches."

In 13 starts this season, Drabek is 4-7 with a 4.67 earned-run average, working 71.1 innings while allowing 67 hits and a league-leading 47 walks with 47 strikeouts.

And now he's facing the prospect of going under the knife again and missing more than a year of baseball.

"It's just an odd case and we'll have more (information) on Monday," said Anthopoulos. "There's no question he might have to go down that path."

Via Shi Davidi here are some select Kyle Drabek quotes from Friday:

On how he's feeling: "I was down because they said they saw a little tear and right when they said that, I flashed back to when I had it previously. Hated going through it, you miss a year of baseball, you miss a year of hanging out with the guys. Today it's a little different because it doesn't feel the same way it did the first time, I still have mobility in my arm and when I had it before, everything was pained.

On whether the injury might have been there for a while: "He was wondering the same thing, we don't know. Up until the past week it's felt great. I'm hoping what they saw might have been there and it's just a little rehab. I'll wait to see.

"Haven't really talked much about best-case, worst-case. The best case is it's a month, two months of rehab, worst case is that it's completely torn and I have to miss a full year.

"I don't know that many guys who have gone through two. Talking with Frasor, after his second one he said he's felt great ever since. It's tough. If I have to have it again, it's going to be hard rehab because it was hard the first time and I'm sure it's going to be even harder the second time.

Has he talked to his dad about it? "He knows as much as you all do. He's pretty much on the same boat as me, hoping it's a best-case scenario, rehab a little bit, he's going to be coming up here, either (Saturday) or the next one, he's having trouble with his passport, so I don't know? He's in Cali but he left it in Houston. We'll see how that works out.

Does he consider the lack of pain a good sign? "A little bit, in the case that I can move my arm a lot better than I normally would and really the pain is just in the forearm and behind the elbow. It's what I'm hoping for. It's either a year thing or a few months thing."

Have you been in pain lately? "Not really, it was normal soreness, maybe a little bit more, but at game-time I felt great. It was getting a little sore in the game, but nothing that I wouldn't be able to pitch through and then the pop happened."

On what the first tear felt like: "I didn't really feel anything the first time, I was just throwing, threw a fastball and it kind of ached a little bit, didn't think anything, threw a curveball, felt fine, then I threw another fastball and the pain started happening. I don't hear or feel anything, it was just pain."

"This time I could feel the pop. It was in the back of the elbow so it was almost like I extended it more, almost like a shot-gun feeling."