Brett Cecil has battled through a nagging knee injury dating back to spring training but he kept pitching through it until it got progressively worse Saturday against Baltimore. The 23 year old rookie kept battling through it, but he couldn't bare the pain after diving for a bunted ball in the 5th inning. Attempting to retire Robert Andino by tossing the ball from his glove to Lyle Overbay, Cecil crashed to the turf, immediately fearing that the pain was too excruciating to continue. Cito Gaston came out quickly, and promptly removed the 5 game winner as a precautionary measure.
Cecil has surpassed his career high in innings pitched between AAA Las Vegas and Toronto with just under 120, and he was expected to be limited toward the end of the season. His knee, which will be evaluated Sunday, could land him on the disabled list where he'd join starters Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, Jesse Litsch, Robert Ray and Brad Mills.
Prior to Saturday's tilt, Cecil had won 3 of his past 4 starts, giving up just 5 runs in 27 innings while striking out 24 batters.
