The New York Mets had declared closer Frank Francisco unavailable for Saturday night's game against the New York Yankees due to a "side injury".
Now, we know more about what this undisclosed injury turned out to be, and it's not good news for the Mets or their fans:
#Mets place RHP Frank Francisco on the 15-Day DL, retroactive to June 23, with a left oblique strain.
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 24, 2012
Oblique injuries are tough to come back from, especially for a pitcher; Francisco could well miss several weeks.
Eric Simon of SB Nation's Mets blog Amazin' Avenue has the rundown of how the Mets will replace Francisco:
Bobby Parnell will get the first crack at closing games in Francisco's absence. His strikeout and walk numbers are very good — 30 whiffs and just eight walks in 30 innings — and he's pretty clearly a better option than any of Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, or Miguel Batista.
The Mets will continue to go with a short bullpen for the time being; most teams regularly carry twelve pitchers but the Mets will make do with one fewer than that.
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