After Roy Halladay was removed from a game with shoulder soreness, he was diagnosed with a strained lat. At that point he was given a six-to-eight-week timetable that some thought was realistic, and that some thought was optimistic. The standard practice in these situations, though, is to seek out a second opinion to make sure nothing was missed. Halladay and the Phillies went after a second opinion on Halladay's shoulder, and the word is in: the initial diagnosis was correct.

Matt Gelb:

A second opinion on Roy Halladay's injured shoulder is expected to show no differences than the original diagnosis of a strained latissimus dorsi muscle.

The six-to-eight week prognosis remains the same. But that timeline will not be concrete until two weeks from now when Halladay attempts to throw.

If you're a fan of Halladay, the Phillies, or really great pitching, you can choose to be encouraged by the fact that Halladay was supposedly "symptom-free" after exercising Tuesday. But he's still a ways off, which is something we hoped we'd never have to say about Roy Halladay. We want the best athletes to be something greater than human, and it's weird when they have human episodes.