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Last night's suspicions proved right on. The Dodgers' Eric Gagne underwent an MRI exam today and will sit for a few days to see if an inflamed ulnar nerve and stiffness in his pitching elbow subside with rest and medication. "It felt a lot better this morning than it did after the game last night," he told reporters Wednesday. "We just want to be really cautious about everything in that elbow, so they did an MRI today because they want to make sure everything's fine and everything's clean." MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, who saw the signs during Tuesday night's game, reports today:
Gagne experienced discomfort warming up in the bullpen Tuesday night, but pitched anyway, retiring the New York Mets in order in the ninth inning for his first save in nearly a year. But in his second appearance since April 7 surgery, his fastball slowed to 89 mph and he was noticeably uncomfortable on the mound.
Doctors who removed a sensory nerve running just under the skin near the elbow in April diagnosed this discomfort as emanating from the ulnar nerve that runs through the elbow. The tingling experienced when the "funny bone" is struck comes from the ulnar nerve....
Gagne said it is believed that he "overthrew" or "turned over the changeup too hard," pinching off the nerve, resulting in inflammation that creates fluid. He said every time he threw the changeup, his elbow felt worse, and he could not get full extension on his fastball.
The Dodgers wouldn't have needed their ace closer Wednesday anyway. Starter Odalis Perez coughed up four runs in the first inning and the Dodgers lost to the Mets 9-7.
Photo: Leff Lewis/AP via MBL.com