Jae Seo pitched 5 decent innings but left the game with a blister on his right index finger, the one with the broken fingernail. Art Howe has said that Seo will make his next start on schedule.
Wilson filled in at catcher while Mike Piazza started his second consecutive game at first base. Jason Phillips started at catcher on Wednesday.
I respect his (Leiter's) decision of not wanting surgery but if this is going to cost him innings and/or effectiveness then he owes it to his teammates to get it checked out and see what the issue is and learn how to deal with it. That's part of being a team player and a team leader.Well it turn out that my words were prophetic. Leiter will miss his scheduled start on Sunday (against the Houston Astros and Roger Clemens) because of the shoulder. Leiter has flown back to New York to have his shoulder examined today. I'm no medical person but I have to question the wisdom of not getting it checked out earlier. Who knows if he could have avoided missing a start if he would have just gotten it checked out earlier? And what additional damage may have been done by pitching in this condition? The answers to these questions are secondary. The real issue is that we should not have to question a guy like Leiter who, as a team leader, should know that his health is an important ingredient to the teams chemistry. When you're hurt you don't wait for it to get worse. You get treatment right away and minimize risk.
