LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are concerned enough about some discomfort in Zack Greinke's elbow that they scratched his between-starts bullpen session heading into Thursday's outing.
They are still hopeful Greinke will start Thursday, but it's a situation they're monitoring closely, particularly because they already have three starting pitchers on the 15-day disabled list, with two likely lost for the rest of the season.
"He was having some soreness and things like that," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "I guess you would have to say something's come up medically, but nothing that's hit our radar or on my daily e-mails [of injuries]."
Greinke said his arm felt better in his latest outing, in which he pitched five scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers but needed 99 pitches to do it. He also touched 95 mph in that start, which led to hope his arm is bouncing back. That makes his decision to skip his bullpen a bit puzzling. It's not the first time Greinke has elected not to take the mound between starts and elected instead to throw off flat ground.
The Dodgers' starting rotation is a bit stretched with Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett and Paul Maholm on the disabled list and with Dan Haren's 5.30 ERA since May 1. Maholm has had season-ending knee surgery, and the Dodgers are doubtful that Beckett, who has a left hip impingement, will pitch for them again this season. It appears Ryu (strained gluteus) will return shortly after he is eligible.
