"Good" news on Felix ... for now; check back in five days

In contrast to last night, that sound you hear today is Seattle collectively exhaling.

The official word from Dr. Khalfayan, arm guru of the Seattle Mariners, is that Felix Hernandez has a flexor-pronator strain. The good news is that it sounds a lot worse than it is. He'll lay off the throwing for about five days, then be re-evaluated.

"That's as good a news as you can get from an elbow injury," the doctor told reporters.

We're probably looking at 10-20 days to come back, and two to four missed starts. Not what we all were hoping for coming into the year, having Felix essentially miss 3-5 turns while the team is trying to get off to a solid start, but certainly not the worst news we could have received.

The injury apparently is being compared to J.J. Putz's arm troubles at the beginning of the spring, if you're looking for a frame of reference.

Whew.

As a side note, had Felix continued to pitch, the doctor said he could have damaged the ligament severely enough to require Tommy John ligament replacement surgery -- you know, the procedure that puts guys on the shelf for a year and a half, then they return as a shell of their former selves.

I guess that puts quite a hole in Skip Bayless's theory on ESPN's Cold Pizza this morning that Felix took himself out becuase he was embarrassed at getting shelled in the first.

Skip, you are the definition of a hack.