Clemens Shut Down for Regular Season

The Yankees announced that Roger Clemens will not pitch for the rest of the regular season due to his hamstring injury. This conjures up bad memories for Yankees fans of overpaid, old starters like Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson sustaining injuries just before the start of the postseason and subsequently pitching poorly to help get the team eliminated. The only good is that Roger’s problem does not need major surgery to be corrected, unless this hamstring problem is really a cover for his elbow acting up, which is a real possibility. Hamstring problems need rest. The rest of Roger’s body can use it too. He has pitched two of his best games this year against Detroit and Boston this year off long layoffs. This is not terrifying, considering Phil Hughes can step right into the October rotation in the very worst case, but it is worthy of at least some concern.