Right-hander Brandon Webb expects to be available for his next scheduled start April 17 after missing one turn because of soreness in his right shoulder.
The $54 million contract extension that was pulled off the table last summer because the Diamondbacks could not find an insurance carrier to sign off on the deal after Webb took a physical examination last summer? It might not ever come back. "They (insurance doctors) are not familiar with" the condition of a major league pitcher's shoulder, Webb said. "That's what is aggravating. They also said there was a tear in the rotator cuff. There is no tear there."
Webb met with arm specialist Dr. James Andrews in the offseason and said Andrews found nothing abnormal in his shoulder.
Webb was given an MRI Thursday after saying he had felt shoulder stiffness for a week and a half. He gave up six runs and six hits, including two home runs, in four innings of a no-decision in an opening-day start April 6. He was scratched from a Saturday start two days later when the soreness lingered.
In the final stages of agreeing to a long-term extension last season, Webb underwent a physical exam in early June and was cleared by team physicians, including D-backs orthopedist Dr. Michael Lee. But when the D-backs attempted to buy insurance on the deal, companies would not sign off because of concerns about his right shoulder.
The D-backs pulled the deal off the table in late June before signing Dan Haren to a four-year, $44.75 extension in Aug. 5.
Webb, 29, is to make $6.5 million this season, and the D-backs have a $10.5 million option for 2010. The D-backs have a $2 million buyout.
DIAMONDBACKS 9, DODGERS 4: RHP Jon Garland won his first career start for the Diamondbacks in his first career start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up three runs in seven innings at Chase Field. OF Chris Young had three hits, including his first home run of the season, and was a triple short of the cycle. 2B Felipe Lopez had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice.
