Peavy likely done for year

Jake Peavy knew it was bad the moment he hopped off the mound Tuesday night.

But the White Sox' starting pitcher was still hoping for the best when his injured latissimus dorsal muscle was examined Wednesday morning.

The news was really bad.

"I think what we were hoping for in this situation was there to still be some attachment," Peavy said. "I think this has happened and (when) there is still some attachment left, surgery is not required and the muscles, tendons, ligaments, whatever, start to reattach themselves.

"That's what I guess we were hoping for going in. It's what the doctors were saying (Tuesday) night. We had tests and an MRI today that showed that was not the case."

While throwing a pitch to the Angels' Mike Napoli, Peavy's lat muscle detached down his right side, and the 29-year-old starting pitcher is now facing surgery that will likely end his season.

"Having something completely detached from the back, completely retracted down

into my lat, not good news," Peavy said.

Before rushing into surgery, Peavy is going to visit Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., and he also plans to consult with another noted sports physician, Dr. Lewis Yocum.

A strained latissimus is fairly common in major-league baseball - Boston's Josh Beckett has missed nearly two months with the injury but could be back shortly after the all-star break.

A ruptured latissimus is much more serious.

"It's a rare instance; it's not going to happen a whole lot," Peavy said. "It's something we're counseling on. I know I'm going to see a couple doctors. That's advised by our doctor, simply because our doctor hasn't really seen a lot of this, he hasn't really seen this at all. So I see Dr. Andrews in Birmingham and

consult with and get a lot of opinions to find out the best way to handle this.

"(Surgery) looks to be the probable route. I think with the tear being completely off the bone and it (lat muscle) being retracted as far as it is, I think that they're saying (surgery) is the only way to go."

Peavy's mechanics are anything but smooth, and that likely led to his shoulder discomfort earlier in the season.

He had an MRI on June 15, and it came back clean. But Peavy's scheduled June 17 start at Pittsburgh was pushed back two days, and the right-hander had been skipping his bullpen sessions between starts.

As for the detached lat, Peavy said the injury is a fluke.

"It's just one of those things," he said. "I asked the doctor, 'Is there anything I could have done to have prevented this?' He said, 'You could have done all the shoulder exercises you could do.' I've been doing the shoulder program; it's just something that's a rarity. That's one of the tougher things.

"If you tear your labrum or your rotator cuff or have Tommy John, that's clear-cut. It's very common, you know what surgery it is, you know what timetable. I think all the uncertainty around this is what is bothersome to me."

Jeff Marquez was called up from Class AAA Charlotte to take Peavy's roster spot, but he's expected to pitch out of the bullpen.

Another Charlotte starter - Daniel Hudson - is likely to take Peavy's spot in the rotation on Sunday and pitch against Zack Greinke and the Royals.

"It's unfortunate, no doubt," White Sox starter John Danks said. "It's tough to watch, being a teammate but also a rotation mate. We think of ourselves as a pretty tight group, us five. It's actually ironic, we were talking two days earlier about how we'd like to be the only staff to go with five guys all throughout the year.

"Hopefully we didn't jinx him. But it's tough to see. It's unfortunate and you've got to feel for him, but we feel like we have the guys that can pick up the slack and we can still meet our goals."