Garcia has tenderness in right bicep

Phillies starting pitcher Freddy Garcia left Wednesday night's game after one inning against the Blue Jays with tightness in his right bicep. With two outs in the first, five straight Jays smoked balls off Garcia, who appeared to be throwing below the 88-90 mph velocity he had shown in his early outings.

Garcia, who's thrown 200 innings in each of the past seven seasons, said he was confident that he'll be ready to start the season. "I'm not worried," he said. "I have to do what I have to do to get back in. I know I'll be OK." Still, entering his contract year, the 30-year-old right-hander has displayed less-than-normal velocity since Spring Training began, so this injury represents a red flag. "He started off throwing 80 or 81 [mph] at the beginning," Amaro said. "He's a veteran guy and knows how to get himself ready. We were encouraged by the fact that he was improving before he had the tenderness."

If Garcia misses significant time, it would deal a blow to Philadelphia's playoff aspirations and make Jon Lieber untradeable, lessening their chances of landing an established setup reliever. It would, however, increase the likelihood of dealing center fielder Aaron Rowand to accomplish this goal. For now, the Phillies have no plans to switch Jon Lieber back to the rotation and will continue to feature him as a reliever. Early-season off days might also allow Philadelphia to go with a four-man rotation. Lieber lost the battle for the Phillies fifth spot in the rotation to Adam Eaton.