Bryan Morris endured quite a bit of pain for a few days after straining an oblique muscle in his abdomen, which forced him to go on the disabled list this past week.
Morris said he tweaked his oblique pitching to the last batter in the first inning of his start April 18 against Harrisburg. The right-hander knew he had done it and pitched through the pain before finally removing himself after the fourth inning.
"I probably should have come out an inning earlier, but that's just the competitive nature," Morris said.
Oblique injuries are common in baseball, even if most people don't know exactly what they are or why they're so bad.
"After I came out of the game and I had time to sit down and let it tighten up, the pain was bad enough to where I couldn't sit down because I couldn't get back up," Morris said. "It was pretty rough for a couple days moving. I couldn't do the normal things like sit down or turn left or right.
"It's gotten a lot better. We took a week where I didn't do anything at all and just rested it. As of two or three days ago I'm pain free, so we're getting ready to start my throwing program and get back into it."
Morris, who also had an oblique injury as an amateur in 2006, hopes to be back on the mound around May 13.
The highest-rated pitching prospect on the Curve, Morris is 1-1 with a 3.14 in three starts.
