Milwaukee Brewers: Will Shaun Marcum's Injury Drag Him Down Again in 2011?

With the rash of injuries that have hit the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, Crew fans are wondering when it's going to stop. 

It seems like it's a case of "when it rains, it pours," after Shaun Marcum left his start against the Chicago White Sox early.

After working three scoreless innings and only allowing one hit, Marcum complained of shoulder stiffness and was removed from the game.

He missed his next start and was shut down from throwing for almost a week.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke announced that Marcum would start on Saturday against the Mariners. The club is hoping the tightness he felt against the White Sox is just a small bump in the road to a huge season for Milwaukee.

With Zack Greinke out until at least the latter part of April, the Brewers can not afford to lose another front line starter from the staff.

Marcum has had experience with being injured. After a breakout year in 2007, arm problems in 2008 led to him being put on the Disabled List and sent down to the minor leagues.

In September, he was called up when the rosters expanded and seemed to be back in form. He was taken out of a start on September 19 of that year because of elbow pain.

The Jays soon released the information that Marcum would have to undergo Tommy John surgery and may miss the entire 2009 season.

He did not miss the entire year, but he pitched the whole season in the minor leagues. To prevent injury, he was shut down late in that season.

In March of 2010, Marcum was named the Opening Day starter, replacing Roy Halliday who had been traded.

He went on to win 13 games for the Blue Jays and prove himself to be the ace of that staff.

Will his injury linger and drag him down in 2011?

As of now, it appears he's ready to take the mound again. The Brewers wouldn't send him out if they had any concerns about his long term health.

The stiffness was in the shoulder area and not in the elbow, where his previous injury had been.

Milwaukee will get more answers Saturday, but for now, they seemed to have dodged a bullet.

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