Garland out with strained oblique

*** UPDATE ***

An MRI confirmed that Garland will miss four to six weeks. The Dodgers won't need a fifth starter until April 12, so it's possible he'll only miss a start or two.

***

The durable Jon Garland just got hurt.

Lasting only until the second inning against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, Garland was removed after straining his left oblique muscle. It's not known exactly as of yet how long he'll be out, but this type of injury usual takes at least a month, if not longer.

The ironic thing is that the Dodgers signed Garland because of his reputation for pitching inning after inning. Eight times in his career he has pitched 190+ innings, including an even 200 with the Padres last season.

But the Dodgers will now have to look to other options at the start of the season. Vicente Padilla is the "swingman," but he is once again battling injury problems of his own, and isn't expected ready until May at the earliest.

Just who can the Dodgers turn to? A couple guys are John Ely and Tim Redding. Ely made 18 starts last year, going 4-10 with an enormous 5.49 ERA. He does have six scoreless innings thus far in spring, though. Redding seems like he's been pitching since Lincoln was president, but he has eight scoreless innings in spring.

The good news is that Garland got hurt now, and not during the season, so there is a silver lining. If the Dodgers have to endure a few starts from someone else in the #5 spot, so be it. They still have a great chance to win plenty of games because of their top four in the rotation.