masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe news on Jason Berken is more discouraging than we believed.

Berken told reporters that the MRI revealed a tear in his labrum and some inflammation in his rotator cuff. Surgery still hasn’t been considered and Berken didn’t completely dismiss the possibility of pitching again this season, but it seems more unlikely.

“There’s time enough for some good rest, and hopefully that kind of calms everything down, and at some point start a rehab process,” he said. “It could have been a lot…The news on Jason Berken is more discouraging than we believed.

Berken told reporters that the MRI revealed a tear in his labrum and some inflammation in his rotator cuff. Surgery still hasn’t been considered and Berken didn’t completely dismiss the possibility of pitching again this season, but it seems more unlikely.

“There’s time enough for some good rest, and hopefully that kind of calms everything down, and at some point start a rehab process,” he said. “It could have been a lot worse. I’m glad, obviously, that it wasn’t, but it’s disappointing and frustrating knowing that I’m shut down for a while.

“I’ve just got to stay positive. That’s what I did when I had Tommy John surgery in ’05 and I came back better than ever from that. I expect to do the same thing with this.”

Because surgery hasn’t been raised as a possibility, Berken said the tear “can’t be too extreme, which is good.”

Berken talked about rehabbing through the injury and coming back strong next year, which suggested that he didn’t expect to pitch again in 2010. Asked to clarify, he said, “I think it’s just a matter of how I respond to it. I’m going to take some good time off and see how my shoulder reacts to that time off. The last thing I want to do is rush back and make things worse. I’ve just got to be smart about it and take this very seriously and get after my rehab and move forward.”