Lannan's strange Saturday

Today should have been John Lannan's day to pitch. It was his turn in the rotation. Of course, Lannan is not starting today against the Marlins because of a swollen left elbow. Matt Chico gets the nod instead.

Lannan, though, is doing his best to act today like he is pitching. He did all his usual pregame work. He played catch from 100 feet for about 10 minutes. And then he stopped and now will have to spend the rest of the day watching from the dugout.

"This is the best I've felt," he joked. "I didn't walk anybody. I didn't give up any hits."

This was the first time Lannan had thrown since his ragged start last Sunday in Florida. In the six days since, he just did a lot of running, doing more long-distance running than he normally would in midseason.

Lannan remains on schedule to start Thursday in Colorado, and he'll go back into his regular routine the next few days leading up to that. He'll play catch again tomorrow, just like he would the day after starting. He'll throw a bullpen side session Monday, just like he would two days after starting.

"Today during the game might be a little weird, but I know I needed this rest," he said. "I'm glad that they gave it to me, and I'm glad I said something. I could have kept pitching and it could have gotten worse. This rest was something I needed. I'm glad everything's worked out so far."

Lannan could have tried to pitch through the elbow pain, but he believes that could have been detrimental in the long run.

"I've seen guys with injuries and guys hold back and not say anything," he said. "But I don't lie really. I'm a horrible, horrible liar. As soon as I felt something, I told them. I'm not making anything up. It just didn't feel right. So I told them, and we have an idea what's going on and I got rest."