Fingering Wagner | The Phillies' first injury of spring training is an inflamed middle finger on new closer Billy Wagner's throwing hand. An MRI turned up no structural damage to the finger, and Wagner will sit out for a week to allow the swelling and pain to subside. According to news reports, he tried to spin the news positively:

"It's good timing," Wagner said. "You have to look at the overall well-being of the team. We have guys like [Tim] Worrell and [Rheal] Cormier in the bullpen to pick me up. If Billy Wagner is out, it's not the end of the season."

Yeah, yeah, I know that when the Phils picked up Worrell and Roberto Hernandez, they made a big deal out of having guys who could step in if Wagner went down. But it's no secret that they're counting on Wagner to be The Man -- without him, they're back to the scuffling, who-do-we-use-now? days of last September. Let's hope that a splint and some Advil have Wagner back on the mound and throwing fireballs in no time. (It also would be nice for him not to refer to himself in the third person.)