Cincinnati Reds' Ryan Madson Set to Visit Team Doctor in Cincinnati

Sorry to follow up bad news with more bad news, but Ryan Madson is going to visit the team doctor.

Earlier today, I published an article about Madson's elbow injury, which had him scratched from his minor league game today. Tonight, the Cincinnati Reds broke the news via their website that Madson would be flying to Cincinnati to be examined by team doctor Tim Kremchek.

There's no news thus far as to how serious Madson's injury is, but I assume that the organization will make the report public as soon as the severity of the injury is established.

When asked about the injury, Dusty Baker had this to say: "Nothing yet, he won't be analyzed until [Saturday]. He went back to Cincinnati. We won't know anything until [Saturday]."

The original diagnosis was just elbow irritation and it wasn't at all serious. Madson had pitched in a simulated game Tuesday and reported no problems, so the scratch from Friday's game came as quite a surprise.

Madson's injury has major implications for the rest of the pitching staff. If Madson goes down, Marshall will surely become the Reds' closer. Subsequently, if Marshall gets taken out of the setup role, Aroldis Chapman will almost certainly be moved back into the bullpen.

Kremchek is one of the best team doctors in the league, so when his diagnosis is released, we should all know exactly what's wrong with the Reds' star closer.

Whatever diagnosis comes out of Kremchek's office Saturday will have big consequences for the rest of the season.