In late February, Eric Gagne sprained the MCL in his right knee during a spring training workout. Following a delay caused by a bout of the flu, Gagne returned to the mound for the first time two days ago. He continues to experience mild discomfort in the knee and likely will take it easy for the rest of spring training, however he evidently plans to pitch through the injury rather than spend any time on the disabled list to open the season. Playing through the injury does not seem like a good idea, as pitching with a painful knee could disrupt his throwing motion and lead to other trouble. I would think the Dodgers would much rather be without him for the first few weeks of the season than risk having the injury create problems throughout the season.