You can't handle the truth!

So J.P. Ricciardi has come clean and told the faithful that B.J. Ryan's back was never the issue in spring training.

"First of all, it wasn't B.J. Ryan's back that was bothering him," Ricciardi said on the radio. "It was his elbow that was bothering him. So we said it was his back so we could have a little bit more time.

"So we knew his elbow was bothering him in spring training."

Funny, we would never have sniffed that truffle out for ourselves.

In J.P.'s defense, the ballclub doesn't really owe it to the media or fans to be completely up front about issues, given the competitive environment in which they exist. (Can you imagine trying to fashion a deal for a Scott Linebrink or any other bullpen help if the other team was aware of how desperately you may need that help?)

But here's the more salient question: if you know that your pitcher is having arm trouble, why let him try to pitch through it?