Monday, August 22, 2011

Correia Joins Maholm On DL

OK, GW stuck his foot in his mouth again. After posting about the Buc pitchers hitting the wall inning-wise, he said not to worry about PM and KC; they've been there, done that. And now both are on the DL

Maholm has a shoulder strain; it was checked out today by Dr. Andrews - does that man ever sleep? - and the prescription was rest. Now Kevin Correia joins him with a strained oblique, and those can be nasty.

It looks like Bad Brad Lincoln and Ohlie may get spots in the rotation by default. But who knows exactly what will happen; the Bucs are in a roster jam now. Chris Leroux was recalled to take Correia's place, so all is dandy today. But Ohlie, who hasn't been officially added to the roster, is scheduled to start tomorrow, which leaves Correia's turn on Wednesday up for grabs. That will force another move, as the Bucs will have to call up a spot starter.

The Pirates have six infielders, and Steve Pearce still has an option this year, so another of his nine lives may be spent for Ohlie. Hurting himself in the first game today almost guarantees it.

But Wednesday is a poser. The only starter on the 40-man roster that's not with Pittsburgh already is Jeff Locke, and he hardly seems a likely candidate to throw against the Brewers with just two AAA outings under his belt. Unfortunately, there are no jump at ya candidates at Indy. The starters have by and large been barely treading water.

Altoona's pitching hasn't been much better, although converted starter Bryan Morris is on the 40-man, as is Kyle McPherson. Indy has Sean Gallagher, Brian Burres (who pitches tonight, so is out of the equation), and Aaron Thompson available. But none of that trio is on the 40-man, nor have they pitched well enough this year to belong on it.

The betting line is that Joe Beimel, who has been pretty much a BP pitcher since coming off his stint on the DL, may be the sacrificial goat for whoever takes the hill Wednesday.

It'll be a hectic couple of days.

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