Saturday, July 4, 2009

Another starter bites the dust; Richmond to DL

Things just keeps getting better and better (or you know, um...worse) for the Blue Jays. Yet another starting pitcher bites the dust. Scott Richmond is the latest casualty, marking the 6th member of the Jays rotation going down this season, and that doesn't even include Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan, who were on the shelf before the campaign even started.

Richmond has been feeling the effects of shoulder tendinitis the past couple of weeks, first surfacing in his start against the Reds June 24th. He pitched through the pain and was decent against the Rays in his last outing, logging 7 innings. The American League rookie of the month in April couldn't shake the pain in his arm so he decided to heed the advice of the medical staff and rest his ailment.

Richmond has been a bright spot in the wake of the plethora of injuries to the pitching staff, posting a 6-5 record with a respectable 3.69 ERA. He was due to start the 3rd game of the series in the Bronx Sunday, but will give way to rookie Brett Cecil. Lefty Brad Mills has been called up to fill the void left by Richmond.

It truly is a wonder how the Jays are above .500 midway through a season that has seen Marcum and McGowan not throw a single pitch, Jesse Litsch lost for the season, Roy Halladay and Ricky Romero head to the disabled list, Casey Janssen and Robert Ray nursing injuries, and now the latest, Richmond, going down.

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