According to the team’s official site, this week’s series against Chicago will feature Jeremy Sowers today, followed by Aaron Laffey and David Huff. Three pitchers that were not on the roster at the beginning of the season will be taking the hill against a division rival. But of the three, the biggest story may very well be Laffey.
Easily the best numbers of the three (3-1, 3.93 ERA), Laffey will square off against Jose Contreras tomorrow. But is he ready to toss at the big league level already? Missing the last several weeks with a strained oblique muscle, Laffey was absolutely torched during his rehab stint in the minor leagues. In Columbus this past Friday, he allowed seven runs on 10 hits in only four innings of work.
Apparently, he blamed the rough outing on trying to “locate” his four-seam fastball. Needless to say, it was frequently spotted in the outfield after being hit very, very hard.
Right-hander Tomo Ohka is still on the active roster, but he will be losing his spot in the rotation to the returning Laffey. No word quite yet on where Ohka will end up. Albert Pujols would prefer if he found his way to the NL Central.
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
Why move Ohka out of the rotation instead of Sowers? Isn’t it obvious that Sowers has no future as an MLB starter? Why not try to transition him to the bullpen now and just let Ohka eat innings?
laffey cant be any worse than Sowers…
Here is what I would do:
Ohka is a clown, but i’d rather see if they could turn Sowers into a reliever. DFA Mike “Goose” Gosling, move Sowers to the pen and pitch him in two inning spurts. Keep Ohka in the rotation until Fausto is ready.
Right on TD.