Nick Blackburn's Thigh Injury?

Following the game, Manager Ron Gardenhire mentioned that RHP Nick Blackburn had an injury in his thigh? I translate that to meaning... we need an excuse to get him out of this rotation because he is really bad. Need an injury to get him to the DL.

But, if Blackburn would go on the DL, who would start?

My assumption:
Anthony Swarzak would move to rotation with Jeff Manship taking Swarzak's long relief job.

Could also be:

Brian Duensing or Cole DeVries. (DeVries would need a 40 man roster spot to open up)

Manship went 5 for Rochester tonight, could be stretching him out

Seth,

Everytime Blackburn gets rocked the team doctors come up with some mysterious injury. It's getting pretty old!! When will management admit he is terrible and just outright release him. Nobody would pick him up anyways.

Looking at the Twins website I only see 38 players on the 40 man.

Dipping into AAA has been the best bet so far. My vote is give DeVries a shot.

I would like to see DeVries get a shot too.

Bullpen has really been worked this week. Maybe we will see Slama while giving Duensing or Swarzak a start.

What about Bromberg? Is it time to move him up to AAA at least to eventually getting a look later?

I'd be against Duensing starting, but I'm fine with Swarzak if they then go with Manship or Slama in the bullpen. I'd be fine with Manship starting.

Bromberg could be moved up to Rochester anytime to start.

Honestly, I don't care who gets a start if it's in place of Nick Blackburn. We have seen enough of him. (or at least I have)

Nick Blackburn was battling a sore left quad throughout his start Wednesday night against the Tigers.

Blackburn wound up allowing six earned runs in just two innings to Detroit. The Twins can skip his next turn in the rotation because of an off day in their schedule and seem likely to do just that. The 30-year-old righty has an 8.37 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in seven starts this season.


Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Manship also went 89pitches tonight. Looks better than the 5IPs. Ive hated Blackburn since he first came up.......cant wait till he's gone.

Will they ever learn? If he has any kind of injury, put him on the DL. If they can skip a Blackburn start, they only lose one more. Some might argue that it is really a loss.

The last time they didn't DL him to get one start over 15 days, they had to DFA Luke Hughes. Blackburn was awful in that one extra start. Why not bring up Slama and have Swarzak, Duensing or even Liriano take that start a week from Saturday?

I have asked a few times, do they really need 13 pitchers? With this starting rotation in may not be enough. Let's get another arm for the pen.

Yup. If there's ever a case where DLing makes sense whether he needs it or not, this is it. Don't let him use up one of the 13 roster spots already allocated to pitchers just to sit there for 11 days. He's already done that once this season and it's only mid-May.

Hell, if it were up to me, I'd DFA him and hope somebody claimed him and his contract. If nobody does, send him to Rochester. He's had enough chances.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

I'd be against Duensing starting, but I'm fine with Swarzak if they then go with Manship or Slama in the bullpen. I'd be fine with Manship starting.

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Ditto.

And now I predict the diagnosis for Blackburn: unilateral leg weakness.

Apparently Blackburn said it felt like "a knife sticking in his leg". Based on that description, and the fact that it hurt a little, went away for a few days, and came back....

I would be willing to bet money it's not a leg injury. It sounds like sciatic pain, likely caused by a bulging disc in his lower back. If that's the case, we won't see him pitch again until at least July, if at all the rest of this year.

Which means we'll need a long-term replacement. Swarzak and Duensing might do okay as spot starters, but I don't think either of those guys are going to be able to hold down a rotation spot for the next several months. If they think Liriano and Marquis are going to be halfway dependable starters by the end of June, then either of the above guys could fill in for a bit, but if there really is a chance that they'll dump Marquis and/or they don't think Liriano will start again, it's time to get DeVries his chance and start looking outside for some help too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

Following the game, Manager Ron Gardenhire mentioned that RHP Nick Blackburn had an injury in his thigh? I translate that to meaning... we need an excuse to get him out of this rotation because he is really bad. Need an injury to get him to the DL.

But, if Blackburn would go on the DL, who would start?

My assumption:
Anthony Swarzak would move to rotation with Jeff Manship taking Swarzak's long relief job.

Could also be:

Brian Duensing or Cole DeVries. (DeVries would need a 40 man roster spot to open up)

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They have an opening on the 40-man.

Im sorry to say,but Cole Devries would get hammered atthe big league level. I have followed devries career since he became a Twins and he has overcome the odds to make it to AAA. He doesn't have anything that screams major leaguer and as much as I like him and root for him there is no doubt in my mind that bringing him up would be a disaster. Since when do you reward a person for working hard and being a ok pitcher. That sounds crass but Devries is a C pitcher in the minor leagues and would be a F pitcher at the big leagues. I don't know where people all of a sudden think he is a good pitcher because he is an average pitcher. I really hope I am wrong because i respect the heck out of him with all he has been through from getting promoted and then demoted. He is a role model for fringe prospects to keep trying, but I can't say with a clean conscious that him coming up would be anything but a complete disaster. Devries is 31-42 with a 4.00 era in 6 minor league seasons nothing that screams promotion.

Not sure it matters, even if the new guy is worse than Blackburn, giving up 7 runs instead of 5, it's still PROBABLY a loss....so, it should either be a guy that is ready, or a guy that won't be harmed by coming up. I vote Manship or Swarzak. They've been good soldiers, and deserve to make some decent money for their efforts. There isn't really a better option anyway, so go ahead and reward those guys. I'd also like Slama up for the same reason.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by travistwinstalk

Im sorry to say,but Cole Devries would get hammered atthe big league level. I have followed devries career since he became a Twins and he has overcome the odds to make it to AAA. He doesn't have anything that screams major leaguer and as much as I like him and root for him there is no doubt in my mind that bringing him up would be a disaster. Since when do you reward a person for working hard and being a ok pitcher. That sounds crass but Devries is a C pitcher in the minor leagues and would be a F pitcher at the big leagues. I don't know where people all of a sudden think he is a good pitcher because he is an average pitcher. I really hope I am wrong because i respect the heck out of him with all he has been through from getting promoted and then demoted. He is a role model for fringe prospects to keep trying, but I can't say with a clean conscious that him coming up would be anything but a complete disaster. Devries is 31-42 with a 4.00 era in 6 minor league seasons nothing that screams promotion.

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Did you just seriously use a W-L record to evaluate a pitcher?! Good lord.

You are right, even though you don't say it, that DeVries is different as a reliever than as a starter. And I would not expect him to be very good in the majors, but what do you want the Twins to do at this point? Even DeVries starting is better than Blackburn. The Twins just cannot keep running these guys out there to pitch this terribly again and again and again. It is beyond absurd and I am not even confident that the law of averages is going to be on the side of Marquis and Blackburn. That's scary.

So how many days of sitting on the bench will it take for the Twins to retroactively place Span on the DL?