The first part is not true. They can send Duffey down and if it turns out he is too hurt to pitch they can retroactively put him on the mlb DL. They also could put one of them on the DL. Either one is fine. All I ever hear is that we have a ton of SP depth and it takes 7 or 8 starters to get through a season. If that is true, then why are we afraid to put one of these guys on the DL? In Ervins case, he'd only miss one more start. Second, I don't think Plouffe is anywhere near returning. This is typically a 6 to 8 week injury, and while everyone heals at a different rate, I don't think I've heard any reports of him swinging a bat.