Five Pitcher Injuries in a Week Prompt Roster Ripple Effect
Two career minor leaguers will now make ML debuts in the coming week
Chicago, August 18, 2051 - The injury bug struck the pitching rosters of the big league and AAA clubs, with five hurlers knocked out in the space of a week. The result was a ripple effect throughout the entire organization as 23 pitchers shifted clubs to fill rosters.
The ML injuries to relievers Pedro German and Fernando Bruno (out for the year with a rupture tendon in a finger) were coupled with injuries to three pitchers at AAA Carolina.
That means two career minor leaguers will make their big league debuts as starters in the coming week.The front office promoted Eduardo Correa and Garry Bryan -- neither of whom has ever sniffed a major league locker room -- to start in the coming week. Neither is expected to fare well in Chicago, but with 15 pitchers throughout the organization now injured, the front office can't be too choosy.
Meanwhile, Kenny Kelly, who had notched two horrible starts for Chicago the previous week after an injury to Ramon Camacho, was demoted back to AAA. And SP Ray Verhoeve, acquired in a trade with Rockville earlier in the season after other injuries, was demoted to the bullpen after notching a 7.59 ERA in seven starts with Chicago. ("Rockville hoodwinked us," whined one front office type).
All of these moves at the ML level left five -- count 'em -- five pitching vacancies at AAA, so thus began a series of musical chairs in which AA pitchers were promoted to Carolina, A pitchers were promoted to AA Beloit, and SA pitchers were promoted to A Grand Junction. Keeping score? Here's the rundown:
Put another way:
Correa, 27, gets his start after eight long years in the minors. He was drafted in '43 by Atlantic City. He tallied an impressive 2.86 ERA in seven starts in AAA, and that was enough to warrant his cup of coffee.
Bryan, for his part, was an undrafted amateur signed by Madison back in '42, so he has spent nine seasons in the minors before this week's promotion. He had 17 starts at AA this season with a 3.15 ERA and was lights out in 10 relief innings at AAA.
When asked for comment on this huge freakin' mess, GM Mike Dunn was curt. "We're not crying about injuries. Every club gets injuries. We're not crying. No. Not at all."
