9-News: 37.046 – More Staff Turmoil

[RonCo]

Injuries & Growing Pains Plague Nine Hurlers

LHP Callum Maybury made his big league debut this week, and it went about as well as you’d expect a journeyman minor leaguer’s debut to go. Five runs in six innings, allowing a grand slam and a solo job, all in one fell swoop. The team lost. No rosy story that hits you in the feels there.

On top of that comes news that Momcilo Djuretic, perhaps the team’s most consistent reliver this year, has been placed on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. He joins two other lefties on that list in Tim Oliver, and Jose Chavez. Unlike the others, the team is optimistic that Djuretic will return soon, perhaps as short as 3-4 weeks. All this around a team that has dealt with tough pitching news by basically tightening the belt and doing a 4-man rotation. “We asked Callum to pitch up here just to give everyone a rest,” said manager Bret Richards at the post-game presser. “He did that well.”

It’s bad enough that rumors have sprouted that the team is looking to move a player (probably outfielder Jorge Rodriguez, who has value, but remains a touch pricey) for a semi-reasonable arm. In addition to Maybury’s debut, the team is relying on rookies Han-lee Kim and Ernesto Ramos, which is dangerous, though truth be told they have both shown moments of brilliance embedded into their learning curves.

If there’s good news on the pitching front, it’s that young Curt Phillips, who has been yo-yoing up and down the organization, appears to be settling down a little-which would do the bullpen wonders. Perhaps another recall is imminent.

It all adds up to say that as the year turns to the second half, this is a club still struggling to re-define themselves after a decade of being all about Crash and Dogface.