RRS Named 5th Starter

by ~ April 1st, 2009 at 4:01 pm

Scenario B it is!

Ryan Rowland-Smith has been named the M’s 5th starter, according to Geoff Baker.

Seattle will go with 7 righties in the pen, likely Brandon Morrow, David Aardsma, Mark Lowe, Roy Corcoran, Jesus Delgado, Shawn Kelley and then either Miguel Batista or Chris Jakubauskas.

I was really upset at the possibility of Jakubauskas taking RRS’ spot, so this is good news.

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  • ernier

    Yes, this is very good news. I suppose they can keep Batista on a short leash and if he’s done let him go very early in the season and replace him with a lefty or Jakubauskas.

  • SABR Matt

    Unless RRS gets some life back in his arm by some miracle, he’s Jarrod Washburn but with ZERO command (read: horrible). I’d have rather seen Jakubauskas start.

    Did Seattle waive Jose Lugo? What happened to his chances of making it as the lefty in the pen?

  • ernier

    Lugo was retuned to the Twins

    RRS’s velocity was up a bit in his last start and he and the pitching coach didn’t seem too concerned in an interview I’ve read, so he should be fine. If not he goes to the pen, but he deserves a shot.

  • SABR Matt

    Yeah…I caught up on the Lugo thing immediately after I posted that. That’s very disappointing to me.

    As for RRS…I read that interview where the pitching coach made up some bullcrap excuse about RRS need to run in the morning and that wearing him out…Fact is…RRS threw 90-92 out of the pen but in the rotation his velo was 86-88 all last summer/fall. If he maintains a velo of 86-88, he is roadkill in this game.

  • Shawnuel

    Well, Matt, apparently, the M’s tried to work out a deal with the Twins but they wanted Lugo back. So, while it IS disappointing to lose him, at least the new regime again showed an eye for under-the-radar talent on the cheap.

  • ernier

    Agreed SABR Matt, if his velocity does not pick up he will be roadkill. Hopefully the decreased velocity is just building arm strength or something mechanical and not an injury.