Meche to the DL.......
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/29...bled-list.html
Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2010
Royals put Meche on disabled list because of shoulder injury
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
BOSTON | Gil Meche doesn’t have an explanation. There’s no biting pain in his shoulder, but renewed inflammation – diagnosed as bursitis – forced his return Saturday to the disabled list prior to the Royals’ game against the Boston Red Sox.
“I don’t why this keeps happening,” he admitted. “We’ll look into it and see what happens. I don’t know. It sucks.”
Veteran lefty Bruce Chen will replace Meche in the rotation Sunday when the Royals conclude a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park. Right-hander Brad Thompson will be the first alternative out of the bullpen.
”It was a coin flip between Chen and Thompson,” manager Ned Yost said. “But (the Red Sox) have a few more lefty matchups, so we went with Bruce.”
The Royals also recalled right-handed reliever Victor Marte from Class AAA Omaha to replace Meche on the active roster. Marte was in uniform for Saturday’s game.
Meche’s time on the disabled list is retroactive to Wednesday – the day after his last start. The tipping point came Friday when Meche experienced soreness in a pre-game throwing workout.
“It’s achy, a tendinitis feeling,” he said. “I played catch (Friday), and it didn’t go well obviously. So, I’ll miss a couple of starts and do what I’ve got to do to get it strong.”
The Royals say Meche is already responding to treatment and believe he will be ready to pitch the day he is eligible for reinstatement: June 10 at Minnesota.
“It has gotten better but not to the point where he can start (Sunday),” Yost said. “Could he make his next start? Probably. But why push it? Let’s put him on the DL. The day he comes off is his turn to start. So in reality, he’s only missing one (other) start.”
Meche, 31, battled shoulder, back and neck injuries for much of the last two seasons. He said his current problem is similar to what he experienced in spring training, which forced him to open the season on the disabled list.
“We’ve been trying to monitor it since spring training,” he said, “and doing a lot of things to keep the inflammation down. It just kind of came back.”
Meche returned April 11 to active duty but went 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA while tying for the major-league lead with 34 walks in 48 2/3 innings over nine starts.
“I’ve been saying all along that I don’t walk this many guys,” he said. “I’m just not having the control, not having the release point. I’m not getting on top of curveballs. That is a result, probably, of whatever is going on in my shoulder.”
Coincidence or not, Meche’s decline began after throwing a career-high 132 pitches last June 16 while pitching a complete game in a 5-0 victory over Arizona at Kauffman Stadium.
Meche landed on the disabled list less than a month later and is 2-9 with a 7.52 ERA in 18 starts since that shutout against Arizona. His injuries and ineffectiveness stand in contrast to his first two seasons after signing a five-year deal with the Royals for $55 million. He compiled a 3.82 ERA in 2007-08 while leading the league with 68 starts.
Chen, 32, served as a starter through much of his 12-season career but has pitched only 9 1/3 innings of relief in 10 appearances since returning April 23 from Omaha. He is 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA.
“I know they want four or five innings out of me,” he said. “I’m feeling good. I haven’t pitched in five or six days, and I feel I can go out there and help this team.”
Yost said the Royals considered summoning a starter from Omaha for Sunday’s game but opted instead for a combination of Chen and Thompson.
“You bring a starter up,” Yost said, “you’re not really upgrading anything. But Marte had been throwing lights out. If you put Bruce in that spot and back him up with Thompson, now you can upgrade the bullpen with Marte’s arm.”
Marte, 29, spent two days with the Royals last month as a short-term replacement following an injury to reliever John Parrish. Marte allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings April 29 at Tampa Bay in his only appearance prior to returning to Omaha, where he is 3-1 with a 3.46 ERA in 14 appearances.