During last nights broadcast, Rod Allen mentioned that Mike Maroth’s elbow was hurting him again. Today Maroth was hammered. Maroth’s elbow has been a recurring problem since spring training. With only throwing 27 pitches today, hopefully he can make his next start. Otherwise the Tigers will probably dip into AAA and recall Wil Ledezma or Jordan Tata. I’m not sure that either would start, but they could make Roman Colon or Jason Grilli available to slide into that spot.
Also, Vance Wilson was supposed to get the start today. But he stepped on a ball while running during batting practice and rolled his ankle. It sounds like only a sprain, and it hopefully won’t be serious. In the meantime it will probably just mean less time off for Ivan Rodriguez. And in the event that Pudge gets hurt, the Tigers have a plan for emergency catcher. If you were thinking Brandon Inge or Chris Shelton you’d be thinking logically, and you’d be wrong. Instead, your emergency catcher is none other than Ramon Santiago.
I never would have guessed it would be Ramon, but Leyland’s reasoning is sound. Although, after what happened with LeCroy tonight, Leyland may have second thoughts. He certainly wouldn’t be “putting Santiago in a position to succeed” if he was used as a catcher.
This insight, combined with LeCroy’s evening, raises an interesting question. How many games are caught by an emergency catcher in any given year?
If Ledezma didn’t get the call, I’d hope they give serious thought to giving Zach Miner a chance.