I thought there was a time limit for rehad stints. There has to be a little more to the disable list than meets the eye. It would appear that they could put cycle him on the 15 day DL then start a 30 day rehab stint ad infinitum. I was thinking though that for the sake of the teams roster places they will need to stick him on the 60 man DL and free up a 40 man roster spot for one of the kids that might not be on the roster but could play this year.

Either way he is toast…

BJM

1. Don’t know about this one unless they wanted Marti’s defense out in RF. Dan Fox’s SFR really liked him as a corner outfielder so that’s possible. It’s also possible they’re still being cautious with Mather’s back.
2. I didn’t list that he walked anyone in those three innings but I didn’t call it out specifically. I don’t think I ever list “0BB” in the reports because (if i don’t list it) I assume that it’s recognized that there weren’t any. If not, that’s why we link to the box scores. As for the walks in a more general sense, I’m thrilled he didn’t walk anyone in 3 innings but those innings don’t negate the fact that control has been the thematic problem for McCormick. I’m not trying to overlook the fact that he walked no one, but neither am I going to champion 3 innings as problem solved. It’s a fine balance between pointing out the night’s events and trying to offer some big picture type insight on a daily basis.

1. Marti pinch hit for Mather in the eighth inning of a close game, not a normal occurrence, particularly since both are righthanded. Why? Did Mather re-injure himself?
2. You stated that walks have been a continual problem for McCormick, but then curiously failed to note that in his three scoreless innings last night he walked no one.

”The minute I made a mistake over the plate, they’d hit it,” Mulder said. ”I’d make two or three good pitches and then that one mistake, I’d throw a sinker away and I’d hit a little too much plate and they’d hit it to right field.”

That’s what happens when you’re throwing 85mph slop over the plate. And Mozeliak seemed to sneak in a sting:

”Obviously, it wasn’t an outing where he could just breeze through it. I feel at times it lacked a little effort, or intensity may be the right word. There’s still some work to be done.”

The article goes on to note that Mulder isn’t experiencing any pain in his shoulder. I seem to recall him saying he had no pain just before he landed on the operating table though. They’ll put him on the DL before they simply release him but I can’t forsee that option getting picked up.

Listen, when you barely pitch over the course of two years, you simply don’t regain your ability to pitch, your arm strength, your true mechanics in a few weeks or even months - it takes more time. This isn’t ’spring training’ for a guy who pitched all of last year - it’s ’spring training’ for a guy who has had two major surgeries in the last year, whose mechanics have been jacked up for a long time.

It’s going to take much longer than people think.

We’ve made an investment in Mulder, and we may as well follow through. What happens if he needs a couple more months, but he’s where he needs to be around the All-Star break? We might as well keep him and hope that the ‘real’ Mark Mulder returns, rather than him haunting us as a Dodger or something in the fall.

Besides, we’re playing the D-Backs a bunch in September, and I think fate is mapping out a Mulder vs. Haren showdown…