The Oakland A's have placed opening-day starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right shoulder, the club announced Sunday. The move is retroactive to May 18 and right-handed pitcher Jim Miller has been recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
This is exactly one year to the date (as pointed out by Susan Slusser) that McCarthy went on the DL with a shoulder injury last season.
McCarthy, 28, is 3-3 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in nine starts, but he's been much better of late. In his last four starts, he's 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 26 innings -- and the numbers would be even better had Laz Diaz not botched a call in McCarthy's outing against the Rangers this past week.
Miller, 30, was up shortly earlier this season, putting together a 1.93 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings of relief pitching.
It is unclear at this point who will join Bartolo Colon, Tommy Milone, Tyson Ross and Jarrod Parker in the rotation with McCarthy out. Graham Godfrey has made three starts this season, but wasn't impressive at all. Brad Peacock is the top prospect left in the minors, so he's a possibility. The 24-year-old lefty is 5-1 with a 4.17 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 43 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings in Triple-A. And remember, the Pacific Coast League is a notorious hitter's paradise. Like Milone, Peacock was acquired in the Gio Gonzalez trade this past offseason.
