The Brewers continue their push for the second NL Wild Card spot as they look to win their series against Mets this afternoon at Miller Park. However, they will have to do so without Corey Hart. Hart has been sidelined for the last six games since he partially tore the plantar fascia, the connective tissue that runs across the bottom of the foot, in his left foot a week ago. Hart did running drills this morning, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, and all did not go well. Hart, who was able to run in a straight line but suffered discomfort when making stops and turns, said, "It’s a little frustrating. Today was the first day I tried to run the bases, and it didn’t go as planned.” Elsewhere from the NL Central:
- The Cardinals, currently tied with the Dodgers for the final NL Wild Card berth, may receive a boost from Chris Carpenter, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Carpenter threw a 90-pitch simulated game yesterday and manager Mike Matheny suggested only a poor recovery from the session could derail his return to the active roster sometime next week.
- In a separate piece, Strauss suggests the 2013 Cardinals will look remarkably similar to this year's version.
- The Pirates can blame their second-half swoon on their pitching, writes John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times. The Pirates have shaken up their rotation by replacing James McDonald with Kyle McPherson.
- Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told reporters, including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Biertempfel, the team will not be going to a six-man rotation. Hurdle informed Jeff Karstens today management wants to see the right-hander work out of the bullpen before considering putting him back into the rotation.
well the pirates should of gone with a 6 man rotation or least least given each of the starters a break in the rotation. mcpherson and wilson should of been starting soon after the all star break.
Matheny*
This is the sweet moment where I get to say, Told You So! not that anyone I was telling earlier in the year that the Pirates would struggle down the stretch due to inexperienced pitching is ever gonna read this post….. Honestly though, even if they still make the playoffs they aren’t going anywhere in it, because these last few weeks have shown they just don’t have the starting pitching, which is arguably more important than hitting. Not for me, but meh, its like Goaltending in Hockey, you get further with it and a decent defense than 3-4 Elite Forwards. Forwards are still better though!!
They made it further this year before folding than they did last year. I think it is a pretty good time to be a pirates fan, give them a year or 2 and they’ll be where the Brewers are now.