Rich Harden to the disabled list, Brandon Boggs up

First, I don’t think Harden will be eligible to come off the DL next Sunday. He went on retroactive to 8/8, so he’s not eligible to come off for the start next Sunday. Thus, we need someone for at least two starts, not one.

Second, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harden parked on the DL until Sept. 1, for obvious roster management reasons.

Third, Holland has now had four AAA starts on his rehab assignment. Given that Feldman pitched on Friday night and hasn’t been in the rotation for several turns, I don’t think Feldman has any better chance of getting into the 6th than Holland does.

Fourth, if you look at their entire body of work this year, Holland has clearly been better than Feldman. HIs AAA numbers are a sub-2.00 ERA, and his limited major league starts were better than Feldman.

For those reasons, I don’t think there’s any doubt that if you are just considering who is the better option for Tuesday night between Feldman and Holland, Holland is the choice. Now, given the current injury situations with Cruz and Francisco, it may make sense to give Feldman the start to preserve the roster spot for other reasons, but not because Feldman is a better starting pitcher than Holland right now.

FInally, if you are really worried about starting Holland on three days rest (a situation that could have easily been averted until minimal forethought), you can come with Hunter on Tuesday and Holland on Wednesday, since Hunter only threw 50 pitches Friday night. That also makes Harden an option the next time the 5th spot comes up in the rotation.