Kevin Millwood wasn't too bad yesterday, although I was fearful that his outing was going to end up being for naught. And I tend to think that, if Victor Martinez hadn't hit that double, Millwood would have been given the chance to close out the game for a complete game one-hitter.
Edinson Volquez will have his next couple of starts skipped, so he can focus on doing side work with Mark Connor. His next start is apparently going to be September 16. Given how much Volquez has struggled his last couple of starts, I don't have a problem with this.
John Rheinecker will be pitching out of the pen the rest of the way, apparently auditioning for a possible LOOGY job for 2007.
A couple of other random thoughts...
Jesse Carlson has yet to allow a run for Oklahoma in 11 innings, after posting a 4.66 ERA for Frisco. His ERA in Frisco wasn't great -- and he allowed a lot of unearned runs -- but he posted a pretty solid K/BB ratio of 45/18 in 58 innings for the Roughriders.
He's a darkhorse candidate to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason, since, as was discussed when the Rangers signed him, if he's not added to the 40 man roster, he becomes a free agent. He's an interesting potential bullpen candidate down the road, so I wouldn't be shocked if the Rangers added him to the 40 man just to keep him from leaving the organization.
Jamey Newberg's latest Going Deep column is up, explaining the rule that requires players to spend ten days in the minor leagues after they've been optioned.
The Beaver County Times reports that the Rangers have interest in having Kip Wells (whom the Pirates, the BCT's home team, traded to the Rangers a little over a month ago) come back in 2007, if they can do a low-base, heavy-incentive deal. I'd be fine with that.
Ryan Howard may have run his home run total up to 52 yesterday, but Carlos Beltran is still the N.L. MVP at this point, and I don't see that it is really all that debateable. Beltran, offensively, is just about even with Howard, factoring in their respective home parks, and of course, he has a huge edge on defense.
And sad news for zywica...Fabio Castro had a disastrous outing last night for the Phils, coming in with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th, no one out, and the Phils up 6-3, and allowed a run-scoring fielder's choice to Adam LaRoche, followed by a three-run homer to Matt Diaz to allow Atlanta the lead. Only a two run bottom of the 9th got Castro off the hook and preventing him from being saddled with his first major league loss. Castro's ERA for the Phils has now skyrocketed to 0.87.