Armas Jr. placed on 15-day DL
Rotator-cuff strain but results of MRI better than expected
The Expos placed starter Tony Armas Jr. on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a right rotator-cuff strain, a move retroactive to April 21, the day after Armas's last start. He gave up four homers in the second and third innings of that game against the Reds in Puerto Rico. "Maybe (the injury) had something to with that," manager Frank Robinson said. "He was OK afterward; he felt it the next day after the start." Armas did have an MRI on the shoulder, the results of which apparently were better than the club expected. In other words, there's no cause for major concern. "Nothing real serious, unless he went on to pitch with it," Robinson said. "(The doctors) felt if he continued to pitch with this thing, it could become a problem." The shut-down period for Armas is 10 days and he wouldn't have to make any rehab starts in the minors if the total injury period is only the 15 days. "He's not a happy camper, you can understand that," said Robinson, who takes more of a big-picture, season-long view than his players do.
New face on mound: Right-hander Zach Day, scheduled to start tomorrow, will now move up and start tonight. Right-hander Claudio Vargas, who pitched Sunday in the minors, will take today to get acclimated and will make his major-league debut tomorrow afternoon. Vargas had shown the best form of the pitchers at Triple-A Edmonton. That's why he was demoted to Double-A Harrisburg last week while the Expos were in Puerto Rico, the idea being to have him nearby in case the bullpen was decimated by the anticipated, but never full realized home-run derby at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. While he was there, Vargas went 1-0 with an ERA of 0.75 (one earned run in 12 innings) in two starts and was named Eastern League player of the week. The bullpen got through Puerto Rico and Vargas jumped back to Edmonton Wednesday; he's now a big-leaguer anyway, for a completely different reason. Vargas was 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in two starts with Edmonton to start the season.
Timing is everything: The Expos avoided Arizona's Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling because of injury and they'll miss the young, talented duo of Roy Oswalt (19-9 last year) and Wade Miller (15-4) when Houston comes to town.
Rotator-cuff strain but results of MRI better than expected
The Expos placed starter Tony Armas Jr. on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a right rotator-cuff strain, a move retroactive to April 21, the day after Armas's last start. He gave up four homers in the second and third innings of that game against the Reds in Puerto Rico. "Maybe (the injury) had something to with that," manager Frank Robinson said. "He was OK afterward; he felt it the next day after the start." Armas did have an MRI on the shoulder, the results of which apparently were better than the club expected. In other words, there's no cause for major concern. "Nothing real serious, unless he went on to pitch with it," Robinson said. "(The doctors) felt if he continued to pitch with this thing, it could become a problem." The shut-down period for Armas is 10 days and he wouldn't have to make any rehab starts in the minors if the total injury period is only the 15 days. "He's not a happy camper, you can understand that," said Robinson, who takes more of a big-picture, season-long view than his players do.
New face on mound: Right-hander Zach Day, scheduled to start tomorrow, will now move up and start tonight. Right-hander Claudio Vargas, who pitched Sunday in the minors, will take today to get acclimated and will make his major-league debut tomorrow afternoon. Vargas had shown the best form of the pitchers at Triple-A Edmonton. That's why he was demoted to Double-A Harrisburg last week while the Expos were in Puerto Rico, the idea being to have him nearby in case the bullpen was decimated by the anticipated, but never full realized home-run derby at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. While he was there, Vargas went 1-0 with an ERA of 0.75 (one earned run in 12 innings) in two starts and was named Eastern League player of the week. The bullpen got through Puerto Rico and Vargas jumped back to Edmonton Wednesday; he's now a big-leaguer anyway, for a completely different reason. Vargas was 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in two starts with Edmonton to start the season.
Timing is everything: The Expos avoided Arizona's Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling because of injury and they'll miss the young, talented duo of Roy Oswalt (19-9 last year) and Wade Miller (15-4) when Houston comes to town.
