07/28/2007 6:41 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA - Tony Armas is in. John Van Benschoten is out. And someone else is on their way up.
Coming on the heels of another disastrous outing for Van Benschoten on Friday, the Pirates optioned the 27-year-old right-hander to Triple-A Indianapolis hopeful that some work with Minor League pitching coach Jeff Andrews will be the first step to get Van Benschoten back on the promising track that made him a first-round Draft pick back in 2001.
As Van Benschoten said before packing up his belongings and heading back to Pittsburgh on Saturday, his objective in Indianapolis will be to pitch "exactly the opposite of what we saw up here."
After three starts that lasted a total of seven innings and resulted in 21 runs, that is probably a good place for Van Benschoten (0-5) to start.
"You can have great mechanics, but if you don't produce results, this is what can happen to you," he said. "This team needs wins and you can't send a pitcher out there to practice. [It's a] smaller stage [in Indianapolis]. [There are] less consequences."
Taking Van Benschoten's place in the rotation will be right-hander Tony Armas, who has made promising strides out of the bullpen lately after a forgettable start to the year. Armas started the season in the rotation, but was yanked from the starting role after building up an 0-3 record and an 8.46 ERA in seven starts.
Since then, work with pitching coach Jim Colborn has Armas' out-of-whack mechanics back on track and more importantly, has the right-hander's head back in a place where he can build off of a number of encouraging appearances.
"It feels good to just come back and pitch like before -- not like how the season started, but like I did [in years past]," Armas said. "I just want to finish up strong in these last two months and hopefully have some good games."
He's had some good games lately, allowing just one run in 12 innings of work. Those results came after Armas pitched just seven times in his first seven weeks in the bullpen, a time during which the right-hander was typically only called upon in games that the Pirates had already all but conceded as losses.
But lately, his breaking ball has returned to form and the strikeouts have been more frequent. As a result, Jim Tracy increased Armas' workload enough to the point where the Pirates manager feels confident that Armas has the longevity to be able to jump back into that starting role.
"He's been throwing the ball pretty well the last several times he's been out there," Tracy said. "If he's throwing the ball similarly to what he has done of late, there is a pretty good chance you could get five good innings from him. So we're going to move in that direction."
Whether or not Armas will be a permanent fixture in the rotation won't be determined until after he makes the start. The Pirates will announce a corresponding roster move on Sunday to fill the 25th spot on the roster.
Gorzelanny to miss start: Deciding to err on the side of caution, the Pirates will skip Tom Gorzelanny's spot in the rotation on Tuesday to give the left-hander some more time to rest his shoulder. Gorzelanny, who complained of left shoulder stiffness during his start on Wednesday, is now slated to pitch next Saturday.
"We are not getting any type of feedback from Tom Gorzelanny that this hurts," Tracy said, clarifying that the decision was not made because of a new setback. "This is just a pretty special arm we're talking about."
Gorzelanny will throw his bullpen session on Sunday and will throw at least one more before his next start.
With an off-day on Monday working in the team's favor, Tracy is able to move each of his starters up a day without sacrificing a full four days of rest for each. Paul Maholm will now start on Tuesday against the Cardinals, followed by Armas, and Shane Youman. Ian Snell will then open the Pirates' series against the Reds on Friday before Gorzelanny returns to the rotation on Saturday.
Minor matters: Triple-A Indianapolis Indians right-hander John Wasdin left his start on Wednesday with a right wrist injury after facing just seven batters and has since traveled to Pittsburgh to have the wrist examined. As of Saturday afternoon, Indianapolis coach Trent Jewitt had not received a report on the examination.
Indians pitcher Sean Burnett remains in Bradenton where he working to rehab his ailing left elbow, an injury that has kept Burnett out since July 3. Burnett's left elbow was examined earlier this month and doctors determined that the pain was a result of a nerve problem and fortunately not due to structural damages. No timetable has been set for Burnett to return to Indianapolis.
Rumor mill: Add the Braves to the list of teams that have expressed interest in Pirates relievers Salomon Torres, Damaso Marte and Shawn Chacon. According to a source in Atlanta, however, the Pirates' asking price -- a Major League ready talent -- is more than Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz is willing to offer.
Bucs bits: Opponents have 15 stolen bases in their last 15 attempts against Pirates catchers. The last runner to be thrown out was Milwaukee's Ryan Braun on July 4. ... Though Adam LaRoche said that he was "still feeling knotted up" on Saturday afternoon, the Pirates first baseman felt well enough to return to the lineup after missing two games from food poisoning. ... Left-handed specialist Marte has not allowed a hit to the last 27 left-handed hitters he has faced, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, is the longest streak of consecutive hitless at-bats by left-handed hitters against any pitcher this year.
On deck: The Pirates close out their series against the Phillies with one more game at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, beginning at 1:35 p.m. ET. Pirates righty Snell (7-8, 3.62 ERA) will make his fourth attempt at his first win since the All-Star break and will face Philadelphia right-hander Kyle Kendrick (4-1, 4.44).
By: Jenifer Langosch of www.mlb.com
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