Saturday, the Florida Marlins placed their ace starter, Josh Johnson, on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.
Josh Johnson Placed On 15-Day Disabled List With Shoulder Inflammation
In his most recent start, on May 16, Johnson left after five innings and 85 pitches, having surrendered just one run.
Aside from a rocky start against the Cardinals on May 5th, Johnson had pitched lights-out baseball this spring, and has a National League-best 1.64 ERA through 60 innings. He's one year removed, of course, from a campaign in which he led the N.L. with a 2.30 ERA and garnered serious Cy Young consideration.
In Johnson's stead, Jay Buente has been called up from Triple-A and is expected to start on Sunday. Buente has yet to make a start in the major leagues, but did pitch 11 innings of relief duty for the Marlins last year. At New Orleans this season, Buente has posted a 1.94 ERA in 42 innings.
As they seem to do nearly every season, the Marlins are overachieving so far in 2011; their 25-18 record is good for second place in the N.L. East. Starters Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez have pitched well, but Chris Volstad and Javier Vazquez have left much to be desired at the back of the rotation.
For more on Johnson and the Marlins, check out SB Nation’s Marlins blog, FishStripes.
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