FanHouse BrianLawrence

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (71-56) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (65-61)-9:40PM Est.

The Diamondbacks are hoping that the same Brandon Webb who's taken the mound in his last three starts comes to the park tonight. Webb has pitched three consecutive shutouts, and hasn't given up a run in his last 42 innings of work. Somehow that's only good enough to qualify him for 12th all time-in the early 1900's batters apparently preferred licorice over wooden bats-but it's the longest such streak since Orel Hershiser pitched a record 59 innings without giving up a run in 1988. I'm not saying he can't do it, but I don't think Webb is going to last 18 more innings to break Hershiser's record. Of course, the Diamondbacks won't care as long as he pitches well enough to get them a victory. They're one game away from being swept at home by a Brewers team that's supposed to be falling apart. Instead the Brewers have outscored Arizona 16-4 in the first two games of this series, and remain tied with the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Jeff Suppan starts for Milwaukee, and he's been the opposite of Brandon Webb lately. He's 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA over his last ten starts and hasn't won since June 22nd.

If you thought his 12.21 ERA through his first three starts of the year were bad...you were right. But Hensley got even worse news after leaving Wednesday night's game against the Nationals in the third inning with a strained groin.

"It doesn't look good," manager Bud Black said
...
"It looks as if it is going to be a disabled list injury . . . this could be longer (than 15 days). We'll know in a couple of days after an MRI is taken."

The problem, aside from the injury, is finding someone to replace Hensley in the rotation. The likely candidate is triple-A pitcher Justin Germano, who's spent time with the Padres previously, and was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia in spring training. The other three top candidates either are struggling in the minors (Mike Thompson and Tim Stauffer) or out for the season with injury (Cesar Carillo). Another logical fit is former Padre pitcher Brian Lawrence, who was cut by the Rockies recently, and could make his way to San Diego.

This might not seem like a hit to the Padres, but it is. Hensley won 11 games last year and sported a 3.71 ERA in 29 starts, and he had made back-to-back quality starts prior to injuring his groin Wednesday night. San Diego can only hope Hensley won't be out for long.

Ordinarily a pitcher winning the fourth spot in the rotation of a team widely projected to finish last in its division isn't the sort of story that greases my keyboard. HOWEVA, when no other media outlets have reported said news, it warrants a post. That being said, I happened to speak with Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd Saturday (and don't ask how -- for all you know it could've been while we were playing battlepiss at the urinals), and he was highly complimentary of pitcher Jason Hirsh's performance this spring, volunteering the news that HIrsh is their No. 4 starter. And yes, this is worthy of a post because at last report, the Rockies official website said Saturday:

As a candidate for the rotation, Hirsh knows he needs to produce results.

The Denver Post said Friday:

With all signs pointing toward Jason Hirsh sticking in the rotation, Brian Lawrence could insert himself into the fifth-starter derby Saturday.

And the Rocky Mountain News said Thursday:

[Byung Hyun] Kim's inconsistency, though, makes it difficult for the Rockies to react too quickly with [Josh] Fogg: The two of them seem to be the most viable candidates for a spot in the rotation behind Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis and Rodrigo Lopez, and, based on how things have gone so far, Hirsh.

As far as I can tell, none of these outlets have officially billed Jason Hirsh as the No. 4 starter. So here you go guys, please see if you can confirm the news for me. Also, keep in mind that our conversation took place before Hirsh got bombed by the White Sox later in the day...but O'Dowd can't be that capricious could he?