
At first glance,
Matt Garza of the Rays leaving Tuesday night's start with nerve issues in his right arm seemed like little more than the latest reminder that few things are as tenuous as the arm of a young pitcher. From
Mark Fidrych to
Francisco Liriano with many stops in the middle, it's a story we know all too well. After the game, though, Garza said something interesting about
when the injury first surfaced.
Garza said it surfaced late last season, with him typically "pitching through it. This time it was just real bad. I knew something was up."
Late last season Garza pitched for the Twins before being dealt to the Rays for
Delmon Young this winter. Twins manager
Ron Gardenhire denied knowing
anything at all about the problem.
"If he said he was hurt, I'm not going to call him a liar or anything like that. But he should have let us know that he might have had an injury. Normally, it's good when the team you are pitching for knows that. But I doubt that he had any injuries here."
The Twins and Garza had a somewhat stormy relationship, the remnants of which you can sense from Gardenhire's denial of any wrongdoing.