Brett Marshall injured a tendon in his finger yesterday in his start against the White Sox. It sounds like he will be headed to the disabled list to begin the season. That puts Alfredo Simon into the rotation, though Bryan Price thinks he will only be needed once before Mat Latos is ready.
When I was watching the game yesterday I noticed that Marshall checked out his finger after a pitch and I was thinking that maybe he as developing a blister. Hopefully his tendon injury isn’t serious as his stuff was quite improved over last year and he has turned himself into a pretty solid prospect either as a starter or out of the bullpen.
This also opens up a spot on the roster for another pitcher. Maybe someone like Trevor Bell or Jose Diaz now push their way onto the roster or perhaps the Reds just go with someone already on the 40-man. That could be guys like Pedro Beato, Nick Christiani, Carlos Contreras, Daniel Corcino, David Holmberg, Curtis Partch or Chad Rogers. While some of them have been optioned out, if they are taking over for a player on the disabled list they can be brought up for the opener. Right now the bullpen seems wide open after JJ Hoover, Sam LeCure and Manny Parra.