Apparently, the Marlins are considering, for whatever insane reason, to let Ricky Nolasco take the mound again.
Nolasco said a 15-minute throwing session off a bullpen mound, one designed to test the torn meniscus in his right knee, went well Wednesday. Now he must wait to see if swelling results. He also must prove during drills Thursday that he can field his position.
If he clears those hurdles, he will start Saturday.
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Asked if he has entertained the thought, at this late stage in the season, of shutting down, Nolasco replied: ``Absolutely. If I feel any little thing, I'm just going to shut it down. . . . I'm going to be smart about it.''
Oh, yeah, I believe that one of the Marlins most competitive players is going to be "smart about it". He has a torn meniscus and maybe with rest it won't require surgery, but I doubt it. Chris Coghlan tried to play through the same injury and made it so bad that they couldn't use the scope and had to cut his knee open. This is just not worth it. I know Ricky wants to pitch and help the club but the chances of the Marlins putting enough wins together to win the wildcard are very remote.
It seems to me that we should err on the side of being too cautious and make sure we have starter 1B ready to go next season. Heck, if were are going with an all rookie outfield for the rest of the season, just so we can get a look at least one them when playing in the majors, we can do the same with some of the members of the rotation.
Sure, no one recently brought up or in the minors is as good a pitcher as Ricky, but so what. The Marlins turn to shine isn't this season, but maybe, just maybe, it will be next season and for that to happen, Ricky needs to be healthy.