Rhett Bollinger reported yesterday on MLB.com that long reliever and spot starter Anthony Swarzak cracked two ribs on January 25th at Twinsfest, and will be out for a month.
September 22, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak (51) walks off the field after being relieved against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s the quote from Terry Ryan:
“When he was up here for TwinsFest, he was messing around with a couple guys and cracked a couple ribs, so he’ll be out a month,” Ryan said. “He was wrestling around. It was some horseplay. He was out with a couple friends and the team and cracked a couple ribs fooling around. It wasn’t a fight or anything. It was just bad judgment wrestling around.”
With pitchers and catchers set to report in less than a week, what does this mean for Swarzak and the Twins? Swarzak’s spot on the club may already have been in jeopardy due to the presence of Rule 5 draftee Ryan Pressly and a lack of consistency I discussed briefly in my article on Kevin Correia.
Although Swarzak should be able to return to the mound before the team heads north, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Twins put Swarzak on the DL in order to give Pressly a long look in the Majors before figuring out what they want to do with the converted reliever.
If you liked reading this, tweet it: traffic helps pay my bills. You can follow me here, and like us on Facebook here.