The preliminary report is that Henry Rojas has a strained back and will be out for 2 weeks, which means he will miss the series. He was having a great playoffs so far hitting .529-3-8 with 3 doubles and 7 runs scored, striking out only 1 time and walking 4, so he is going to be missed a lot!
The official word hasn't come down, but we can't take chances so we are going to have to update our roster. Rojas will be sent to the 11-day DL and removed from the playoff roster. I also decided to go with 11 pitchers, and 13 position players, and the unlucky pitcher removed from the roster was Allen Williams. It was a tough call between Williams or Angel Rivera, but in the end I decided Rivera has earned the slot to be the #11.
With two open slots on the roster and the need for a catcher Mark Bolton was added. Bolton hit .301 in AAA (123 AB's) and .455 (11 AB's) in September for us, so I am hoping if he is needed he will be able to come through. And the only other player available for the playoff roster was Carlos Franco. With Franco I have a little more flexibility (I think) and more infield defense on the roster.
The injury to Rojas hurts and I only hope Mike Baldwin will be able to put at least 1/2 of what Rojas did.
Not starting Paul Brown in game 5 was risky, but it also means he is fully rested for Game 1. And yes if he is a little tired for Game 5, it won't matter, because that will be his game.
I am ready to make things happen and I hope we can make do with these roster updates.
DelMarVa Championship Preview coming soon...