Danks Headed to DL. Quintana to Pitch Friday

When he last pitched on Saturday against the Cubs John Danks experienced some shoulder tightness, which would explain his early exit after only 83 pitches. Here I was thinking Robin Ventura was just trying to stay ahead of things. Danks was first scratched from his start for Friday against the Indians, to be replaced by Jose Quintana in that contest. Now comes word that apparently he will see some time on the DL.

This may not be the worst thing. Danks has been less than effective this season excepting a small handful of quality outings. Theories about his performance have definitely leaned in the direction of his contract. Either that he’s trying too hard to prove his worth as a staff ace or that he’s taking it easy now that he’s got a nice giant paycheck coming in. It’s possible he’s been experiencing a little roughness with his shoulder for a while and not speaking up about it. He wouldn’t be the first pitcher guilty of the move.

On the 10 day DL, Danks will miss a couple starts and hopefully be ready to go at full strength after that. If he needs to miss more than that, there may be some issues filling that rotation spot, though it’s a problem we already thought we would be dealing with during the whole Chris Sale flip-flop.