Less than two weeks after shutting down Zack Greinke for a start because of over-use, Tyler Thornburg left tonight's game after being put in for a second inning in back to back games.
Thornburg spent the early parts of the season as a starter and is claiming fatigue on the arm, saying he's not used to the bounce-back needed to be a relief pitcher.
But the real question is, why did he get sent back out for the second inning? He had given up a run and two hits in his first inning of work and this was the first time all season he'd worked on back to back days. He also hadn't pitched in nine days. Of course, he pitched a simulated game on Tuesday to keep in rhythm, which likely didn't help with fatigue.
In addition, isn't he the likely candidate to re-enter the rotation after the inevitable Greinke trade? Doug Melvin told press today that Greinke won't be a Brewer by the tie Tuesday rolls around and he's scheduled to start on Sunday, though no one expects that to be in a Brewers uniform.
But scemantics like that aside, it's absolutely ludicrous for Roenicke to have trotted Thornburg out there for the eighth inning. The bullpen has plenty of other pitchers in it - he wasn't needed for long relief. Kameron Loe, Livan Hernandez and Manny Parra were all in a position to pitch there. The game was out of reach.
What possible explanation could Roenicke have for taxing Thornburg in that manner?
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Well - I don't know his reason because if someone was smart enough to ask that question Roenicke's post-game presser, neither Adam McCalvy or Tom Haudricour thought to mention it in their game recaps.
