Anderson and Bautista Nearing Return

Brian Anderson and Denny Bautista can't return quickly enough. It sounds like they'll both go back into rotation after the break, which according to this article in the KC Star, could be the end for Lima.

I love Lima's attitude and presence, but he's bordering on delusional in recent weeks. He makes these crazy statements about once he wins his first game, he'll get on a roll and put several wins together. Well, that didn't happen. And now he's saying this: "If you look at my ERA, all of the damage has come in one inning. There's always one inning where I give up three or four runs. Erase five or six bad innings this year, then I'd be in good shape."

Couldn't every pitcher who is having a bad season say the same thing? It's not like pitchers who are struggling give up three runs every inning. They usually have one or two bad innings per game and before they get out of it, their team is several runs down.

Anyway, Anderson threw 35 pitches in a workout yesterday and claimed to have good stuff. He's supposed to throw a bullpen session this weekend in Kauffman and then head to Wichita to begin a rehab assignment on Monday. Anderson hasn't exactly been lights out since 2003, but we could certainly use him in the rotation right now. He's got a great attitude and he knows how to pitch.

I will say that I'm less optimistic about Bautista. Before he went down, he wasn't listening to Pena regarding pitch selection and he's got a 5.80 ERA to show for it. But he does have good stuff and perhaps Bell won't put up with his attitude.

I'm wondering if our rotation won't look something like this after the break:

1. D.J. Carrasco
2. Runelvys Hernandez
3. Brian Anderson
4. Denny Bautista
5. Zack Greinke

That rotation won't exactly strike fear into the hearts of opposing teams, but it'll have to do. It's hard to believe that our best starter is a guy who started the year in Omaha, isn't it?