The Phillies announced Friday that Pedro Martinez would skip his scheduled start on Saturday, and would be replaced by right hander Kyle Kendrick.
The announcement was made before the team’s Friday night game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Martinez left his last start, last Friday in Atlanta, in the third inning with stiffness in his neck. He did not throw a bullpen session during the week, which is unusual for most pitchers, but not Martinez.
“A lot of times I don’t throw a bullpen,” he said. “I only need it if there is a pitch that I need to work on.”
His neck has not totally healed, obviously, but Martinez says that it is improving.
“It’s still sore, but it feels better,” he said.
He is expected to only miss Saturday’s start against the Brewers, and will pitch Thursday against the Houston Astros. The move appears to be more of a precautionary measure than a cause for alarm. With the Phillies likely to wrap up the division over the next couple days, manager …
In a somewhat surprising twist, the Eagles invited former linebacker Jeremiah Trotter to workout with the team on Thursday.
“We had a chance to work out Jeremiah yesterday and I just wanted to see where he was at,” coach Andy Reid said. “He had his knee taken care of after he left here, so I wanted to get him in here and see him move around a little bit, which I thought he did a good job with.
“I haven’t made any decisions on it one way or another, I wanted to make sure that I had a pulse of where he was at.”
By bringing Trotter in for a workout, it is clear that Reid and the Eagles’ coaching staff are not content with the defense’s current run-stopping capacity. After the loss of safety Brian Dawkins to the Denver Broncos this offseason and middle linebacker Stewart Bradley to a season ending injury suffered during training camp, the Eagles are looking for a veteran presence up the middle.
Trotter, who …
Imagine this little number in Eagles green!
When the Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick to a two year deal the only people who were not surprised were the Eagles front office and Vick, his agent was probably stunned. Then Roger Goodell decided suspension until week three was enough of a penalty, Tony Dungy must be a heck of a salesman. Due to those two events we’ve been steamrolling towards this weekend, when he would actually step on to the field against the Kansas City Chiefs. Given Vick’s past actions the move has garnered understandable scrutiny and speculation; it’s even produced questionable marketing opportunities. Now I can’t help you navigate the complicated moral quagmire that is getting your dog a #7 jersey, I can tell you that getting yourself a #7 Ron Mexico jersey would be freaking sweet! I can also give you some easy answers to questions you might face at your local watering hole …
