Kyle Kendrick Will Be Pitching In The Starting Rotation After All

The Phillies have to be playing some sort of bad April Fools Joke or something. Joe Blanton is not Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee. But there is one thing that he is good for and that is 190 innings per year of consistent and above average pitching. Well so much for that. Joe Blanton is starting the year on the DL and will be out for three to six weeks. Do not despair though as this means victory for Team Kendrick! Grandpa Moyer may be in the line up as well, but Kyle Kendrick is in the starting rotation for the start of the season. From Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki's blog, The Zo Zone.

The Phillies announced this morning that right-hander Joe Blanton has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a mildly strained left oblique muscle.

He is expected to miss anywhere from three to six weeks. The best case scenario is Blanton rejoins the rotation sometime during the Phillies' nine-game road trip April 20-28 through Atlanta, Arizona and San Francisco. In the meantime, Kyle Kendrick joins the rotation. Expect Andrew Carpenter to take Kendrick's place in the bullpen.

Blanton, who has never been on the DL in his career until today, strained the muscle while throwing in the bullpen yesterday. He will not throw again until April 8 at the earliest.

"We'll progress him as tolerated," team physician Michael Ciccotti said.

The biggest issue here is not the fact that Blanton is missing the first 3 to 6 weeks of the season, but rather that an oblique injury is an injur that can be recurring and can hamper a guy throughout the year once he does return to the line up. The season has not even started yet and the injury bug is already starting to bite the Phils pitching staff. In addition to Blanton, both Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero will be starting the season on the DL. Sigh.