Milwaukee Brewers: Jeff Suppan placed on 15-day DL

The Brewers have placed SP Jeff Suppan on the 15-day DL, with joint irritation in his right elbow, an injury he suffered more than five weeks ago in Washington while batting.

The move comes after the Brewers acquired last year's AL Cy Young, CC Sabathia, who, if you hadn't noticed already, has decided to drop the punctuation in his name to make it just CC, instead of C.C.

Suppan said he pitched through the irritation because it never hurt when he would deliver a pitch. The elbow only hurt when he would do random things like reach for his steering wheel or if he slept on it wrong.

However, during his start Sunday, Suppan felt some pain while he warmed up between innings. There is no structural damage to the elbow and the team figures rest is the best option, at least for now.

My Take

- Had the All-Star break not been near, Suppan likely would have just skipped a start and been back in the rotation. If he went on the DL anyway, he could have missed three starts.

But because the break starts Monday and a roster spot was needed for Sabathia, Suppan can go on the DL and still only miss one start, assuming he’s ready to be back in the rotation once his 15 days are up.

- It’s a good time for it because Suppan hasn’t been good over the last month. For June, he was 1-2 with a 4.33 earned-run average, and in two starts this month, he has allowed 11 earned runs in eight innings.

- Suppan’s injury means Yost still has plenty of time to decide who comes out of the rotation once everyone is healthy.

The best candidates are Dave Bush and Seth McClung, although both have had some strong outings during the last month. A possibility could be the idea of piggybacking starters so that either Bush or McClung starts and pitches a certain number of innings, followed by the other guy coming in to finish the game.

Another thought could be to start McClung on the road and Bush at Miller Park, because Bush has been horrible away from home. On the road, Bush is 1-6 with a 6.95 earned-run average, while at home he is 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA.

A third possibility could be starting a guy based on matchups. He does not want to put one of them in long relief and have him lose the endurance he’s built up as a starter.