Brandon McCarthy Returns Tonight!

Brandon McCarthy returns tonight, fresh off his stop on the DL!  McCarthy was really rolling before being shut down, winning six straight decisions earlier this season.  It sounds impressive to say that he hasn’t lost since April 21^st … until someone points out that he also hasn’t pitched since June 19^th.  I’ll choose to look at the former. 

There’s talk that the A’s might move to a six man rotation in an effort to give a little extra rest to the rookies, and to work McCarthy (and maybe Brett Anderson) a little less frequently.  I actually like this move and the logic behind it.  However, one or two 3+ game losing streaks within a few trips through the six man rotation and it would need to go away. 

We’ll see how things progress over the next few weeks as the A’s play the Central division (sans the Tigers) and the Rays through the end of the month.  As the Wild Card race rolls through August, all of these games become more important.  As always … Let’s go Oakland!!

One last, quick note; things are getting a little fancy here (sarcasm) and you may notice the poll over on the right hand side of the page.  What do you think?  Do the A’s make the Wild Card?