Bush is FINALLY benched!

I read with both surprise and amusement that Ken Macha has opted to start Manny Parra against the Redbirds Sunday night over Dave Bush…the official “reason” given appears to be that Bushy has a blister…but Bush is refuting that. In Tom Haudricourt’s blog for JSOnline.com, Bush states that “they” (presumably either Macha and GM Doug Melvin or Macha and pitching coach Rick Peterson) just told him that he wasn’t going to start…and that Bush is “surprised” according to Adam McClavy in his blog, and “not pleased” according to Haudricourt…and that the blister has nothing to do with it.

You’re right, Dave, you couldn’t pitch before you had a blister.

McCalvy noted some other “reasons” besides the blister that could have been tied to the decision: Bush is 2-6, 6.45 in 9 starts against the Cardinals…and 0-3, 10.57 at Busch Stadium while Parra is 2-0, 2.86 lifetime at Busch Stadium in five starts…plus the Cards are hitting .272 against righties (like Bush) and only .243 against southpaws (like Parra).  Oh, neither mentioned that Bush has 29 BB’s this season…just one fewer than his 30 K’s.

The rotation from Thursday through Monday is now: LHP Chris Capuano, LHP Randy Wolf, LHP Chris Narveson, LHP Manny Parra, and RHP Yovani Gallardo.  Former starters include RHP Dave Bush (okay, he’ll probably get his spot back next week), LHP Doug Davis (still hurt), RHP Jeff Suppan (still bad…but in the bullpen), and RHP Marco Estrada (back in Nashville).  Kameron Loe–Estrada’s replacement (who was a starter, but was sent to the bullpen for an hour or so when Capuano was activated and inserted as a starter)–joins Hoffman, Coffey, Villanueva, Axford, Braddock, Bush and Suppan in the bullpen.

LaTroy Hawkins, David Riske, and Doug Davis are still waiting, too.

Last word: Quit your whining, Bushie.  You shouldn’t have been offered arbitration, yet Doug Melvin was too worried about pitching depth last winter…you’ve gotten plenty (read: 11) chances to show that you belong in the rotation…and didn’t cut it.  While Narveson and Parra haven’t exactly been Cy Young candidates, both have much better K/BB ratios than you do.  Face it, the five that are starting between now and Monday are the five starters that give the Crew the best chance to win…and that is what is most important right now (but Melvin should have manned up and told the media that you were benched because your not pitching well…even before the blister).