Phil Irwin has been out of action since his spot start with the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 14th. The right-hander has been dealing with a period of dead arm, and the Pirates decided to be cautious and rest him. He was stashed on the Altoona roster for a period of time, allowing Indianapolis to carry a full roster of pitchers. Today Irwin was added back to the Indianapolis roster.
More importantly, Kris Johnson went one inning in relief today, which came four days after his last start. Johnson would have been in line to make his next start on Thursday. There is currently no scheduled starter for that game. I’ve confirmed that Irwin is healthy and ready to pitch. At this point he would probably start Thursday’s game. Because Francisco Liriano started today, and because Indianapolis is off tomorrow, it’s likely that Johnson was just skipped this time through, and will return to the rotation the next time through.