Tyler Skaggs out 10-12 weeks and now I’m really, really sad

Skaggs felt a “pinch” in his right side last start and was supposed to be on the 10 day DL. It was reported as an oblique afterwards, but it has turned out worse than anyone could have expected. Welp.

This injury puts Skaggs on target to return by mid-July, at the earliest. Garrett Richards cannot return until early June since he’s already on the 60-day DL.

The rotation will consist of Shoemaker, JC Ramirez, Nolasco, Chavez, and...Daniel Wright? Wright is already on the roster, but it is unclear whether he would be used as a starter now that the opportunity has presented itself or as a long reliever. Already on the roster options are limited to Daniel Wright or Yusmeiro Petit; Alex Meyer is still finding his way in triple-A and Nate Smith is on the DL.

Should the team not want Wright or Petit to start, their best in-the-organization bet would appear to be Troy Scribner, who has posted a (small sample size alert) 2.87 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 10.91 K/9, 2.30 BB/9, 1.09 WHIP in 3 starts at triple-A. Eppler could opt to acquire someone from outside the organization, such as Doug Fister or otherwise.

This injury doesn’t make it any easier on a team that already had the most pitchers on the disabled list of any team in the bigs, and the injury being worse than expected is yet another reminder of an epic buttercupping medical staff. A rotation that can continue to tread water (against a weak May schedule) until Richards returns would be the best case scenario — otherwise, it could be a long season.