Ricky Nolasco Has a Dead Arm, Rick Vanden Hurk is Alive

They say that one man's dead arm is another man's excuse to fly his family from Holland ... or something like that. The bottom line for the Marlins is that another member of their starting rotation is down, and a guy with a career 5-12 minor league record in four seasons is getting the call.

The photo you see represents the highlight of Ricky Nolasco's 2007 season, which is watching a Pat Burrell home run fly into the stands. He'll have to wait a little bit to improve on that as he has been placed on the 15-day DL and will miss a couple of starts.

Nolasco went 11-11 with a 4.82 ERA as a rookie for Florida last year. He said his fastball was in the mid-80s Friday, instead of his normal low 90s, and "red flags" went up. "Stuff wasn't the same," he said. "It didn't feel good. I could definitely tell there was some discomfort there."

An MRI exam Monday came back negative. "Just got to do what's safe," Nolasco said. "Just get some rest, let it heal completely and go from there."

So while Nolasco's arm recovers, yet another young pitcher from the Marlins gets a chance to show his stuff. Rick Vanden Hurk may not have the record, but he's got talent ... and he has family in far away places.

Vanden Hurk said his family plans to fly in from Holland to watch his big league debut, including his father, who taught him the game. The 6-foot-5 Vanden Hurk signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2002. "I'm going pretty crazy right now," the right-hander said. "Getting the call up, it means a lot. Getting the first big start, that's pretty exciting."

The Marlins are dropping like flies with Nolasco and Josh Johnson out of the rotation with injuries. But the Fish must have an endless supply of young pitching talent since they felt they could afford to trade Yusmeiro Petit to Arizona for Jorge Julio. So whatever Vanden Hurk does in the majors shouldn't surprise anyone. A good outing by Vanden Hurk would not only make the Marlins happy, but it would make the trip from Holland well worth it.