Brandon Cumpton Will Take Wandy Rodriguez Spot in Pirates Rotation

Sep 22, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Brandon Cumpton (58) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning at PNC Park. The Reds won 11-3. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates will add a new face to the starting rotation against the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon. Brandon Cumpton is expected to start tomorrow the Twitter says.  I wonder what that means?  Mr. Cumpton we expect you to start tomorrow, but if something tragic happens and you can’t then you won’t.  We expect the Pirates to win, but accept when they don’t and always analyze reasons why.  So in analyzing the tweet, I expect something a little more definitive.

I mean Cumpton is probably pretty excited so I know he won’t be turning down the invitation to start, if that’s what this is.  Right?

Cumpton will be taking Wandy Rodriguez’s spot in the rotation.  Rodriguez had his right knee drained after suffering inflammation.  The right-handed Cumpton pitched well in the later parts of Spring Training and got off to a nice start at Triple-A Indianapolis.   Cumpton has allowed plenty of baserunners, but just three runs in 19 innings of work while pitching for the Tribe.

Look for him to lean on his heat against an aggressive, get out of town Reds team.

We expect Cumpton to get the win.  Is that acceptable?   We expect Cumpton not to have pine tar on his neck?  That’s not acceptable.  The game will be part of the MLB Network double header.