Blanton named Pitcher of the Month
Quattlebaum out for 2 weeks
Joe Blanton received a nice surprise today when he woke up. He was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for the month of July. Blanton was down right dominate last month.
He went 4-1 in July with an amazing 0.83 ERA and fanned 52 batters in 43.1 innings. He was also able to keep opposing hitters to a .189 clip against him. With another few months of pitching like this, Blanton might be able to win the Cy Young Award and a $2 million dollar bonus from the Royals.
"I am humbled to win the award this month but its more important that we as an organization are still winning. This award will be even sweeter when we claim the division because then I know I truly helped out a winning team," stated Blanton and this mornings press conference.
For the year Blanton is 12-1 and carries a 1.91 ERA heading into August.
The one bit of bad news at this mornings press conference was the announcement that right fielder
William Quattlebaum will miss up to two weeks with a strained rib cage muscle suffered in last nights loss to the White Sox. It happened when he slid into second base trying to break up a double play.
He was successful in his mission but how he has to watch the games from the dugout. This is his first injury since suffering back spasms early in the 2009 season. "I pride myself on taking care of my body and that shows by me playing everyday. I have only missed one game in the last 264 games and I am not used to watching the games. I just hope to get back soon and help this team." professed William when reached by cell phone.
The trainers have said he is expected out 1-2 weeks but will more than likely place him on the 15 day DL to prevent bringing him back too early and him re-injuring the muscle. But with the Royals having literally no one to bring up from Omaha to replace him, it will be interesting to see what the organization does for the next two weeks to fill Williams spot. Lets go Royals!!!