Joe

Roa

Roa will get a chance with a start tonight to prove he belongs. Mercado is a promising young reliever, while Cormier, despite being experienced, has pitched poorly and is regulary booed by Phillies fans. Of course, if injury strikes in the next five days, all three would be safe.

The Phillies designated Roa for assignment on May 27. He probably won’t be out of work for long.

The Philadelphia rotation is healthy and pitching well, so Roa hasn’t seen much action as a long man. He has no value unless something happens to one of the starters.

Roa had a 6.84 ERA in four starts and 24 relief appearances between three major league clubs last season. He’ll get a chance to make the Twins as a middle reliever.

It’s quite surprising that Roa, not Aaron Cook, is getting dropped from Colorado’s roster. Roa had been effective in four relief appearances since joining the Rockies earlier this month, giving up three runs, seven hits and no walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Hector Mercado replaced him and pitched five innings in relief. With a good start, there was some chance that Roa would replace Brett Myers as Philadelphia’s fifth starter after Brandon Duckworth’s return. It now looks like Myers can secure his job as long as he looks decent his next two times out.

The plan is for Roa to pitch tonight, with Hector Mercado starting on Saturday so Millwood can come back Sunday. Roa only managed two innings in his first start, and had to be relieved by Mercado, so he’ll have to stay out there longer tonight.

Both figure to clear waivers and become free agents. The Twins probably like Greisinger more than any other team does, so he could be re-signed to a minor league contract. Roa should look elsewhere for employment.

Roa, who entered the game with a 12.86 ERA in two starts, will be sent to the bullpen when Brandon Duckworth returns this weekend, but that’s a lot better than being sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Spending an entire season in the majors for the first time in his career, the 33-year-old Roa had a 4.50 ERA in 70 innings for the Twins last season. He’ll try to make the Pirates as a middle reliever.