Jeff Karstens To Miss A Start For Pirates

Jeff Karstens of the Pirates will miss his next start, Karen Price of the Trib tweets. This isn't a shock - Karstens had to have his shoulder checked out a week ago, then couldn't get out of the fourth inning in his last start.

Karstens has mostly gotten surprisingly great results this season, but it looks possible that might not continue. The Pirates' season is currently sputtering to a close, and they don't have many good starting options left. David Todd lists them over at Bucs Dugout, and suggests that Chris Leroux could be a possibility, but it would be surprising if the Pirates went with a reliever. I'd expect them to use Aaron Thompson, who participated in a shutout in his major-league debut on Wednesday. He's not a good long-term bet, though, and the Pirates might want to consider other alternatives if they think Karstens will be out for the rest of the season.