Lefty Joe Thatcher hadn’t pitched since May 5, so he had an entire week off. You don’t see that out of primary lefty specialists very often.

There was no report of any issue with Thatcher physically, and he obviously wasn’t placed on the DL, so I’m not really sure why Bud Black went an entire week without using the lefty. It would seem that Thatcher, who opened the year on the DL, would need a few outings to shake off the rust, so keeping him off the field seemed bizarre.

In any event, Thatcher struck out James Loney on three pitches to end the top of the ninth inning Friday night, ending his week-long string of sitting in the bullpen the whole game. Good to see Thatcher pitching (and pitching well).