Fish dished second loss by Canaries

The Winnipeg Goldeyes are hanging out the “Help Wanted” sign when it comes to starting pitching.

Three of the club’s projected five starters are currently unavailable, putting a major strain on the shorthanded squad early in the American Association season.

That was evident Wednesday afternoon as the Fish were beaten 10-4 by the Sioux Falls Canaries in front of 6,637 fans at Blue Cross Park, falling to 8-10 on the year.

Manager Logan Watkins had to turn to his bullpen to cover all nine innings due to unexpected circumstances.

Winnipeg’s long-time ace, Canadian Landen Bourassa, was signed this week by Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League. That comes on the heels of Noah Millikan’s contract being transferred to the Washington Nationals late last month and James Bradwell landing on the injured list.

Add it all up and the Goldeyes are down to just two stretched-out hurlers — veteran Mitch Lambson, who has struggled out of the gate with a 10.31 ERA through four starts, and Luke Boyd, who will get the ball Thursday evening in the series finale against the Canaries, who improved to 12-7.

Reliever Arij Fransen was pressed into starting duty Wednesday, giving up five runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings of work. Tasker Strobel (two runs in 2 1/3 innings) and Quinn Waterhouse (three runs in 1 2/3 innings) struggled in relief.

Another reliever, Kevin Vaupel, has already made a pair of starts this season and will remain in the rotation alongside Fransen for the foreseeable future.

“We’ve had our No. 1 and No. 2 starters picked up now (Bourassa and Millikan). And we’ve had to move two good arms out of our bullpen to be starters,” said Watkins.

“Credit to Fransen for going nearly 90 pitches, because that’s not something he’s done in a long time. But it’s impossible to find good starters that don’t have jobs right now. So you need guys on your team to step up. Unfortunately that makes your bullpen weaker. We’ve got to try and manage that.”

Bradwell should be back in the lineup by mid-June and be built up enough to jump right into the rotation.

“It’s almost tread water until then,” said Watkins.

On the bright side, Winnipeg’s shorthanded bullpen is about to get a boost with the return of right-handers Willian Suarez and James Colyer, who are both on the injured list but could be activated later this week. Watkins is also burning up the phone lines to see what might be available on the free-agent market.

“It’s been kind of a grind,” said Watkins.

“That’s just the hand you’re dealt. You hate to have a negative tone about it, because I’m super happy for Landen, I’m super happy for Noah getting his first opportunity in affiliated baseball. It’s like, ‘Great for you guys, but dang, what are we gonna do now?’ Unfortunately you kind of have to weather the storm for a little bit and hopefully we swing it really well.”

Winnipeg’s offence has sprung to life after a sluggish start, which can help cover deficiencies in other areas. The Goldeyes could have used a bit more Wednesday, however, as Jiandido Tromp’s two-run homer in the second inning, a ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Ramon Bramasco and a run-scoring single from Kevin Garcia later in the frame were all they could muster.

“We don’t want to be giving up 10 runs a game obviously, but it’s probably expected that we’re going to be giving up a little bit of runs and we’re going to need some run support,” said Watkins.

The club is taking some hits in that department, too. Canadian Adam Hall, who leads the team with a .358 batting average, suffered a pulled hamstring on Tuesday and is likely to miss at least 10 days.

“We’re taking some punches right now,” said Watkins. “Every season kind of takes on a life of its own. We just gotta figure it out.”

Watkins is counting on internal improvement from proven pitchers such as Lambson and Strobel, who was one of the league’s best relievers last season but now sports a bloated 9.64 ERA following Wednesday’s rough outing.

“I’m sure they’re extremely frustrated,” he said.

“Their bars are high, and it’s not like they can’t pitch in this league. They’ve proven they can. When you want to be the leaders of this team, when guys leave and they’re the ones that should be stepping up and it’s not going well, that can be a little deflating.”

It’s possible Bourassa — who was in his sixth season with the Goldeyes — could return to Winnipeg later in the season if his Mexican club doesn’t make the playoffs.

“It’s an overdue opportunity from my perspective,” said Garcia, the team’s veteran catcher who previously played for Pericos de Puebla.

“I’m trying to guide him as much as I can. But definitely, he leaves a hole that’s going to be hard to fill, shoes that are really hard to fill. But the whole point of going to indy ball is to do your best on the field and hope more opportunities come around. So good for him.”

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