I've been pretty much ignoring stories about Dustin McGowan, preferring to think that his making it back to the majors was a long shot, and, if it happened,a bonus for the team, but I didn't expect it. Now John Farrell said this:
"He's making very solid progress," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. "Hopefully he gets to the point where he's not only finishing strong from a physical standpoint, but we get through the month of August and he's looking at coming back [to Toronto] and then continuing his pitching here."
Dustin has just made 6 starts, down in Dunedin, and he is just up to 3 innings in his last start. In the 6 starts he's pitched 12.2 innings, given up 11 hits, 6 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Now it is a long way from going 3 innings in a start in Dunedin to getting starts in Toronto, but give him another month and he could be going 5 or 6 innings. He could be called up in September, when the rosters expand. If he wasn't able to go deep into games it wouldn't matter so much, since we'll have extra arms in he bullpen.
Next season's rotation would look better with Dustin if he can pitch like he did back in 2007 and 2008 before the injuries troubles started. Over those two seasons he made 46 starts with a18-17 record, 4.19 ERA in 281 innings with 99 walks and 229 strikeouts.
Even after all this time in the DL he's just 29, so, if he were to get healthy, he still could have a good career.