Latos "Bewildered" by Sudden Shoulder Pain

Nothing is going to get me off my high of watching Arizona run Duke out of the Honda Center in the 2nd half of last nights Sweet 16 game. In fact, for fun, here you go:












But today's news out of Peoria comes awfully close. Per Corey Brock via Twitter (follow Corey @FollowthePadres):
"Mat Latos won't start tomorrow. He's got a sore shoulder."
Followed by:
"Bud Black said Latos, who pitched Monday, complained of soreness Wednesday. "It just sort of popped up," Black said."

These are things you don't want to hear about the presumed ace of your staff, one week before the season starts. Raising additional fears is the relatively poor spring Latos has had in Peoria and the Verducci Effect.

Regarding the Verducci Effect. I don't know that I adhere to it or not. But it is, at minimum, worth noting that in the past two years, Latos has seen an increase of at least 60 IP in each of those seasons. So whether you buy into the Verducci Effect or not, the struggles at the end of 2010, the struggles in Spring and now the shoulder soreness are all pieces of a very concerning puzzle.

But hey, at least we have LeBlanc.

Blerg.