Dustin McGowan On The Mend, Could Pitch For Blue Jays This Season

The Blue Jays have had a few key pitchers in the past couple of years who have had to battle back to the big leagues through major injuries (Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch comes to mind); but perhaps none have had a longer road back than Dustin McGowan, the hard throwing righty who was once considered the Blue Jays heir apparent to Roy Halladay after he compiled a solid first full season in ’07 with a 4.08 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. However, McGowan’s body fell apart in ’08 – missing half of that season with a shoulder ailment that led to 2 eventual surgeries that has caused him to miss just over 2 1/2 years from the mound. The Blue Jays kept him around, though; and when the team first evaluated his progress, it was thought that he would be best off being converted to a relief pitcher to save his shoulder from further damage. Now, after surprising the Blue Jays staff with surprisingly results in his road back to the bigs, McGowan might be ready to pitch for the team a...