I had a dream last night that Justin Duchscherer was out for the season. I was relieved when I woke up, as I remembered that he threw from 140 feet on Wednesday and is on pace to return to the A’s in about a week. That’s good, because I really don’t want to see Lenny DiNardo penciled in at starter for more than five games this season (he’s already pitched two).

Lenny’s 2007 shamrock is obviously gone and last night’s game was no exception. Given the fact that the A’s offense hasn’t scored more than two runs in a game in the last five games, we can’t afford trotting guys like Lenny DiNardo out there every fifth day.

So if Justin truly comes back to stay at the end of this month, that’s a good thing. Then we only have that #1 spot in the rotation to worry about, though at least Greg Smith is earning his keep so far.

This weekend we get the Royals and a look at the surprisingly good Brian Bannister tonight. If we can get the 2007 versions of both Bannister and Chad Gaudin, we’ll be OK. Too bad it’s 2008.

Go A’s!!