Wednesday night, Jason Marquis will pitch for the Minnesota Twins, opposite Hiroki Kuroda and the New York Yankees. That doesn't sound like a particularly compelling match-up - few match-ups involving Jason Marquis make for particularly compelling match-ups. But this'll be one of the more meaningful days of Marquis' career.

See, Marquis is back from the bereavement list, as he had been watching over his seven-year-old daughter, who sustained a lacerated liver while riding her bike. Marquis' daughter was for a time in a fight for her life, and though the story now has the happiest of endings, the outcome wasn't a foregone conclusion. Marquis and his family went through something no family should ever have to go through.

With his daughter recovering, Marquis started a couple games in double-A, to keep his arm fresh. His arm, it seems, is fresh enough for him to come up and get this start Wednesday. Says Marquis:

"I felt great, physically and mentally," Marquis said. "Obviously the time the Twins gave me to be with my daughter and pitch with New Britain at the same time allowed me not only to get ready, physically and mentally, too. She's at home safe and sound now."

"... But as for myself, I was able to accomplish what I wanted in New Britain, and now I'm ready to go."

This'll be Marquis' first-ever start in the American League, so I think facing the Yankees in New York will be a proper initiation. The Twins just lost Scott Baker to season-ending elbow surgery that turned into season-ending Tommy John surgery, so they'll be thrilled to have Marquis' presence in the rotation.