Pete,

Thanks for saying that!

There are two answers to your question. 1. It is very likely the O's will have many back-to-back games where their questionable starters only go 3 or 4 innings - and that is being optimistic. Another starter in the bullpen is pretty much a necessity at this point. 2. The Orioles don't play in the National League where pinch hitting and double switches are the norm. An extra bench player on the O's will not see the field nearly as much as the 13th pitcher. If you don't have a 13th pitcher you should plan on bullpen burnout by the All Star game.

Pete, You're preaching to the choir, but who to keep? That's the question.

Jolbert Cabrera's been tearing the cover off of the call, no question, but he's a career .257 hitter, so unless Crow's been able to help him discover his inner Ted Williams, don't expect this to continue during the regular season.

On the other hand, Chris Gomez has struggled mightily at the plate, though he's not known for hot springs. His career batting average is only five points higher than Cabrera's, but that's a bit misleading, because over the past several seasons Gomez has elevated his hitting considerably.

Since 2004 his lowest average has been .279, and twice he's hit over .300, topping out at .341 (132 ABs) in 2006 with the Orioles.

But what really gives Chris the inside track is having played over 1000 more games at short than Jolbert and having fielded the position better. Having played with the O's before doesn't hurt either, of course.

I have to go along with Chris on this one Pete, that extra arm is going to get a lot of work, I don't think that 8th guy is going to be sitting around for days waiting to get used. The way the staff is looking right now it's a wonder they aren't considering 14 or 15.

I think it has more to do with not having to expose people to waivers.

The problem is, the O's don't have 13 pitchers (they're going to have a hell of a time picking #10-11-12 out of this bunch) so they might as well go with a four man bench.