Orioles: Mopping up
Nobody should have been surprised when Brad Bergesen was placed on the disabled list today, even though two sets of x-rays revealed no fracture. He still has a serious bone bruise and has been told to stay home and stay off his feet. The 15-day injury hiatus will cost him at least two starts, but this is the right thing to do. The club needs to make sure there isn't any soreness in the shin before Bergesen starts to throw again, so there's no chance of him altering his mechanics to compensate for pain or weakness in the area. Not only could that impact his command on the mound, it would lead to an elbow or shoulder injury.
Guess we have our answer on Rich Hill. He apparently has been pitching with real shoulder pain over the past few weeks and does have a labrum injury that will may require surgery. I'm sure the Orioles wish he had been more upfront with them about it -- since it raised suspicion that he was trolling for a convenient spot on the disabled list -- but that couldn't be helped. Wonder if the O's will be on board for his rehab and possible comeback.
The waiver deadline has passed, but that doesn't mean the Orioles can't eventually trade another veteran player. Melvin Mora has a no-trade clause, but if he gets hot over the next couple weeks, he could still be moved (with his permission) in a waiver deal. Aubrey Huff also has enough salary remaining that it's probably unlikely a team would claim him just to block a deal, though the O's are more likely to keep him and offer him salary arbitration as a free agent. The club may try to pass Luke Scott through waivers, too, but he may be hard to get through because of his reasonable salary.
Roster update: The Orioles recalled Kam Mickolio from Norfolk and Chris Ray off his rehab assignment to replace injured Rich Hill and Brad Bergesen. Mickolio's stay could be short, depending on what the Orioles do to fill Bergesen's place in the rotation.
> 
Comments
Now on to the game! Guthrie has typical Oriole walkitis. Nasty local inflamatory illness....inflames the hell out of the fans. And do walks score?
Posted by: oldetoys | July 31, 2009 7:39 PM
Why Luke Scott? I understand Huffs issue, but Luke makes no sense.
McPhail says the Orioles scouts truly believe that Bell will stay at third.
Too bad for Bergesen.
Posted by: cb coach | July 31, 2009 8:00 PM
Pete: Another stolen base.....
..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Ed, the best catchers in baseball only throw out two of five. The kid made a great throw to get Pedroia tonight.
Posted by: ed miller Port St. Lucie | July 31, 2009 8:04 PM
How are we doing signing some of these outstanding draftees? Don't we only have half of our top 10 guys?
Posted by: christian | July 31, 2009 8:10 PM
do you discount totally the possibility that Hill and the O's cooked up the injury/timing together to stash Hill? Dont mean to imply a consspiracy but isnt beyond imagination
Posted by: Lucky Horseshoe | July 31, 2009 9:43 PM
Horseshoe,
I think you have a point there, but if that was the case, he could've come out with this injury at any point in the past couple weeks. He hasn't thrown well since that start in Seattle about a month ago. And Chris Waters is just a couple hundred miles away in Norfolk.
At this point, if the O's truly knew as little as they claim, I think his time here is done. If he can throw a baseball over the offseason, he will be gone for a pitching prospect. Otherwise I think they'll send him packing for nothing.
I think Waters will come up to make the starts while Bergesen is on the DL. I don't want to sound pessimistic here, but if his bruise lasts more than about a month I think they may shut him down for the year. Like Pete said you don't want any lingering soreness in that shin to cause him to alter his throwing motion, which it would, and screw up something in his arm. He is too valuable for the future to risk that.
Posted by: jeffChill | July 31, 2009 10:03 PM
Jeff, what I was suggesting is that yes they could have let out the injury news any time but chose to do it when they had had seen enough and were ready to bring Tillman up. Nothing to gain by announcing he had strained his arm so together withhold the info until you needed to stash him. Not making a criticism or even suggesting it is what happened or that there is anything wrong with it if that is what happened. Just wondering . . . maybe comes from watching George Allen hide draftees in the old days. Oops another football reference. Shame on me.
Posted by: Lucky Horseshoe | July 31, 2009 10:23 PM
And which contender would want Mora? His head isn't in the game anymore and he is a poor hitter this year. I bet he is a stay at home dad next year.
Posted by: Bill in Salisbury | August 1, 2009 12:17 PM