Baltimore Orioles: Much ado about Nelson

With Nelson Cruz getting hit on the wrist in Sunday’s 9-4 victory over Houston, the Baltimore Orioles now find themselves wondering the extent of the damage. Cruz is listed as day-to-day, and I’m sure he’s hoping to play in tonight’s game at Texas – his former team. Or at the very least I suspect he’ll hope to appear in the series. To say the least, if Cruz has to miss any significant amount of time that could cause some big problems for the Birds.

As we know, Cruz has been the Orioles’ offense for the past week or so. I think that a few other bats have started to get untracked towards the

Courtesy of Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

latter part of the weekend, however Cruz has been the Orioles’ main source of offense. So what now happens if he has to miss a block of time? Hopefully for the O’s part of that question was answered on Sunday with Manny Machado’s grand slam.

The O’s have always been been a sum of the parts team.

That along with the fact that the O’s have been able to manufacture runs here and there should bode well for them as they move forward – with or without Cruz.

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cruz miss one or two games in Texas as a result of being hit. But without any knowledge of medicine or his condition, I’d be surprised if he ends up on the DL as a result of this. On that same injury front, Matt Wieters was able to successfully throw last week and into the weekend, which is a good sign for the Orioles. This is not to say that he’s definitely going to avoid surgery, however it’s simply a good sign. The Birds will open up a three-game set in Texas tonight, with Ubaldo Jimenez on the mound. This is a big series for the O’s because with the propensity to allow homers (by all teams) in Rangers Ballpark, the bullpen could end up getting used a great deal. Jimenez will be opposed by former Oriole Joe Saunders tonight.