Orioles trying to plug the holes

The Orioles got their wish with a rain out last night, which gave the tired team a chance to rest. However they’ll have to come back to Camden Yards today for a twi-night doubleheader against Texas. We’ve seen teams (including the Orioles) starting to do this over the course of the past couple of seasons. I remember when I was a kid if there was a rain out that could be made up as a doubleheader the next day, the first game would start at 1:30 PM and the second at 7:30 PM. They would each be their own separately ticketed event. However in the past couple of seasons it seems that teams have opted for the old-fashioned doubleheader where it’s a single admission event and the second game starts approximately 20-25 minutes after the first one ends. So needless to say the O’s got their rest, but are in for another long day/night.

At the moment the O’s have some issues with the starting rotation. Tommy Hunter was sent down earlier this week, however he’s now been recalled. Players sent to the minors have to remain there for ten days unless someone goes on the DL. Go figure, that’s exactly what’s happening. Endy Chaves has an injured intercoastal muscle which is sending him to the DL. Geez, what is it about left fielders being injured? The Orioles have also purchased Steve Tolleson’s contract from Norfolk, and optioned Zach Phillips back to the minors.

Wei-Yin Chen will start the first game this afternoon, and Tommy Hunter the second (incidentally, the second game won’t start before 7:05 PM at the earliest). Jason Hammel was tonight’s previously scheduled starter, however he’s being skipped in the rotation due to the fact that he’s had swelling in his right knee for a couple of weeks. At the moment Hammel isn’t expected to go on the DL, however that could certainly change I presume. For the time being he’s being skipped in the rotation. Here’s the other issue with Hunter; he’ll be working on short rest tonight. He was sent down following a lackluster performance on Sunday in Boston; most Sunday starters will turn around and pitch again on Friday (barring an off day). So now the O’s are asking a pitcher to go on short rest. When it rains it pours.

The Birds will have to make another roster move before tomorrow night’s game, as they’ll need a spot starter. While nobody has committed to anything as of yet, it seems that Dana Eveland might be the guy to get the call from Norfolk for tomorrow. Speaking for myself I’d also like to see Chris Tillman given consideration as well, however I wouldn’t seeing Showalter consider using a bullpen pitcher as a spot reliever. In general I’m not a fan of using relievers as starters, however in this case it appears that it might be a one-time thing IF Hammels indeed only needs to rest up and miss one start. Is it really worth wasting an option on a guy for that? Watch manager Buck Showalter partially addresses the pitching situation in the short term in a video chat with MASN”s Amber Theoharis.

On top of all of this, the Orioles still have to play the hot Texas Rangers twice today. Hopefully the rain has washed away the memory of Josh Hamilton’s four home runs from Tuesday. Speaking of which, I did want to say that I’m proud of the fact that the Baltimore fans applauded Hamilton as he ran the bases the fourth time. Regardless of who you root for, there are some feats in sports that deserve the respect of all fans. I would have hoped that the Fenway faithful might have done the same for Chris Davis on Sunday, but that’s beside the point. Baltimore showed what classy fans it has, and Hamilton admitted as much when he spoke to the media about it. One has to hope that perhaps Hamilton left some of his swagger in the batters box at Camden Yards and it’ll be picked up by the O’s this afternoon and tonight.

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