Darren O’Day Injury Update: No Timeline Set for Return

Darren O’Day has no timeline set for his return from his 15 day disabled list stint due to a hamstring issue.

The Baltimore Orioles recently placed relief pitcher Darren O’Day on the disabled list due to a hamstring issue. While talking to the media on Saturday, O’Day confirmed a few things relevant to his injury. 

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First, O’Day confirmed that he first suffered the injury against the Houston Astros. It got better, but he aggravated the injury against the Boston Red Sox. While covering first base, he aggravated his hamstring enough that he had to go on the 15 day disabled list. The injury was affecting his delivery, according to beat writer Jon Meoli.

The most important thing that O’Day said was that there is no timetable for his return. Manager Buck Showalter initially said that he believed O’Day would only need 15 days to come back, but that could be in jeopardy now. 

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Baltimore should be patient with O’Day and let him rest as much as he needs to. He’s too important to lose for an extended period of time, especially down the stretch. The Orioles bullpen is their greatest strength. O’Day is a huge reason for that. That also means that the Orioles have the depth necessary to at worst tread water even without their set up man.

Who will replace Darren O’Day? If Friday’s game means anything, Mychal Givens will certainly be one of the pitchers that Showalter will use in late innings. Givens has proven that he can pitch multiple innings, even on consecutive days. Part of that is because managers usually have to worry about how much mileage a reliever has left in his arm. Givens just recently got converted, so that’s something that the Orioles don’t need to concern themselves with.

If you subscribe to the theory that pitchers have a certain amount of pitches in them (this writer is one of them), Givens has tons left. Givens could also fulfill O’Day’s role of the guy who gets out of jams. He has the strikeout stuff necessary to do it and he rarely allows solid contact.

Next: Orioles beat Yankees 6-5

Brad Brach will also see action as an eighth inning guy to replace Darren O’Day. Dylan Bundy could as well, especially if the game is out of hand. One interesting thing about Friday’s win over the New York Yankees was that Showalter showed a lot of faith in T.J. McFarland. McFarland responded by pitching well. Perhaps McFarland is finally starting to be the reliable guy that he was in 2014?