It's time for the Orioles to pull the plug on lefty Cade Povich

Even as the Baltimore Orioles have taken over the AL East lead as we get closer to the all star break, the conversation around the team is still dominated by the battered pitching staff and what they might do at the trade deadline to address the many vacancies, particularly in the starting rotation.

After Albert Suárez came up big for the Orioles in a series opening win over the Athletics on Friday, rookie Cade Povich was exposed big time in Saturday's outing. Povich was rocked by the A's lineup in a 19-8 rout to even the series ahead of Sunday's finale.

While Povich is up from Triple A out of necessity for his major league debut, he's gone through his lumps more often than not at the major league level. One of his six starts was a shutout effort but even then, he was doing fine entering his start against the A's.

Against Oakland, of all teams, things fell apart for Povich. In 1+ inning pitched, he was tagged for eight runs on five hits, issuing three free passes and striking out just one hitter. It got bad enough that James McCann came on to pitch in the eighth inning for the Orioles. With the All Star break looming, the Orioles need to seriously consider giving Povich a reset in Triple A.

Orioles' rookie Cade Povich doesn't look ready for the major league spotlight just yet

Entering his most recent start, Povich had a 4.05 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 26 2/3 innings pitched, which isn't horrible. He had issues with the walks and the long ball however, having allowed four round trippers and 10 free passes in five starts, averaging 3.4 walks per nine innings and 1.4 home runs per nine.

After the Oakland start, he's now allowed six home runs on the season and has walked 13, with his ERA also ballooning to 6.51 and his WHIP rising to 1.48. It was the second time Povich hasn't made it through five innings in his six starts, also not a great sign.

One big reason it's possible for the Orioles to send Povich down is the off day they have on Monday before starting a series against the Chicago Cubs. Cole Irvin can take Povich's place in the rotation for a start or two, as he worked four innings in long relief Saturday, albeit not great innings as he also has struggled big time lately.

The Orioles have Bruce Zimmermann available in Triple A if the Orioles want to call up a long reliever for the time being. Tucker Davidson could also be an option, as the Orioles do have an open spot on the 40-man roster.

While Povich hasn't been horrible in the majors, the eye test and the advanced numbers show a pitcher who is struggling to find his footing. The Orioles can afford to send him down at this time of the year to figure it out for a little bit, and hopefully there won't be a clock on it as Mike Elias should be adding some pitching help in a trade or two sooner rather than later.