The Maryland Sports Blog

The Baltimore Orioles are going through starting pitchers quickly. With the fifth stop being held by Freddy Garcia and Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez hurt the starting rotation needs arms. It looks like Jair Jurrijens will start for the Orioles Saturday according to this tweet by Ken Rosenthal.

Sources: Jurrjens will make #Orioles debut Saturday against #Rays. 3.14 ERA in 8 starts at AAA, 36 Ks, 15 BBs, 2 HRs allowed in 51 2/3 IP.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 14, 2013

Jurrijens is has pitched well for the Norfolk Tides this season but had a bad start last night. Still he maybe the best option right now. Jake Arrieta has pitched better but has a minor injury.

The Orioles seem to be closer to pushing Kevin Gausman who has a 3.35 era for the Bowie Baysox. Gausman is the Orioles top pitching prospect and is an extremely talented pitcher.

Jurrijens has been a very successful major league pitcher in the past when he pitched for the Atlanta Braves, he was a former All-Star.  Injuries have hurt Jurrijens more than anything but if he has decent stuff he can be successful again.

As expected Chen will go on the DL.  Here are the two new Orioles according to this tweet from Dan Connolly.

Yamaico Navarro and Alex Burnett are the callups.

— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) May 14, 2013

Burnett has been up with the Orioles this season.  Navarro has not he is an infielder who will  provide depth.

The Baltimore Orioles have traded reliever Luis Ayala to the Atlanta Braves for minor league pitcher Chris Jones.  Ayala was a big part of the Orioles bullpen last season being used in several different roles and posting a 2.64 era.  Ayala was a popular teammate.

The Orioles are deep with pitchers but they have not settled in yet and have struggled.  Ayala had a 9.00 era to start the season but this early in the season era’s can be bloated.  Here is the tweet from the Orioles confirming the move.

The Orioles have traded RHP Luis Ayala to Atlanta in exchange for minor league LHP Chris Jones. Jones will be assigned to AA Bowie.

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 10, 2013

The Orioles are also recalling Chris Dickerson, more corresponding moves seem to be coming.  The Orioles have not had luck with a DH so far this season and Dickerson could be that DH.

The Baltimore Orioles have sent their top pitching prospect Kevin Gausman to AA Bowie. Gausman was not expected to make the Orioles opening day roster but had a really good spring.

I would not be surprised if Gausman is called up sooner rather than later. The Orioles have shown that they are willing to let young talent play in the majors, Manny Machado was proof of that.

Here is a tweet from Dan Connolly confirming the move.

Gausman sent out. Goes to AA Bowie w Bundy

— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) March 27, 2013

The Baltimore Orioles have called up Dylan Bundy to help pitch in Seattle.  The Orioles played 18 innings and wore out their bullpen yesterday/today.  Bundy was not supposed to be called up this year but this is an emergency situation.

Bundy was already on the 40-man roster so it was an easy move for the Orioles.  Hopefully Bundy is not rusty, he has not pitched in a while since the minor league seasons have been over.

Here is my article on Bundy from a few weeks ago.

Baltimore Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy pitched for the Bowie Baysox last night, the Orioles AA affiliate. Bundy pitched well going 5 1/3rd innings giving up only two earned runs and earning the win.

Bundy was drafted last year by the Orioles and is only 19 years old in his first professional season. So far Bundy has pitched for three different teams in the Orioles organization.

Orioles DH Jim Thome went down to Bowie to scout Bundy. Thome is a class act and will do anything he is asked to do to help the team he is playing for. Thome going down to Bowie to scout Bundy points to one thing and that is the possibility that they young pitcher might be up in Baltimore this year.

The Orioles have already pulled the trigger on Machado and have seen surprisingly good results. The Orioles might opt for a six-man rotation in September when the roster is expanded to include Bundy. Bundy could also be used out of the bullpen similar to the way David Price was used when he was first called up by the Tampa Bay Rays. Price was called up when the Rays were in a playoff race and put in the bullpen before being put in the rotation the next year.

Everyone in the organization has said that Bundy being used this year depends on “where the team is at,” this year. My take on that is that if the Orioles are winning and Bundy continues to dominate in the minors the Orioles will call him up.

The Orioles are showing this year that they will do whatever it takes to end their losing record streak that they have had for over a decade. Bundy is clearly part of the Orioles future but he could be part of the Orioles present very soon.