April 9: Eflin has formally been positioned on the injured record, retroactive to yesterday, the crew introduced this morning. Righty Colin Selby is up from Triple-A Norfolk in the interim, giving Hyde an additional arm within the bullpen.
April 8: The Orioles are shutting Zach Eflin down for per week after he was identified with a low-grade lat pressure, supervisor Brandon Hyde informed reporters following tonight’s loss in Arizona (relayed by Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner). The righty will land on the 15-day injured record.
Eflin felt the discomfort throughout Monday night’s begin. He tossed six innings of one-run ball earlier than departing at 73 pitches. Baltimore introduced that he was battling shoulder fatigue and despatched him for imaging. A one-week shutdown is much from the worst case state of affairs, however the O’s will go at the very least a pair weeks with out their Opening Day starter.
Baltimore is now working with out arguably their three greatest pitchers. They knew they wouldn’t get a lot, if something, from Kyle Bradish this yr after he underwent Tommy John surgical procedure final June. Grayson Rodriguez went down in Spring Coaching with elbow irritation. He’s throwing however hasn’t progressed to a minor league rehab task.
The O’s have Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich within the rotation. They introduced again Kyle Gibson on a one-year contract late in Spring Coaching. He isn’t but prepared for main league motion. Gibson agreed to start the season with Triple-A Norfolk to proceed his build-up. He’ll make his first begin there on Thursday.
Other than Gibson, the O’s have prospect Brandon Younger as their solely depth starter on the 40-man roster. Younger has solely allowed two unearned runs whereas putting out 11 over his first two Triple-A begins this yr. Thaddeus Ward, who made 26 reduction appearances as a Rule 5 decide for the Nationals two seasons in the past, can be figuring out of the Norfolk rotation. Cody Poteet and Roansy Contreras are figuring out of the bullpen in Triple-A however have some beginning expertise within the majors. The O’s have off days on Thursday and Monday, so they may get by with 4 starters into the second half of subsequent week.
None of these pitchers may be anticipated to match Eflin’s manufacturing, after all. The 31-year-old righty managed an earned run common round 3.50 in each 2023 and ’24. He’d posted an excellent 3.00 ERA whereas working six innings per begin over his first three appearances of this season.
