Despite leading their division going into Wednesday and sitting nine games above.500, the Baltimore Orioles’ season has not started off smoothly.
Due to several pitching staff ailments, they haven’t been able to show off what this team may look like when healthy.
The Orioles’ other rising talent, Grayson Rodriguez, had to be placed on the injured list due to shoulder irritation just when it appeared like they would be returning to that shortly with the activation of Kyle Bradish and John Means off the injured list.
After blowing a save in his last appearance on April 28, their closer Craig Kimbrel suffered a back problem, which may have caused serious problems. In their series against the Oakland Athletics, it was the second time he had failed to end a game.
The veteran pitcher returned to Baltimore’s bullpen on Wednesday against the New York Yankees, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Initially, Baltimore indicated the pitcher was day to day as he coped with what was characterized as upper back soreness.
Craig Kimbrel just strolled out to the Orioles bullpen after not pitching over the weekend. @MLBNetwork
It’s unclear if he’s available or not, but this is still a positive sign for the Orioles.
They have shown their depth in the bullpen thus far this year, but it would have been problematic to lose a dependable backend arm such as Kimbrel for an extended length of time.
Though that would have removed another dangerous pitcher that manager Brandon Hyde could have used when necessary, Yennier Cano would have taken over in that capacity.
Prior to his two errors against the Athletics, Kimbrel had made seven consecutive save opportunities after squandering his first save opportunity of the season.
His back injury might have had something to do with that as he was sidelined immediately after his last outing.
