This afternoon in Grapefruit League action, the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay rays played to a 3-3 tie. Baltimore’s Jake Arrieta made his spring debut on the mound and threw two scoreless innings in which he did not allow a hit.
Even though Arrieta won 10 games last year, he ended up needing surgery (to remove bone spurs in his elbow) last summer and missed two plus months of the 2011 season.
However, on Friday, Arrieta, according to various reports, threw hard – as high as 97 miles per hour recorded; in addition, he seemed not to show any ill effects from his surgical procedure and rehab.
For Arrieta, it is so far, so good; therefore, it is hard to gauge progress after only one spring training game. Then again, it is good for us fans to know that he is healthy.
Pitchers Pat Neshek, Chris George, Jon Link and Steve Johnson threw scoreless innings in their outing today; however, Brad Bergesen struggled, giving up two runs and Oliver Drake went four innings, but gave up a game-tying homer to Tampa Bay’s Brad Coon during the eighth inning.
Endy Chavez – via a bases loaded walk – and Xavier Avery each plated in runs; meanwhile, Scott Beerer scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.
The other significant news of the day for Baltimore, unfortunately, involved Nolan Reimold. He was hit in the head – specifically, the jaw – in the first inning by Tampa Bay pitcher Alex Cobb. The X-Rays for Remiold came back negative according to Orioles MLB writer Britt Ghiroli; however, I’d assume that he will miss a few days of action. In the end, all that Nolan suffered was a loose tooth.
Hopefully, Nolan will not suffer any more setbacks. For one reason or another, Reimold has had his challenges in the majors. Ever since his strong rookie season, he has been trying to get things in order and stay in the Oriole lineup.
It is hard to not root for a guy like Nolan. Lets all wish his latest setback is only minor and has him out for days – not a week or longer. I’m sure all of us are hoping to see what Reimold can do given ample playing time by manager Buck Showalter.
