There were two more cuts with the Orioles and there was one that surprised me…
From Peter Schmuck’s blog: The Orioles coaching staff has been giving every indication for quite some time that pitching prospect Brad Bergesen was a strong contender to be in the major league starting rotation when the club breaks camp in a couple of weeks. In fact, there were allusions to that this morning, just a few hours before the announcement that Bergesen has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Bergesen has been one of the steadiest pitchers in camp, and it is possible that he could still join the major league rotation early in the season, but it’s still a curious about-face by the club.
The only way to make sense of it is figure that the innings crunch has gotten so bad that the club had to send somebody out to stretch out. The squeeze got worse with today’s rainout, which forced manager Dave Trembley to move Mark Hendrickson into tomorrow’s start in Jupiter and, most likely, pitch Hayden Penn later in the game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Guess it’ll all shake out soon enough, but the Orioles certainly caught a lot of us by surprise with this move.
Pitcher Andy Mitchell also was reassigned to the minor league camp in Sarasota.
I’m sure that Bergesen will be seen in Baltimore at some point; however, I guess the team really needed to see what they had in Hayden Penn (out of options) and whose career has been marred by bad luck and immaturity; Alfredo Simon, who has emerged as a hard-throwing option worth a look, David Pauley, Brian Bass, and tenured veterans Danys Baez, Adam Eaton and Mark Hendrickson.
Well, I am for the conservative approach with the youngsters, but when someone shows that they are effective and thriving, they should be should be given consideration no matter what to reach the highest level in competition. This might have been a business/numbers move, but what are really the pitching options?
Anyhow, there was a rainout in Fort Lauderdale yesterday; therefore, cancelling the Rays-Orioles game. I really wanted to see Tampa Bay, but I guess it is what is. Saturday’s expected contest is the last game I’ll see in Florida, as I will be on a cruise until Thursday, and will be home at some point on Friday or Saturday.
