As Mike Gonzalez and Koji Uehara (Uehara will have his 2nd rehab outing with AA Bowie tomorrow) inch closer to returning to the Baltimore Orioles, the complexion of the 12 man-staff with them has to be in question.
I’ve argued before that Tillman, and Arrieta need to be on this roster as soon as possible.
Tillman has pitched a no-hitter tonight, and allowed 3 er, 1 bb, with 11 k’s in his last 17 innings of work. For the season, Arrieta has allowed 1 er in 25 innings, allowing 13 hits, 10 bb’s, with 23 k’s.
Their ticket to Baltimore should be punched.
Bergesen is going to make the start Friday, and if he is reasonably effective – he is going to keep his spot.
To me, the best 12 man staff we can see with Gonzalez, and Uehara included is:
Millwood, Matusz, Bergesen, Tillman, Arrieta
Gonzalez
Johnson
Uehara
Simon
Castillo
Berken
Hernandez
For that to be the the staff, the following moves would have had to have been made:
1) Tillman promoted, Hernandez to the pen, Hendrickson removed.
2) Arrieta promoted, Guthrie traded.
3) Gonzalez activated, Ohman removed.
4) Uehara activated, Albers removed.
5) Meredith removed.
I’ve stated previously that Guthrie is probably my favorite Oriole. Still, unless you want to argue for Guthrie over Uehara or Simon – I have a hard time justifying his inclusion. I guess if Bergesen were to come-back Friday and again look bad; you could argue that Bergesen needs to be sent back to AAA for an extended stay. Despite his outing tonight, you can move Guthrie. He has to have some value. The logical rhetorical question is that if Guthrie has value elsewhere, why would you look to move him?
You look to move him, because you can realistically replace his production with younger, cheaper talent with higher ceilings. You look to move him, because finding regular Major League starts for Tillman, and Arrieta starting in early May is something this organization has to accomplish.
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Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.