Ubaldo Jimenez turned in yet another awful outing on Friday night, and the Orioles can’t afford to run him out there again. Press play or read below for more.
Here’s breaking news: Ubaldo Jimenez is terrible. The Orioles have finally hit a tipping point with the right-hander and with the All-Star break only a couple days away, it would not be a surprise to any if the organization decides to eat the rest of Jimenez’s contract and move on from the veteran. The team can’t continue using a guy who brings nothing to the table, regardless of the contract situation. Sometimes you have to admit you made a mistake and move on. The season is halfway over and this team is all in on winning a division and going deep into the playoffs. They cannot allow one guy to hold them back from that.
The Blue Jays have not lost in a week and are playing like the team that couldn’t lose last season in the second half and are now only a game back from the O’s in the division. The Red Sox have made two trades in the last couple of days to improve depth in their lineup and in the bullpen and they are not going to go away quietly over the next two and a half months.
It’s officially your move, Dan Duquette. The rotation is a disaster and unfortunately, there is no help in sight. It’s to a point now that the O’s are seriously considering going against everything they believe in and allowing Dylan Bundy to make some starts. In a recent article by Roch Kubatko from MASNSports.com, Duquette strongly hinted that the reality of Bundy entering the rotation is going to be sooner than later.
Bundy is already over half way to his innings limit the Orioles were planning on for the youngster and he has yet to throw four innings in an appearance this season. It will take a lot of creativity if the organization is going to go this route and not just have the 23-year-old make a couple spot starts.
The O’s can set it up where Bundy can hopefully start throwing four innings and then using another long reliever to bridge the gap to the backend of the bullpen. That’s not ideal, BUT you can make the argument that it’s not like the rotation is pitching deep into games anyways. If they decide to go this way, Bundy could potentially make around 10 starts before he reaches his innings limit. The O’s may then not have the righty for the playoffs, but the team has to get there first. This is an extremely difficult balance of maintaining the health of Bundy which is crucial for this organization over the next several years and also trying to make the playoffs.
I wish I had a solution, but the team has tried everything else and it’s not working.
This is the time of the year where everyone thinks they are the GM and will propose trades that are extremely unrealistic. However, the reality is that if the Orioles are going to hold off a smoking hot Blue Jays team and a very talented Red Sox team, they will need to find an arm that can help them. They don’t have the proper trade pieces, meaning guys they are willing to move, to get a guy for the top of the rotation.
The solution may be a pitcher who they envisioned many years ago when they drafted him 4th overall in the 2011 draft, a scenario many didn’t believe could even be possible when the team headed north from spring training at the end of March.
