The Baltimore Orioles desperately miss Darren O’Day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’ll be back any time in the very near future. Read below or press play for more.
The Orioles have a much-needed off day today, after playing 29 games in the past 30 days. Ubaldo Jimenez did a great – and unexpected – job of giving the bullpen some rest on Wednesday night, throwing six full innings in the Birds’ 7-2 win. However, when the O’s resume play Friday – starting a stretch of 16 games in 17 days leading up to the All-Star break, they’ll still be without the services of Darren O’Day.
O’Day last pitched on Wednesday, June 1, and has been on the disabled list with a hamstring injury since a couple of days later. Though he’s been eligible to come off the DL, his hammy is reportedly still bothering him. The latest news was that he was set to throw off a “half-mound” on Thursday. Optimistically, the O’s could expect to get him back a week before the teams break for the Mid-Summer Classic.
There have been several instances in the interim where O’Day’s absence was glaring. In addition to the instance on Tuesday night against San Diego where we could have used one of his patented Houdini acts to escape a bases-loaded, no-outs jam, there have been more subtle ripple effects of having Darren unavailable. Buck Showalter has been forced to either use Brad Brach more than he’d like, or to go with other options in situations that have been much more pressurized than those they’re used to.
How many times have you seen T.J. McFarland, Brian Duensing, or now even Oliver Drake trot out of the ‘pen and found yourself wishing to instead see the submarining former Florida Gator?
Here’s hoping that O’Day’s throwing session was productive and pain-free today, and that he’s now on the fast track to rejoining the Birds. There’s no denying that the team needs their $31-million man sooner rather than later.
