It has been a very frustrating start to the week for the Orioles, as they have blown three-run leads in consecutive games, dropping both after coming off back-to-back series wins against the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

The team will turn to Ubaldo Jimenez on Wednesday and pray he can find a way to pitch well enough to stop the losing streak at only two games. Thursday is a much-needed off day, and then a series against the Tampa Bay Rays begins on Friday, when the team will also get Manny Machado back from suspension.

O’Day’s Absence Catching Up to Bullpen

The Orioles have done a marvelous job maintaining success in the bullpen over the last couple of weeks without the services of Darren O’Day. However, it’s becoming clear that they need the right-hander to return very soon. Buck Showalter won’t overuse any pitcher, which means Brad Brach can only pitch so much and as good as Mychal Givens has been, he continues to struggle against left-handed hitters.

As of now, Showalter has three guys he can trust from the sixth inning on and unfortunately, Givens and Zach Britton are currently struggling. We have also once again reached the point where the lack of a left-handed specialist in the bullpen is limiting what Showalter can do late in games.

This has been the perfect storm as the lack of off days and the starting pitchers not pitching deep into games has made O’Day’s absence glaring.

The Orioles need another starter, that is not a shock, but Dan Duquette also has to find a way to add another useful arm to the bullpen with the priority being a left-hander. The only in-house candidate would be Tanner Scott, but until he gets promoted to Double-A, it’s hard to seriously consider him an option.

GAUSMAN RELYING TOO MUCH ON THE FASTBALL…AGAIN

It’s very easy to fall in love with your fastball when it routinely hits 97 miles per hour, but major league hitters can hit a fastball, especially when they know it’s coming. The issue for Kevin Gausman is that he is struggling with his secondary pitches, which has forced him to throw more fastballs.

In spring training, Gausman recognized the need to throw the breaking ball and told the Baltimore Sun that it was a priority.

“I think the biggest thing with my breaking ball is just that I need to throw it more and I need to force myself to throw it more,” he said. “I have a good fastball, I have a good change-up and a good split and teams know that. The book is out on me, so now I’m working on that third pitch, working on that curveball.”

According to FanGraphs and Brooks Baseball, the right-hander is throwing that pitch less than 14 percent of the time. Gausman is essentially a two-pitch pitcher with the fastball and splitter/changeup combo and until that is fixed, we will see the inconsistencies that he has shown this season.

We have to continue to remember that this will be his first full season as a starting pitcher in the big leagues so the struggles will be there. The more I think about it, the more I think that the Orioles using him in the bullpen stunted his growth as an overall pitcher, even though he helped the big league team win. Gausman didn’t have to worry about using a third pitch out of the bullpen and the lack of development in the breaking ball has hurt him in 2016.

BUNDY WILL NOT BE A STARTER IN 2016

This has been a popular topic recently due to the former top prospect in baseball pitching well and the starting staff struggling. However, with Dylan Bundy limited to roughly 70 innings this year, it’s unrealistic for him to be a member of the rotation. There will always be a chance he is asked to be used as a spot starter, but the first time Bundy is used as a regular guy in the rotation will be in 2017.

Bundy has already thrown 30 innings so we are quickly approaching half of his innings limit before the All-Star break. It’s very encouraging to see Bundy bounce back after his appearances and in the end, the key to this season is him staying healthy.

Unlike Gausman, Bundy is confident in his secondary pitches and he has been able to throw them for strikes while also continuing to see his fastball velocity improve.

A top three in the rotation of Chris Tillman, Gausman and Bundy that many envisioned years ago could finally be a reality in 2017.