Word on the Street: Jimenez Has O’s Between a Rock & a Hard Place

Ubaldo Jimenez was awful again on Saturday, lasting just 1.2 innings and allowing five runs in the Orioles’ loss in Cleveland. The team has very few good options regarding the veteran’s spot in the rotation. Read below or press play for more.

What else can be said about Ubaldo Jimenez’s 2016 season? After ten starts, the 32-year-old right-hander has an ERA over six and has pitched six innings in a game just three times. His latest debacle came Saturday, lasting just one-and-two-thirds innings and allowing five runs in Saturday’s blowout loss to the Indians. He also continues to allow base runners to dart around the diamond at will. Cleveland stole four bases off of him, something he’s always struggled with.

The Orioles are going to continue to face increased pressure to do something about Jimenez’s struggles. The problem is, they don’t have a clear solution.

There isn’t really a clear track record for Jimenez as a reliever. Putting him in the bullpen guarantees nothing, only that he quickly becomes a very overpaid long relief arm that you don’t really want to see in a game anyway. There’s also a clear issue of who replaces Jimenez in the rotation if he does go to the pen.

Vance Worley isn’t really a great option. He’s about as inconsistent as Jimenez is most days.

Dylan Bundy is out. He doesn’t have the innings built up and is really still learning how to pitch in the major leagues. It’s important to remember he’s pitched in fewer than 20 games in his career at this point.

Yovani Gallardo is still making his way back from injury, and didn’t really prove that he can be consistent before his shoulder injury. He’s still a big mystery at this point.

Cutting Jimenez loose creates a whole different issue. He’s still owed the better part of his 13-million-dollar salary for this year, and another 13-and-a-half-million next year. That’s a lot of cash to flush, even for a team that spent at will this offseason. We’re also talking about the same franchise that sold away a draft pick last week to save money on their 4-million-dollar reliever. Things don’t add up there.

Regardless of how all this shakes out, the Orioles have a big problem on their hands. It’s their “box of chocolates” pitcher. They never know what they’re going to get.