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Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (pictured) was on his way to his second strong performance in a row when he grabbed at his side and exited Sunday's game with a right oblique strain. That's very bad news for a team that already has called on four Triple-A starters to fill in the fifth slot in the rotation and replace injured Miguel Gonzalez. It was a tough week already, after so-so outings by Jason Hammel, Freddy Garcia and Steve Johnson, and that was reflected in the combined numbers. The rotation posted a 2-2 record with a 6.03 ERA and averaged just five innings per start. Even though the team managed to go 4-2 in those games, this is starting to get scary.
Grade: D (Hannah Foslien / Getty Images /May 12, 2013)
One of the team’s top priorities was to sign an outfielder, and the Orioles were able to agree to terms with left fielder Nate McLouth on Wednesday. In Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, the team selected 23-year-old left-hander T.J. McFarland.
“I’m glad we signed an outfielder,” Duquette told reporters Thursday morning following the Rule 5 draft. “That was one of our goals, and pending a physical, we will have a deal with Nate McLouth. That was one of our goals. We also wanted to add some left-handed pitching and we’ve been able to do that.”
By re-signing McLouth, who blossomed when he joined the Orioles last August, the team retained a key piece to their 2012 success, and Duquette said he’s pleased with the team’s composition moving forward.
“We have a full complement of players who can play in the field and we have a good pitching staff that’s returning,” Duquette said. “We have a very competitive club as it’s currently constituted, We’re going to continue looking and try to add a couple of things to our ballclub, but if we were to break today, we’ve got everybody returning except [Mark] Reynolds and [Joe] Saunders right now, but I think we have some capable people who can do the job they did for us.”
Duquette said re-signing Saunders was “still an option.” The Orioles had dialogue with Saunders’ representatives this week, but interest in the left-hander has begun to pick up.
The Orioles will keep pursuing a power bat, which would most likely be acquired by trade. Duquette said trade talks consummated here in Nashville were productive, and the Orioles have a better feeling for which teams could be willing trade partners.
“We made progress in our trade discussions,” Duquette said. “Some of them developed and we could make a deal and some of them fell by the wayside. That’s progress. We know if it’s not an option we can go somewhere else.”
