The Orioles' decision to option right-hander Kevin Gausman to Triple-A Norfolk following his start Tuesday night was an easy one, especially considering Gausman had brought up the idea to pitching coach Dave Wallace two days earlier to keep pitching every fifth day over the All-Star break.
The move is unlike the previous one to send Gausman back to the minors. The Orioles have every intention for Gausman to return to the starting rotation following the break, manager Buck Showalter said.
"That's the plan," Showalter said. "We thought that one of our starting pitchers would go out during the break. We've done that every year to make our team better before and after the break."
Gausman will make two starts for the Tides before rejoining the Orioles. He will start for Norfolk on regular rest Sunday and likely do the same the following Friday. Gausman is eligible to rejoin the big league club next Saturday.
"It's actually Kevin's idea as much as ours," Showalter said. "He wanted to keep pitching, we wanted him to keep pitching, keep the ball in his hand every fifth day. ... It helps him, it helps us. Looking at this year and next year, he needs to keep his inning count going, because his innings are out there. He can throw a lot of innings this year, but we need to get him close to that so we can do the same thing with him next year."
The Orioles want Gausman to keep getting regular innings as a starter to get him ready to pitch 160 to 180 innings as a starter next season. Gausman was behind on innings after opening the season as a reliever and going on the disabled list for the first time in his career.
Gausman suffered the shortest start of his 28-start big league career Tuesday, allowing a career-high eight runs (seven earned) over 3 2/3 innings in the Orioles' 8-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.