NEW YORK — The Orioles placed right-hander Kevin Gausman on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis before Friday night's game against the New York Yankees.
Left-hander T.J. McFarland, who was called up from Triple-A Norfolk, will take Gausman's place in the Orioles bullpen. McFarland flew to New York from Norfolk on Friday and arrived at Yankee Stadium by game time.
The DL move is retroactive to Thursday, so Gausman will be eligible to return on May 22.
Gausman, the brightest young pitcher on the Orioles staff, has exclusively pitched out of the bullpen this season, going 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 innings over eight appearances. He hasn't allowed a run over his last four outings, including a scoreless inning in his last appearance against the New York Mets on Wednesday, when he struck out two of the three batters he faced.
The 24-year-old former first-round pick began feeling discomfort about a week ago, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Gausman could have pitched through it. But Gausman is one of the team's most coveted pitchers, so the Orioles want to be careful with him.
Gausman began taking anti-inflammatory medication Thursday, but it usually takes about three days for that to have an effect.
"We just don't want to take the chance at this point," Showalter said. "Once he gets out here and going and throws around, he feels fine. But some of the symptoms he had this morning we didn't like. We're going to work it out, make sure everything's OK in there structurally before we continue to pitch him."
Showalter mentioned the team had previously contemplated sending Gausman to Triple-A to get regular starts there. He was 7-7 with a 3.57 ERA in 20 big league starts last year, and is expected to be a regular in the team's rotation no later than next season with Wei-Yin Chen and Bud Norris pending free agents.
With Gausman such a big part of the Orioles' future, Showalter said the team had to take his injury seriously.
"That's a real driving force in a decision like this," Showalter said. "We just can't get involved in the free-agent market, knowing who you are and who you're not. That's why I talk about the nine, 10 [pitchers] we have in Double-A and Triple-A. And Kevin is one of those guys.
"You never know what you're going to have pitching-wise next year, so these are assets we can't afford to abuse in any form or fashion. We're always going to err on that side. It's hard to do. It would be very easy to continue with him down there and we'd probably be fine, but I — and we — don't want to take any chance with it. I'd rather have him, but we'd also rather have him long term."
Gausman will stay with the team for the remainder of the road trip, which ends Sunday. The team hasn't performed any X-rays or an MRI on Gausman's shoulder. Showalter said Gausman could conceivably also receive some starts with Norfolk before returning from the DL.
Other items of note:
- The Orioles activated infielder Ryan Flaherty from the 15-day DL. He’s starting at second base tonight and batting ninth. Infielder Rey Navarro was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to make room.
- An MRI performed on infielder Everth Cabrera’s left foot came back clean. Cabrera said he will not perform baseball activities for the next two days.
- Second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who on Saturday will be three weeks removed from going on the DL with a right knee injury, has begun jogging and doing agility work in the pool in Sarasota.
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