The Orioles have placed RHP Kevin Millwood on the 15 day disabled list and activated OF Felix Pie to take his place on the roster.
Felix Pie finally makes his return tonight but unfortunately it comes at the expense of Kevin Millwood, whose trade value is now completely gone. The only way we can move him now is if he comes back and pitches well before the August 31st waiver trade deadline. He goes on the DL because of a strained right forearm. He has been pitching badly for over a month after his hot start. The Orioles became concerned yesterday when he could only make it through one inning. Apparently his velocity was down and he kept missing his spots up in the zone. With Millwood now sidelined we’ll need a starter to make his next scheduled start on Saturday. Chris Tillman pitched a gem yesterday, 9 IP, H, 0 ER, BB, 5 K, and would be in line to make it so he seems like the favorite at this point. Hes obviously too good for AAA but has struggled at the big league level. Millwood’s ERA increased sharply to 5.77 after hovering around 3.00 for the first two months of the season. We can always hope he nets us a draft pick or two in the offseason.
Pie’s return comes at a good time since Luke Scott hit the DL. We could use his bat in the lineup. He hit .400/455/.650 with 2 doubles and a homerun over 20 at bats before hitting the disabled list in early April. We need him to stay healthy and get regular at bats for the rest of the year so we can have a better idea of what we’ve got in him. I think he can be a well above average player for us going forward. The one bad thing about Pie’s return is that there isn’t much room for freshly promoted prospect Josh Bell to get at bats with how the roster is currently constructed. If hes not going to be in the lineup four or five times a week he needs to be sent back down to AAA Norfolk so he can get regular at bats and continue his development as our third baseman of the future.
