The Orioles have activated RHP Kevin Millwood and LHP Michael Gonzalez from the disabled list and optioned RHP Chris Tillman and 3B Josh Bell to AAA Norfolk. RHP Jim Johnson was transferred to the 60 day DL. Also, LHP Troy Patton was called up before todays game and then sent back down immediately after it.
Kevin Millwood is taking Chris Tillman’s spot in the starting rotation and will pitch tomorrow night in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins. He missed a couple of weeks with a strained forearm. Hopefully the time off will do him some good, he was throwing alot of pitches each time out this year. I was hoping Tillman would get a chance to stay for a while. He pitched so good against Texas that we finally saw the pitcher that hes capable of being. I think sending him down immediately following a bad start yet again might have a negative effect. If he thinks hes going to be sent down after every bad game he could put too much pressure on himself and pitch scared. At least he can go down to AAA Norfolk and continue to work on his cutter and command. If a spot opens up in the rotation maybe he’ll gain some consistency.
Michael Gonzalez finally makes his return to the bullpen after a long rehab. As I’m sure everyone remembers he pitched in three games at the beginning of the year with not much success. He blew two saves while going 0-2 with a 18.00 ERA, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts over 2 innings. He’ll be eased back into high leverage situations, starting off in middle relief. If and when he proves hes fully healthy and productive again he’ll move up the ladder. He’ll have to be close to dominant to regain the closer role but he is more than capable of doing that when healthy. He replaces Josh Bell on the roster who has been wasted over the last two or three weeks. There was no reason to ever bring him up in the first place if he was only going to get 19 at bats over two and a half weeks. He needs to stay at AAA Norfolk until hes the everyday third baseman. If Miguel Tejada is traded that will be as soon as a week from now. If not, wait until September when rosters expand. Let him get his at bats every day and continue to improve. Troy Patton was called up for today’s game in case of an emergency after the bullpen had been put through the ringer over the last three games. He wasn’t needed today so he was sent back down as soon as it was over. To be honest I’d rather have him on the roster than Mark Hendrickson, but I guess that will have to wait until next year.
