The Orioles have demoted LHP Zach Britton to AA Bowie. LHP Mark Hendrickson has been recalled from AAA Norfolk.

This is a little surprising but I can understand the reasoning. The Orioles want to limit Britton’s innings this year and since we’re no longer competitive we can add a year of control of the young lefty. We were supposed to wait until three weeks into the season to bring him up for this reason but were forced to do so right away with Brian Matusz’ injury. He can go down to Bowie for about a month, throw five innings every five or six days and come back to finish the season with the O’s. He wasn’t pitching very well anyway so maybe he can get straightened out a little bit. So far in his rookie season Britton was 6-7 with a 4.05 ERA over 104.1 innings with 64 strikeouts and 39 walks. I’d like to see his strikeout rate increase and his ground ball rate as well, even though it is already 1.74. Its very disappointing that Britton, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman are all in the minors while Brad Bergesen is pitching out of the bullpen. Didn’t see that happening when the season started… Hendrickson comes up to help the bullpen. He was signed to a minor league contract in the offseason and had a 2.87 ERA over 47 innings with 22 strikeouts and 12 walks for AAA Norfolk. Hes a veteran and familiar with the team plus he can pitch multiple innings so it was a pretty easy call. The Orioles bullpen has been considerably overworked over the past few weeks and a move had to be made after Britton couldn’t get out of the first inning last night.

The Orioles have called up RHP Mitch Atkins from AAA Norfolk to make tonight’s start. OF Luke Scott was placed on the 15 day disabled list to make room on the roster.

Its been clear for a while now that Scott’s shoulder has been bothering him both in the field and at the plate. Hes struggled all season long except for a brief time after he got a cortisone shot. Unfortunately thats only a short term solution. Scott can be a force at the plate especially when hes hot but not unless hes at full strength. His trade value is as low as it can be at this point so theres no use hurting the team by running him out there game after game. Get him healthy and see how things go from there, whether thats later in the season or next year. This makes room for Nolan Reimold to get more playing time. I’m assuming him and Felix Pie will share left field duties, hopefully Reimold gets the extent of it. Atkins gets a chance to fill the recently departed Brian Matusz’ place in the starting rotation after posting a 3.18 ERA over 82 innings between A+ Frederick (two starts), AA Bowie (four starts), and AAA Norfolk (8 starts) with 62 strikeouts and 27 walks. Hes only 25 years old and has put up good numbers the last couple years in the minors. He was signed as a minor league free agent after spending the beginning of his career in the Chicago Cubs organization. Why not give him a chance, hes earned it.

The Orioles have optioned LHP Brian Matusz to AAA Norfolk and recalled LHP Pedro Viola from AA Bowie.

Matusz had two pretty good starts when he first came off the disabled list after missing the first two months of the season with a strained intercostal muscle in his back, but has struggled mightily ever since. His velocity is down, his command is nowhere as good as it was last year, and his pitches don’t have their normal bite on them. In six starts he went 1-4 with an 8.77 ERA over 25.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks. He’ll go down to Norfolk and work with pitching coach Mike Griffin who is highly thought of in the organization. Matusz mentioned his mechanics were changed in spring training which seems to be a common theme this year and maybe the reason pitching coach Mark Connor left the team. Hopefully this isn’t a lingering injury issue with Matusz. As long as hes healthy I have confidence that he’ll right the ship and get back on the track of a top of the rotation starter. Viola comes up temporarily again to be used out of the bullpen. He had a 2.25 ERA over 28 innings with 25 strikeouts and 9 walks with the Baysox.

The Orioles have designated RHP Jeremy Accardo for assignment and demoted 2B Ryan Adams to AAA Norfolk. RHP Brad Bergesen and IF/OF Blake Davis were recalled from Norfolk.

The Orioles must have had enough of Accardo who seemed to give up a run every time he came in the game except for about a three week stretch in late May/early June. He ended up with a 5.29 ERA over 32.1 IP with 20 strikeouts and 17 walks. I don’t think anyone will claim him so he should head to AAA Norfolk like most of the opening day bullpen. Adams wasn’t getting much playing time at all and hes still a prospect so he’ll go back down to AAA to get every day at bats and work on his defense. In nine games with the O’s he hit .217/.280/.217 with an RBI. I’m surprised he stayed on as long as he did since Robert Andino is dominating the time at second base in Brian Roberts’ absence. Blake Davis can pretty much play any position on the field and isn’t a prospect so him sitting on the bench won’t effect his development. Hes hit pretty decently with Norfolk this year with a .284/.320/.399 line with two doubles, two triples, five homeruns, 24 RBI, and four stolen bases. Bergesen comes back to the majors with an undetermined role. He could either enter the rotation to replace an injured Jeremy Guthrie for a turn or two, replace Chris Jakubauskas as the 5th starter, or pitch out of the bullpen for a while. In three starts with Norfolk he had a 2-1 record with a 1.64 ERA over 22 innings with 18 strikeouts and 8 walks. One of those games was a complete game shutout and six of his eight walks came in another. The O’s could really use an effective Bergesen right about now.

The Orioles have placed RHP Alfredo Simon on the 15 day disabled list with a strained hamstring and recalled RHP Jason Berken from AAA Norfolk.

Simon had just pitched 4.2 innings in relief on Sunday so I’m not sure when this injury occurred but its just the O’s luck. Simon and the bullpen had been pitching pretty well as of late. He had a 3.14 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 6 walks over 14.1 innings since joining the team. Berken was sent down earlier in the year after struggling mightily, posting a 7.94 ERA over 17 innings. He was put into the starting rotation for the Tide to get stretched out a little but will be returned to the bullpen for the Orioles. He was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts spanning 16.1 innings. He struck out 15 batters and walked 7. Hopefully he regained his slider which was dominant at times last year and early on this season. He can be a solid reliever as long as he gets back to the form he showed pre-injury 2010.

Orioles pitching coach Mark Connor has resigned for “personal reasons”. Bullpen coach Rick Adair will be promoted to pitching coach and roving hitting instructor Terry Crowley will take over as bullpen coach on an interim basis.

This came out of nowhere. I’m sure more details will be made aware of over the next few days but Connor is out. The Orioles are lucky to have had a bullpen coach with pitching coach experience in Adair. Hes been a pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians (1992-1993), Detroit Tigers (1996-1999), and Seattle Mariners (2009-2010). The pitchers are used to working with him and there shouldn’t too much change in their routines. Crowley is in the interesting position of being a hitting coach working out of the bullpen. I’m sure his stay will be brief and he’ll go back to his old position as soon as the Orioles can find a more long term replacement for Adair. I’m not sure how much this will effect the team but its an unusual way of having a coaching change in the middle of a season.

The Orioles have activated 1B Derrek Lee from the bereavement list and sent 1B Brandon Snyder back down to AAA Norfolk.

Not much to say. Even in the brief time (three days) that Lee was absent, his glove was missed. I don’t think its much of a stretch to say that if he was playing Saturday night he would’ve made the difference defensively in winning that game. He also makes the lineup better. It’ll be good to have him back.

The Orioles have activated 1B Derrek Lee from the 15 day disabled list and sent LHP Pedro Viola back to the minors.

Lee was frustrated when he was placed on the DL initially, thinking that he would only need a couple of days rest, but he ended up staying off the roster longer than the necessary 15 days anyway so I guess it was the right move. The Orioles missed his defense at first base and his presence in the middle of the lineup. In his only rehab appearance last night he had two singles and a walk for AA Bowie. Viola made one appearance for the Orioles while he was up here, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings. He didn’t stay long but maybe he caught some attention. I’m sure Buck Showalter will remember him when its time for September call ups.

The Orioles have activated LHP Brian Matusz from the 15 day disabled list. To make room on the roster C/1B/OF Jake Fox was designated for assignment.

Fox will have to clear waivers to be sent to AAA Norfolk. If he doesn’t then the Orioles can try to work out a trade with the claiming team or just let him go. Fox was the talk of the team in spring training, leading all players with 10 homeruns. He started the season as the backup catcher but went on to prove that he can’t play the position well enough to keep that title. On top of that he didn’t hit very well over 48 bats batting .188/250/.396 with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 homeruns, and 4 RBI. He wasn’t playing alot and with Craig Tatum on the roster now as the backup catcher and Derrek Lee about to return, theres nowhere for Fox to really play. Brian Matusz finally returns after straining his intercostal muscle late in spring training. He had a 1.20 ERA over 15 innings with 10 strikeouts and 4 walks combined between A+ Frederick, AA Bowie, and AAA Norfolk. He’ll complete the current four man starting rotation with Jeremy Guthrie, Zach Britton, and Jake Arrieta as the other starters. It would be great if Matusz could pick up where he left off at the end of 2010 when he was putting up ace-like numbers.

The Orioles demoted RHP Chris Tillman to AAA Norfolk and recalled RHP Chris Jakubauskas from Norfolk.

Looks like the Orioles will go with a four man rotation for a while with five off days in June. I’m guessing whoever looks best in AAA Norfolk between Tillman and Brad Bergesen will get called back up before the month is over. Alfredo Simon or Jakubauskas could get spot starts if needed. Buck Showalter will have plenty of bullpen arms to choose from although it could be tough to get everyone enough innings if the starters are pitching well, which would be a good problem to have. Jakubauskas pitched really good in his last appearance, a start, for AAA Norfolk. I would’ve liked to have seen Tillman continue to get starts at the major league level to continue his development but I can understand Buck putting an emphasis on winning games.