NEW YORK — Though not as extensive as the Tampa Bay Rays, the Baltimore Orioles have had enough injuries early on that midway through his pregame media session on Friday, manager Buck Showalter asked a media relations to bring out a paper containing the injury report.
The newest name is now right-hander Kevin Gausman, who was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis before Friday’s 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees.
The injury is not considered serious and Gausman could have possibly pitched through it. That also would have increased the risk in him getting hurt even more and with how the Orioles view Gausman and their aspirations to build a mostly home-grown pitching staff, that also influenced the move.
“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 or 10 (pitchers) we have 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 (the Orioles) don’t want to take any chances with it. I’d rather have him but we’d also rather (have) him long-term.”
Gausman took an anti-inflammatory injection Thursday and last pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday against the New York Mets. Gausman is headed to the DL coming off four straight scoreless outings and 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in eight appearances.
The 24-year-old is among a group of young pitchers the Orioles are hoping pan out and that group also includes Dylan Bundy, who had Tommy John surgery two years ago and made nine minor starts at the lower levels last season.
Out of that group, Gausman has the most experience, though he has had mixed results. In 2013, he was 3-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 20 appearances (five starts) and last year he had six different stints in the majors and was 7-7 with a 3.57 ERA in 20 starts.