The Orioles have bumped 27-year old lefty Brian Burres to the bullpen. Burres has pitched in 21 games (19 starts) this season for the Orioles and he is 7-7 with a 5.37 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. He will likely be the long man in the bullpen unless George Sherrill or Jamie Walker are traded before Thursday. 27-year old righty Dennis Sarfate will replace Burres in the rotation and he should fit right in with the other Orioles’ starting pitchers as he doesn’t like to throw strikes. Sarfate has walked a stunning 39 batters in only 50 innings for the Orioles this season. He does have good stuff as he has only allowed 35 hits and has whiffed 52 batters in 50 innings pitched. He has pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 4-1 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. This is probably not a good idea for the Orioles as Sarfate will take a while to get stretched out enough to give them 5 innings which will tax the bullpen.

25-year old righty reliever Jim Johnson has been the best pitcher on the Orioles this season. With apologies to Jeremy Guthrie and George Sherrill who are also having good years….Johnson is the man in 2008. Johnson has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 2-3 with 1 save, a 1.88 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Johnson has been almost unhittable this season as he has only allowed 34 hits in 57.1 innings. As much as the Orioles are tempted to return Johnson to the rotation they should keep him in the bullpen where he has excelled.

Due to recurring elbow issues 24-year old lefty pitcher Adam Loewen has decided to quit pitching and convert to being an outfielder like Rick Ankiel of the Cardinals. The reason for the switch is because Loewen didn’t want to have another major surgery on his left elbow. Loewen pitched in 7 games (4 starts) for the Orioles this season and he was 0-2 with a 8.02 ERA and a 2.02 WHIP. Loewen finishes his career as a pitcher appearing in 35 games (29 starts) in which he was 8-8 with a 5.38 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He did have issues with throwing strikes as he walked 106 batters in only 164 major league innings. Loewen will face a hard road ahead as pitchers that change to position players rarely make it back to the majors.

The Orioles figured that they had seen enough of Radhames Liz so they sent him to AAA. Liz reminds a lot of people of Daniel Cabrera as he has electric stuff but just has no control over where the ball is going. Liz started 10 games for the Orioles so far this season and he was 4-3 with a 7.47 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. He has walked 32 batters in only 47 innings for the Orioles and that has gotten him into a lot of deep trouble this season. Hopefully, Liz will learn how to pitch in AAA this time around before he gets another chance to pitch for the Orioles (likely September when rosters expand). The Orioles have activated lefty reliever Jamie Walker just in time to showcase him for a trade. Walker has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 1-0 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP.

The Orioles have acquired 35-year old righty swinging shortstop Juan Castro from the Rockies for infielder Mike McCoy. Castro made his debut with the Orioles last night and he whiffed in his only at bat. Castro also played in 7 games for the Rockies this season and he was 0 for 10 with 1 run scored. Castro will be pushing Brandon Fahey for the starting shortstop job on the Orioles but he isn’t much of an upgrade on him as neither of them are good hitters. Castro has now played in 931 games in his major league career and he is 510 for 2,220 (.230 avg, .602 OPS) with 211 runs scored, 33 homers and 195 RBIs.

The Baltimore Orioles have placed righty reliever Greg Aquino on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain. Aquino has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) this season for the Orioles and he is 0-0 with a 12.54 ERA and a 2.79 WHIP. The Orioles have activated righty reliever Randon Bierd off the D.L. to replace Aquino in the bullpen. Bierd has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 0-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.

Jeremy Guthrie has been the only consistent starting pitcher for the Orioles this season. He is 5-7 despite having a 3.49 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP which is pretty darn good. But, either the offense doesn’t score for him or the bullpen blows it for him as he hasn’t had much luck this season. Daniel Cabrera started the season well but he’s back to his old tricks of not throwing strikes. He is 6-5 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP this year. Lefties Brian Burress (7-5, 5.02 ERA) and Garrett Olson (6-4, 5.65 ERA) have both been off more than on this season. Rookie righty Radhames Liz is a lot like Daniel Cabrera as he has great stuff but can’t throw a strike when he needs to. Liz is 3-2 with a 7.57 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP this year for the Orioles. If the rotation doesn’t improve soon the Orioles will have to being in some young pitching in trades for some veteran hitters.

The Baltimore Orioles are 45-48 this season which has them in last place in the American League East, 10 games behind the Red Sox. They are also 9.5 games behind the Rays for the Wild Card in the American League. Nick Markakis (.299 avg, 14 homers, 50 RBIs) and Brian Roberts (.296 avg, 62 runs scored, 27 stolen bases) have given the Orioles what they expect out of them. But, Aubrey Huff and Adam Jones have both played above expectations so far this season. Huff is known as a slow starter but he is batting .284 with 53 runs scored, 18 homers and 59 RBIs this season. Look for him to post the best numbers of his major league career in 2008 as long as he can just stay healthy. Adam Jones has not displayed the power the Orioles’ were hoping for this season but he’s still hitting the ball well. Jones is hitting .281 this year with 5 homers, 41 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Despite not hitting for good averages Luke Scott (14 homers), Kevin Millar (12 homers), Melvin Mora (11 homers) and Ramon Hernandez (8 homers) have all provided some punch in the lineup. The Orioles have a good enough offense to fight for the playoffs but the pitching will definately hurt them in the end….especially the starters.

24-year old righty swinging outfielder Nolan Reimold is climbing up the organizational depth chart this season. He was the #4 prospect in the Orioles’ minor league system heading into this season according to Baseball America and he’s showing why now. Reimold has played in 94 games in AA-Ball this season and he is 101 for 348 (.290 avg, .859 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 15 homers, 48 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. If the Orioles continue to slump and trade some outfielders Reimold might get his big chance at the major leagues later this year.

20-year old righty starting pitcher Charles Tillman is pitching very well in AAA for the Orioles. He was one of the keys of the Erik Bedard trade last winter as he was the #3 prospect in the Mariners’ minor league system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook. Tillman has started 17 games in AA ball this season and he is 7-2 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has whiffed 83 batters in only 80.2 innings this season which shows what kind of stuff he has. But, he needs to tighten up his control a bit as he has walked 41 batters this year. Tillman is making the Orioles’ front office look really sharp as it appears that they fleeced the Mariners really good over the winter.