The Orioles have claimed 29-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Steven Pearce off waivers from the New York Yankees. Pearce played in 28 games for the Orioles earlier this year and he was 18 for 71 (.254 avg, .758 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 homers and 14 RBIs. He has played in 40 games overall this year for the Astros, Yankees and Orioles in which he is 22 for 96 (.229 avg, .711 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 18 RBIs. Pearce has played in 246 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 146 of 624 (.234 avg, .677 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 13 homers, 78 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. This was a good pickup for the Orioles as Pearce played decent for them earlier this year.

26-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B/OF/DH Chris Davis has turned in a rock solid year in 2012 for the Orioles. He has played in 133 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 132 of 494 (.267 avg, .801 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 28 homers, 77 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Davis hasn’t been too picky at the plate, whiffing 160 times while only walking 36 times so far this year. The Orioles are willing to accept the holes in his game as long as he keeps ripping the ball at the plate. Davis is finishing this season strongly too, playing in 22 games so far in September in which he is 26 for 82 (.317 avg, .959 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 5 homers and 12 RBIs.

The Orioles have lost 36-year old lefty starter/reliever Randy Wolf for the rest of the season as he needs Tommy John Surgery. Wolf pitched in 5 games (2 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 2-0 with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He pitched in 30 games (26 starts) overall this year for the Brewers and Orioles in which he was 5-10 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. This will be the second Tommy John Surgery of Wolf’s career, and it might be a career ending injury. Wolf has pitched in 376 games (368 starts) in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 132-117 with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Orioles should be o.k. without Wolf the rest of the way in 2012.

30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Nate McLouth has been an outstanding addition for the Baltimore Orioles. He has played in 18 games so far in September and he is 24 of 73 (.329 avg, .891 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers, 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. McLouth has now played in 42 games for the Orioles this year and he is 45 of 157 (.287 avg, .804 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 4 homers, 15 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 76 games overall this year for the Orioles and Pirates in which he is 53 of 214 (.248 avg, .693 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. McLouth has been excellent for the Orioles and he has likely revived his career in the majors too.

29-year old righty closer Jim Johnson has really excelled in his closer’s role except for July, when he really struggled. Johnson has been red hot since August 1st, working in 17 games out of the pen in which he is 1-0 with 12 saves, a 1.56 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. He has now pitched in 63 games (0 starts) overall this year in which he is 2-1 with 43 saves, a 2.82 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He pitches to contact as he has only whiffed 36 batters in his first 60 2/3 innings while allowing 50 hits and walking only 13 batters. The Orioles need Johnson to finish strong if they are going to overtake the Yankees in the A.L. East.

The Orioles have likely lost 30-year old switch-hitting Wilson Betemit for the rest of the season after hurting his wrist in batting practice last night. Betemit has played in 102 games for the Orioles this year and he is 89 for 341 (.261 avg, .744 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs. The Orioles are likely to get DH Jim Thome back next week, which will lessen the blow of losing Betemit.

1B/3B Mark Reynolds is paying off the Orioles in September for being patient with him. Reynolds has played in 9 games so far in September and he is 10 for 31 (.323 avg, 1.432 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 7 homers and 14 RBIs. The Orioles hope that Reynolds stays red hot with the bat in the rest of September and into October. Reynolds has played in 113 games overall this year for the Orioles and he is 86 for 370 (.232 avg, .816 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 21 homers, 59 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

The Orioles have designated 25-year old righty swinging infielder Ryan Adams for assignment. Adams played in 69 games in Rookie+A+AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 55 of 244 (.225 avg, .665 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He played in 29 games in 2011 for the Orioles in which he was 25 of 89 (.281 avg, .659 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 0 homers and 7 RBIs. This isn’t much of a loss for the Orioles moving forward.

UPDATE: (9/14/2012) - The Orioles have outrighted Ryan Adams to AAA.

The Orioles have designated 34-year old righty reliever Kevin Gregg for assignment. Gregg pitched in 40 games (0 starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He pitched in 103 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Orioles and he was 3-5 with 22 saves, a 4.53 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Orioles can use anyone as a mop up man, so they won’t miss Gregg.

UPDATE: (9/12/2012) - The Orioles have released Kevin Gregg.

The Rangers essentially gave up on fireballing 27-year old righty Pedro Strop and 29-year old side-arming righty Darren O’Day. But one man’s trash in another team’s treasure and that is the case with these two guys. Strop has been the Orioles’ set-up man so far this year. He has pitched in 61 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 5-2 with 3 saves, a 2.26 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has only given up 43 hits while whiffing 52 batters in his first 59 2/3 innings so far this year, which is impressive, but he has walked 32 batters and that’s too many. Still, Strop has been really effective so far this year. Darren O’Day has pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 7-1 with 2 saves, a 2.22 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. He has only given up 42 hits and 12 walks while whiffing 57 batters in his first 56 2/3 innings for the Orioles so far this year. The Orioles have gotten outstanding work out of the bullpen this year and they need Strop and O’Day to finish this year strongly if they are going to make it to the playoffs.