Chris Davis to disabled list with strained oblique

The Orioles have announced that Chris Davis is headed to the 15-day disabled list as a result of his strained left oblique. We were given a bit of hope pre-game when Davis met with reporters and said:

I even think, as sore as I was yesterday, I don't think it was a DL thing. I think it was just, kind of like [manager] Buck [Showalter] said, 'try to get ahead of it right now so it doesn't turn into a DL thing.' I think the biggest thing to remember is we've got a lot of games left to play. Missing one or two games now is better than missing 10 or 15 down the road.

When Davis made those comments, the results of his MRI hadn't been given to the Orioles. It was those results that led the team to make the move, though they declined to give details on the MRI other than to say that, while it's still considered a sprain of Davis' oblique, it's serious enough to warrant the move to the DL.

According to the beat writers on Twitter, the Orioles may not make a move until after the off day on Monday, which means they'll play tomorrow's game down a man on the bench. They did that today and it worked out, so maybe they'll get lucky two days in a row.

It's hard to say what the Orioles will do in this situation, because they don't have an obvious first baseman to pull up from the minors. Brett Wallace has been playing first for the Tides and has been abysmal. Christian Walker is at AA Bowie, and while he's putting up good numbers, there has been no inclination that they think he's ready for the big leagues.

One suggestion that has been floating around the internet is Kendrys Morales, who is still waiting on a team to sign him. The Orioles would have to give up yet another draft pick if they sign him, but they've already given up a ton of them so maybe that's not an issue to them. If Davis is going to be out longer than just two weeks, that might become an attractive idea for this team that is trying to compete.

They could also keep Nick Markakis at first, though there some adventures over there tonight. Nelson Cruz has his defensive troubles, but it stands to reason that he could hold down right field almost as well as Markakis.

So we'll just have to wait and see, but this is an unfortunate turn of events for sure.