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With the way Matt Wieters was hitting this season before going on the disabled list, it wasn't fun for an Orioles fan to see him first limited to designated hitter and then placed on the DL due to his vague elbow injury. Unfortunately, it's not looking like he will be back any time soon. In the daily mass news dump by Orioles beat writers, they shared this about Wieters:
Wieters is still dealing with some stiffness in his elbow. Said he's still optimistic he will avoid surgery. No timetable to try throwing.
— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) May 21, 2014
Being optimistic is nice, but he's now been shut down entirely for nearly three weeks and still has some stiffness and no time table to throw again. The Orioles offense is probably going to need someone else to save them. There was a previously stated July 1 deadline for when Wieters would go for surgery instead of rest and rehab.
In other Orioles injury news, pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez is on the way back to Bowie:
Eduardo Rodriguez will start Thurs at Bowie. Tentatively scheduled for 5 inn or 75 pitches. Hasn't pitched since April due to injured knee.
— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) May 21, 2014
In our wildest dreams, we could have imagined Rodriguez coming up in September and making a difference for a pennant run. It's still possible on some level, but since he missed a month due to this knee injury, that makes it a whole lot less likely. Hopefully the injury doesn't derail his progress too much.
Speaking of top Orioles pitching prospects...
Good news for @FrederickKeys - Reliever Matt Hobgood @MattHobgood reinstated of the DL, is active for tonight.
— Doug Raftery (@DougRaftery) May 21, 2014
Five years later, it still hurts me.
Dylan Bundy will next throw in extended spring training on Tuesday against whoever is hanging around for the Rays. Maybe he'll give up fewer home runs next time, although at this point, it isn't about results. That's the kind of thing you say when the results suck and you hope that eventually the good results will arrive.