After Sunday’s disastrous outing against the Blue Jays, there was a big question mark next to Ubaldo Jimenez. What would be his role going forward? Would the Orioles take the more extreme step of releasing him from the team?
Before Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox, manager Buck Showalter gave an answer to that speculation, or at least the answer that’s going for now. Jimenez is out of the O’s rotation and will be available from the Orioles bullpen beginning on Wednesday.
It’s not a surprising move, given that the O’s had already signaled that Yovani Gallardo would be coming back from the disabled list to start Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays. That’s the turn in the rotation that would have belonged to Jimenez. The writing was on the wall there.
The Orioles had to do something with Jimenez. His 6.89 ERA through 13 starts is not something they could just keep dealing with. It’s not pretty. He’s walked 35 batters in 62.2 innings and has a WHIP of 1.979.
How long they’ll be able to contend with him being the last man in the bullpen, used only in the most desperate emergencies, is another question that will be answered down the road. For now, no more Jimenez starts for the near future, and that's good news for the Orioles as they try to hold on to their place in the AL East.