The Baltimore Orioles are off to a nice start to their season as they are 11-7 which has them in first place in the AL East. The Orioles were expected to be as they usually are this season, very good hitting but sub-par starting pitching, and so far that has proven to be the case for the most part.
The Orioles don't have a true ace on their pitching staff, but they have a few guys that have been aces in the past. Their hope was that those guys, Ubaldo Jimenez and Yovani Gallardo, would step up to fill that void, but so far that has not been the case.
Gallardo is in his first year with the Orioles, but there was concern about him from the get-go. After the Orioles initially signed him to a deal this offseason, Gallardo failed his physical which led to the two sides having to work out a revised deal. Gallardo is a guy that has never really had arm issues throughout his career, but the red flag the Orioles saw was his shoulder.
That shoulder has put Gallardo on the DL, as he has been diagnosed with shoulder and biceps tendinitis. Gallardo lasted just two innings in his last start and didn't look good at all. His fastball was barely reaching 88 mph, and he missed the strike zone with regularity. After the start Gallardo said that his shoulder just didn't feel right and that he had never felt that in his entire career.
Through four starts in Baltimore the right-hander's numbers are not pretty. He has a 7.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP in 18 innings pitched. If those numbers weren't bad enough, he has only struck out nine batters while walking seven, not the ratio you want.
The good news for the Orioles and Gallardo is that he was sent for an MRI which revealed no further damage and confirmed that he was just dealing with tendinitis. This means that the 30-year-old starter could be back in a matter of a couple of weeks as long as the shoulder starts feeling better. Manager Buck Showalter said prior to the MRI that if it was just tendinitis Gallardo could get a pain-killing injection to aid in his recovery.
The fact that Gallardo has shoulder tendinitis is likely a major reason for his struggles to start this season. Of course the fact that the Orioles red-flagged his shoulder this offseason is worrisome, but the MRI results should put their minds at ease. Gallardo was very good for the Texas Rangers last season as he had a 3.42 ERA in 33 starts, so assuming he comes back healthy in the next couple of weeks, like expected, the Orioles can expect that kind of pitcher instead of the one they have seen so far this season.
