Results tagged ‘ Koji Uehara ’
Baltimore seeking closure on closer
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Uehara, Bergesen workouts
Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said that two of his injured pitchers — Koji Uehara and Brad Bergesen — are progressing in their respective rehab stints at the team’s Minor League complex in Sarasota, FL. Uehara will likely be able to throw off the mound in a couple days, while Bergesen is throwing off flat ground and making slow progress.
Bergesen, who was originally slated to be part of the team’s six-man rotation in September, may not be able to return until late in the month. Uehara, meanwhile, is expected back mid-month and will work out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season.
– Spencer Fordin
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Koji creeps closer
Koji Uehara will begin his rehab from a partially torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow on Wednesday, when he travels to the team’s Minor League complex in Sarasota, Fla. Uehara will begin a throwing program and will point toward a return in early September.
Uehara, who has been sidelined since the end of June, will be making his return as a reliever. And if he thrives there, it may be tough for the Orioles to envision him as anything else. Uehara, at 34 years old, may hold up better in shorter outings than he did in starts.
Koji means relief
Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said that Koji Uehara may be able to start a throwing program soon in order to return from a case of right elbow tendinitis. And when he does return, Trembley said that Uehara will work out of the bullpen for the remainder of the year.
The Orioles hope to have Uehara — the first Japanese player in franchise history — back close to the start of September. And then, instead of working him up to a suitable pitch-count to start, they’ll have him provide an experienced arm in the bullpen for the last month.
Orioles make baseball history
When Brian Matusz won on Tuesday, he became the fifth Baltimore rookie to win his big-league debut this season, a feat unrivaled in modern baseball history. Only one other team — the 1888 Chicago White Stockings, who later became the Cubs — has managed to equal that achievement, giving the Orioles an interesting footnote in the game’s annals.
Koji Uehara, Brad Bergesen, Jason Berken and David Hernandez have also won their debuts this season, and Baltimore had a near-miss in a no-decision for Chris Tillman.
Rookie Matt Wieters, who helped usher Matusz through his debut, had an interesting quip. “That’s when they started baseball,” he said of 1888. “So everybody was debuting.”
Uehara’s brush with fatigue
Koji Uehara termed himself “lucky” for netting a 1-2-3 double play in the fifth inning of Tuesday night’s loss, and he wound up pulling himself from the game early. Uehara told reporters that he spoke to pitching coach Rick Kranitz after the sixth inning due to arm-strain.
“I noticed that the ball was going up,” he said. “And I noticed I really couldn’t put the strength in my arm, so I asked to pull myself out.”
Uehara has been plagued by hamstring problems both in Spring Training and the regular season, and his endurance has been called into question in games that are hot and humid. This, however, represented the first time he has actually pulled himself from the game.
Rookie rotation
The Orioles are set to promote Jason Berken from Triple-A Norfolk to take Tuesday’s starting assignment, a move that will give them three rookies in their starting rotation. Berken will replace Adam Eaton, who was recently released, for an undetermined period of time.
Berken, a former sixth-round draftee, was 2-0 with a 1.05 ERA in his first five starts for Norfolk. The Orioles may also have to replace rookie Koji Uehara, who is suffering from a sore left hamstring, at some point. Baltimore’s two most experienced starters — Jeremy Guthrie and Rich Hill — have combined for a little more than five years of big-league service time.
Another ailment
The Orioles learned of another pitching injury Saturday night, a mere matter of hours after watching Koji Uehara leave the game early with a sore left hamstring. Chris Tillman, one of the team’s top pitching prospects, left Triple-A Norfolk’s game with a tight groin. Tillman, who went into Saturday’s start with a 5-0 record and a 2.13 ERA will be re-evaluated Sunday.
Uehara’s early exit
Koji Uehara made it through just three innings Saturday night due to a case of soreness in his left hamstring, a reoccurrence of an injury suffered in Spring Training. Uehara, who had thrown three scoreless innings, will be re-evaluated Sunday and may miss his next outing.
The right-hander has a history of hamstring problems, and the ailment caused him to miss two weeks during Spring Training. Uehara wasn’t able to cover first base on an infield single in the third inning and was seen flexing the muscle against the final batter he faced.
The timing of the injury is inopportune for the Orioles, who released Adam Eaton on Friday night and have yet to tab someone as his replacement. If Uehara is indeed out for any period of time, the Orioles would be forced to find yet another starter from their farm system.
No language barrier
Koji Uehara has worked well with American catchers Gregg Zaun and Chad Moeller during his first six starts as an Oriole, and he demonstrated Tuesday that he won’t allow the language barrier to stop him from picking up intricacies of the game.
Uehara credited Zaun with alerting him to a tendency for shortstop Jason Bartlett, who found himself on second late in a tie game. Zaun had told Uehara that Bartlett likes to steal third before the game, and then he told him again to try a pickoff in the heat of the moment.
Bartlett, who was looking right at Uehara as the veteran began his move, got caught breaking to third and attempting to get back to second. Zaun speculated that Bartlett was intent on going because he flashed a sign for a breaking ball, and Uehara gave his catcher the credit.
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