The Baltimore Orioles are having a dream season, sitting atop the American League East Division, three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.
But things could get complicated in the coming weeks.
It’s that the Maryland squad’s number one reliever left Friday’s game against the Colorado Rockies with what was then called arm discomfort. But since then, things have changed.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias spoke to reporters yesterday afternoon (Saturday) about the status of right-hander Felix Bautista and it now appears the discomfort was something far more serious than had been originally indicated.
Indeed, according to the leader, Bautista would suffer from an injury to a collateral ligament. The latter will stay on the injured list for at least two weeks, but his absence could be prolonged to the point that he could miss the rest of this campaign.
During his absence, left-hander DL Hall will take his place in the lineup and Yennier Cano, who was acquired in the Jorge Lopez trade, can be expected to become the late reliever.
This is a blow for the Orioles, since Bautista was one of the best relievers in all of MLB. In 61 innings of work, the 28-year-old had 33 saves, just one shy of league leaders Alexis Diaz and Emmanuel Clase, while maintaining a 1.48 earned run average.
It remains to be seen how the young Orioles will recover from this hard loss and if they will be able to maintain their lead at the top of the section. The gaping hole left by Bautista, however, could hurt a lot more in the fall dance.
