While continuing to tweak the pitching staff to account for early injuries to both the rotation and bullpen, the Orioles are already bracing to be without veteran starter Zach Eflin for an extended period of time.
To make room on the 40-man roster after acquiring left-handed reliever Nick Raquet in a trade with St. Louis, Baltimore transferred Eflin to the 60-day injured list as he was visiting Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas for a second opinion on his injured right elbow on Tuesday. That transaction meant Eflin — who turns 32 on Wednesday — will now be sidelined through at least the end of May, but the swift manner in which the club placed him on the 15-day IL last week and then revealed he would seek a second opinion on his elbow usually doesn’t bode well for a pitcher’s status. For what it’s worth, Meister has performed elbow reconstruction surgery on a number of Orioles pitchers in recent years.
Updated: The Orioles announced Wednesday evening that Eflin underwent Tommy John surgery.
After undergoing season-ending back surgery last August, Eflin re-signed with Baltimore on a one-year, $10 million contract in late December.
Designated for assignment by the Cardinals earlier this week, the 30-year-old Raquet was acquired for minor-league outfielder Brayden Smith and will give the Orioles an additional southpaw option in the bullpen after Dietrich Enns was placed on the 15-day IL with an infection in his left foot over the weekend. Baltimore was already without veteran lefty Keegan Akin, who suffered a groin strain while warming up to enter a Grapefruit League game less than a week before Opening Day.
Raquet made his major league debut last September and has appeared in just two games in the big leagues, so it was interesting to see president of baseball operations Mike Elias give up Smith, a 13th-round pick in last year’s draft, to acquire the ex-Cardinals pitcher. In 52 1/3 innings split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season, Raquet pitched to a 2.24 ERA and averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings, but the bulk of that success came at the lower level.
With Raquet reporting to the club Tuesday morning, the Orioles optioned right-hander Brandon Young back to Triple-A Norfolk after he pitched five shutout innings in Monday’s 2-1 win over Chicago. Most are anticipating the Orioles recalling veteran right-hander Dean Kremer when they need a fifth starter again during their next homestand.
