2009 Baltimore Orioles: Meet The Pitchers Who Won't Start This Season

The names may surprise you. Radhames Liz and Koji Uehara. Now you may be asking yourself, “What the heck are the Orioles doing? I thought these guys were brought in to avoid paying real pitchers and to bolster a non-existent rotation?”

At least that’s the thought I had. Turns out, the Orioles are far wiser than we will ever know, and that these two guys in particular will be middle relievers—for the time being. Here’s the scoop on Liz, courtesy of the Baltimore Sun.

Radhames Liz became the latest Oriole to drop out of the competition for one of three open spots in the rotation as the club decided that his future is likely in the bullpen.
Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz informed Liz, 25, of the decision yesterday morning in Fort Lauderdale. The organization’s one-time top pitching prospect will have an opportunity to make the Opening Day roster as a reliever.

Apparently, Liz is still struggling, so it may be best to bring him along as a middle reliever. But then we have the shocking revelation on Uehara, courtesy of  Right off Russell.

With Chris Ray back and Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara and George Sherrill among the set-up crew, Dave Trembley says “our bullpen is going to be good. Real good.”

Now, this was from a Peter Gammons report that was published on ESPN Insider content, so it could’ve been a blog entry that slipped through the editorial cracks. But if that’s true, then it's truly disheartening that much of the youth will be outside of the starting rotation looking in.

Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz and Chris Tillman have all been assigned to minor league duty for the time being, and while the Orioles are in no rush to hurry their pitching prospects, the big question remains.

So who exactly do they have in the starting rotation?

Share and Enjoy: