BALTIMORE (AP) -The Baltimore Orioles retooled their ineffective bullpen Saturday, placing Danys Baez on the 15-day disabled list, releasing Todd Williams and bringing up two rookies from Triple-A Norfolk.
The moves came less than 24 hours after Baltimore relievers permitted five runs in the final two innings of a 7-3 loss to Arizona on Friday night, the latest collapse of a bullpen that received a $42 million makeover during the offseason.
In his postgame session with the media, manager Sam Perlozzo said changes had to be made in a bullpen that has not performed to its potential.
“We’re going to need to do something. We can’t keep going like this,” he said.
On Saturday, the team’s front office reacted. Baez (0-4, 6.52 ERA) was shelved with tendinitis in his right forearm and the 36-year-old Williams, who took the loss Friday night, was dropped.
To fill the void, the Orioles purchased the contract of Cory Doyne and called up Jim Hoey. Doyne was 0-1 with a 1.99 ERA at Norfolk and Hoey was 0-0 in six games after being unscored upon at the Double-A level.
“I think we needed to do something to help the ballclub out,” Perlozzo said Saturday. “Hoey and Doyne have done tremendous jobs down there. Hopefully they can carry that over and give us a little bit of a boost.”
It couldn’t hurt. Baez signed a three-year, $19 million contract during the offseason to become Baltimore’s setup man, but he failed in that role. Williams, who started the season in the minor leagues, was 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA in 14 games with the Orioles.
“We felt like at some point we were going to mix things up a little bit, so we figured after last night’s game to go ahead and do that,” said Jim Duquette, the Orioles’ vice president of baseball operations.
Entering Saturday’s game against Arizona, Baltimore’s bullpen had yielded runs in nine of 11 games and was 0-7 with a 9.11 ERA in that span.
The Orioles tried to be patient with Baez, using him in non-pressure situations in the hope he would return to form, but he only ended up hurting his arm.
“I’ve been working too much, doing mechanics, throwing bullpens, being in games, stuff like that. It looks like I have some kind of tendinitis in my forearm and I’m going to take a rest,” Baez said. “Right now, our bullpen needs more guys in the bullpen, not less guys in the bullpen, so they put me on the DL and they brought up somebody from the minor leagues, somebody fresh.”
Hoey made his major league debut with the Orioles last season, going 0-1 with a 10.24 ERA in 12 games. The 24-year-old hopes the experience he received will translate to better numbers this time around.
“I’m more comfortable now than I was in the beginning,” the right-hander said. “I think it’s going to be a lot better – especially since last year, I was tired toward the end. I was trying to sling my slider up there and just trying to get my ball over the plate. This year’s going to be totally different.”
Doyne arrived in Baltimore with no major league experience. The 25-year-old right-hander was drafted by Houston in 2000 and since played in the Padres and Cardinals organizations.
“I can’t really think of a word to describe it other than amazing. I actually only made one call, to my mom, and she’s taken care of (calling everyone) else,” Doyne said. “But my cell phone is blowing up.”
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