5:03pm: Britton will not pick up a ball for at least ten days, Ghiroli tweets. But he says he expects to be ready to return on the early side of the estimated timeline.
4:30pm: Orioles lefty Zach Britton is expected to miss approximately 45 to 60 days of action, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports (Twitter links). Britton has already been placed back on the 10-day DL with what the team has described as a forearm strain.
Britton, who established himself last year as one of the game’s truly elite relievers, has been cleared of structural issues. But the fact that his forearm ailment recurred after an initial rest-and-rehab effort obviously suggested a need for more cautious handling.
The estimated timeline seemingly builds in a lengthy period of rest. As Ghiroli reports, the plan is for Britton to be shut down for some time to allow the forearm to “completely calm down.”
Baltimore hopes to get the ace closer back by the All-Star break. Given that timeline, the organization ought to be able to assess his status before making any plans for the trade deadline. Of course, with Brad Brach providing excellent work in Britton’s stead — he has a 2.41 ERA and eight saves through 18 2/3 innings on the year — it’s unlikely the O’s will be in the market for a closer this summer.
duquette missed a huge opportunity to trade him this past offseason. unfortunate that it’s played out this way.
Good teams don’t trade their elite Closers when they are still competing.
“good teams” lol
Hahahahahah
They have a better record then your team! Cubs fans have become so suffocating with their sudden air of superiority..lol!
A team’s record in early May has little to do with their overall talent and playoff hopes.
The cubs, and their staff mostly, have been bad. Much like I told other cubs fans could and likely would happen. (I’m a cubs fan who was realistic about their true talent).
But the O’s are a team that has marginal talent, but good pen and a non existent system. Selling high on britton would have made a ton of sense for them.
Yet the O’s have one of the highest win totals in AL since 2012 and have been the definition of consistency. This team is never gets a fair shake or the credit it’s due. This team has a ton of offensive and bullpen talent. Yes they strike out a lot, but you can’t tell me this is not one of the best lineups in baseball. And why does everybody sleep on the value of defense? Defense and pitching wins championships. The O’s downfall has always been SP, but they are in a better place now than they have been in a long in that regard.
While selling high on Britton makes sense, it also doesn’t because this team needs a dominant back end arm. Andrew Miller added the same dimension back 2014. The system is less than stocked yet it’s still producing MLB players, some of which who are now a part of other organizations and some who are current O’s.
Troll
this.
The Orioles defense isn’t that good, and a record from 2012 has no impact on the 2017 team.
Farm systems don’t win W.S.
What does have to do with their talent level is consistently winning. The O’s win. 6 straight seasons of winning baseball since Buck took over with 3 playoff appearances. This season they have the best record going into tonight’s game. The O’s are for real and will be in the hunt in October. Selling Britton made absolutely no sense for a team that has been winning and expects to contend.
One guy tries to say that the 2017 record, which was the best in baseball going into the game today, has no impact on the team and you are trying to say that the record in earlier years has no impact.
Both have an impact. The organization has established a culture of winning and that is evident in how well they are doing this year. Even with the best reliever in baseball out, our catcher out, and basically a 4 man rotation, the O’s are still at the top of the heap in the AL East.
Good teams trade their players at their maximum value, especially when that value is sure to decrease in the future and they have viable replacements.
It was highly unlikely Britton would have another historic season and he is a free agent come November. On top of that, the O’s bullpen is stacked, with Brach ready to step into the closer role.
Trading Britton was the right move at the time, and it’s even easier to see given the benefit of hindsight.
Contending teams don’t trade elite closers. Ever. The Orioles are contenders.
Brach is a good reliever. But is he a good closer? Being a set up guy is very different from being a closer, because of the pressure that comes with the job.
If we had another guy who had closing experience, I might agree with you. But as the other posts have said, the Orioles are a contending team for the playoffs this year. And even though it’s unlikely he could’ve repeated the year he had in 2016, Zach probably would’ve still been very good.
Remember, he’s a sinkerball pitcher who induces a lot of ground balls. And the Orioles have a pretty good defensive IF, even if their OF is lacking in good defensive OFs.
“completely calm down.”
6 to 8 weeks is a long time to let something ‘calm down!!!’
Did you read the article? He won’t pick up a ball for 10 days to let the arm area calm down. 6 to 8 weeks is the complete recovery and rehab time. Don’t make others do your research for you.
I think he just meant 6-8 weeks is a long recovery time for something that just needs to “calm down” aka they’re downplaying this situation for sure
Hopefully his recovery won’t get in the way of him criticizing other teams’ healthy players.
I love this as a yankee fan
what’s not to love if you are a yankees fan. everything is going right for you guys
I wouldnt love listening to there radio announcers on a daily basis. John sterling and susan waldman are irritating
Loving someone going on the dl? How could you like someone getting injured?
so what if he’s happy that a dominant closer on a division rival is on the dl? you make it sound like he wished his kids got cancer or something. relax.
I’m a Yankee fan. But I’m also a baseball fan. It’s not cool to be happy or wish injuries for anyone.
Agreed!
Man, this Brites….
I love this as a Red Sox fan
There’s got to be more why his arm is hurting so much…maybe tommy john surgery in future?
He’s been to two different doctors, including a TJ specialist, who said that there is no structural damage.
Guess Britton will remain with 0 postseason innings
I’ll leave now
I’d like to say this really sucks but they just keep winning. I think they should have traded him to Cubs when they could have sold very high.
There are 18 other teams in the league that would love to have Brach as their closer. The O’s will miss Britton, but not as much as Yankees and Red Sox fans would like.
Cmon Orioles. I wanted the AL East to be the four team deathtrap it seems to be every year. the most competitive division in the league.