The Orioles announced multiple pitching moves this evening. One player is now likely headed out of the organization, as righty Nate Karns was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and designated for assignment.
Young hurler Dillon Tate, the former fourth overall pick, was promoted for his first attempt at the majors. Righty Evan Phillips will accompany Tate onto the active roster.
Unfortunately, the O’s also announced that southpaw starter and rookie All-Star John Means was placed on the 10-day injured list with a biceps strain. Lefty Tanner Scott was optioned down to create the other necessary roster opening.
Karns landed with the Baltimore organization over the winter. He threw 5 1/3 scoreless frames to open his tenure but hit the shelf early with a forearm strain. The 31-year-old struggled mightily on his rehab assignment, dishing out ten walks and recording only five strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings.
It’s also unwelcome news as concerns Means. It had already been a bit of a rough month, as his ERA has moved north from 2.50 to 3.12, but it’s never preferable to hear of any issues in the arm of a young pitcher. There’s no indication as of yet regarding the severity, but the club will surely hope it’s only a minor blip for the 26-year-old.
As he prepares to debut at 25 years of age, Tate won’t face the massive expectations he once did. Arm issues and inconsistencies have changed the trajectory of the twice-traded righty. He has been solid at Double-A, working to a 3.48 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 33 2/3 innings in 15 relief appearances and a pair of starts.
mejia > Phillips + Scott
Congrats to Tate, sucks for Karns and Means. Wtf is going on with Philips?
Why dfa Karns instead of giving him more of an opportunity to play?
Don’t know he was controllable via arb one more time also. Unless they think his arm is shot we didn’t have much to lose. Chandler Shepherd is getting slaughtered at AAA. Don’t know why we wouldn’t DFA him instead.
They need his 40-man slot and are gambling that no one grabs him because he’s obviously still not there in his rehab.
The Orioles should be collecting folks right now… Tony Kemp and Aldaberto Mejia would make nice 40-Man additions.
He’ll always be Nate the Great!