The Orioles have called up 28-year old lefty swinging shortstop Freddie Bynum from his rehab assignment and they have named him the starting shortstop replacing Luis Hernandez. Bynum has been awaiting his big shot in the majors and it appears to have arrrived this season. He has played in 2 games for the Orioles this season and he is 4 for 8 (.500 avg) with 3 runs scored. He has now played in 150 games in his major league career and he is 66 for 247 (.267 avg, .764 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 6 homers, 24 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He has also whiffed 78 times in his major league career which is alarming for a slap type hitter. Luis Hernandez just couldn’t take advantage of his big shot this season. He has played in 30 games for the Orioles this season and he is 17 for 70 (.243 avg, .561 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

21-year old switch hitting catcher Matt Wieters will likely be placed on the fast track to the majors if he continues to hit like he is right now. Wieters has played in 29 games in A-Ball so far this season and he is 33 for 97 (.340 avg, .963 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 5 homers and 18 RBIs. The Orioles are not going to re-sign Ramon Hernandez when he becomes a free agent and it’s quite possible that Matt Wieters will be the next starting catcher for the Orioles in the future.

The Orioles have veteran righty starter Steve Trachsel on a short leash. He has started 6 games for the Orioles this season and he is 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. The Orioles were probably hoping that Trachsel could net them a couple of prospects like last season at the trade deadline when they acquired Scott Moore and Rock Cherry from the Cubs for him. That won’t happen unless Trachsel gets things turned around soon.

The Orioles didn’t have high hopes for Brian Burres going into this season but he has really been impressive so far. Burres has pitched in 6 games (5 starts) for the Orioles this season and he is 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. It’s doubtful that Burres can keep pitching like he currently is but the Orioles can hope.

The Orioles have placed rookie reliever Randor Beird on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. Beird has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this season and he is 0-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Beird will be replaced in the bullpen by righty Lance Cormier. The 27-year old Cormier has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in AAA so far this season and he was 1-1 with a 0.96 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.