29-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jeff Salazar is off to a good start in AAA for the Orioles. He has played in 18 games this season in AAA and he is 18 of 64 (.281 avg, .881 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 4 homers, 13 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Salazar has some major league experience but he doesn’t project out to be a starter in the show. But, if he keeps playing well and the Orioles have a need for a backup outfielder then I don’t see any reason that they wouldn’t call him up.

The Baltimore Orioles have designated 21-year old righty reliever Wilfrido Perez for assignment. Perez has not pitched this season in the minors for the Orioles. He has not pitched since 2008 due to injury. Perez pitched in 40 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 8-5 with 3 saves, a 3.29 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Orioles won’t miss Perez at all either now or down the road.

The Orioles’ #4 rated prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America is 24-year old righty starting pitcher Jake Arrieta. The Orioles won’t need a 5th starter until next Saturday and Arrieta might get the call. He has started 4 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 2-0 with a 0.36 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He has only allowed 13 hits in 25 innings in the minors so far this season and he has 23 whiffs as he is doing a outstanding job of missing bats but that is nothing new to him. Arrieta has now started 52 games (3 years) in his minor league career and he is 19-16 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has whiffed 291 batters in 288 2/3 innings in his minor league career and he has only allowed 235 hits. The Orioles need to start looking to the future and I think that they should call up Arrieta to start next Saturday and see what the kid has. They have nothing to lose in giving him a chance right now.

The Baltimore Orioles are a pathetic 2-14 on the season which already has them 10 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the A.L. East. You can’t blame Ty Wigginton for the team’s record however as he has been ripping the ball since replacing the injured Brian Roberts at 2B. Wigginton has played in 13 games for the O’s this season and he is 11 for 41 (.268 avg, 1.009 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 5 homers and 11 RBIs. The Orioles will need to find playing time for Wigginton even when Roberts returns to action if he keeps swinging the bat like he is right now as he has been carrying the offense lately.

The Orioles have claimed 26-year old lefty reliever Pedro Viola off waivers from the Reds. Viola pitched in 1 game in AAA so far this season working one scoreless inning in which he didn’t allow any baserunners. Viola got his first taste of the majors last season with the Reds and he was 0-0 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. I like this pickup for the Orioles as you can never have too many lefty arms in the organization and Viola could help them at some point in 2010.