The Orioles have placed 28-year old righty swinging 3B Mark Reynolds on the 15-day disabled list due to an oblique injury. Reynolds has played in 27 games for the Orioles so far this year and he is 17 for 89 (.191 avg, .661 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has already whiffed a stunning 36 times while also walking 18 times so far this year for the Orioles. The O’s have called up 32-year old righty swinging IF/OF Bill Hall to replace Reynolds on the active roster. Hall has played in 15 games in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 14 for 63 (.222 avg, .650 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Hall whiffed 25 times while only walking 4 times in AAA-ball for the Orioles. Hall has played in 1,047 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 825 of 3,325 (.248 avg, .743 OPS) with 448 runs scored, 124 homers, 439 RBIs and 62 stolen bases. Hall’s versatility will help the Orioles.

28-year old righty reliever Jim Johnson came into this season (his 7th year) with a career high in saves of 10 (in 2009 for the O’s). So, the Orioles weren’t quite sure if Johnson was ready to handle the pressure of closing full-time. He has not only handled it well, it has excelled in his new role. Johnson has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 0-0 with 10 saves, a 0.61 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Johnson has now pitched in 229 games (1 start) in his first 7 years with the Orioles and he is 13-17 with 31 saves, a 3.17 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. The Orioles hope that Johnson keeps up the good work as he has been nails so far at the end of games for them.

The Baltimore Orioles have acquired 23-year old lefty reliever Mike Belfiore from the Diamondbacks to complete the Josh Bell deal. Belfiore pitched in 12 games (0 starts) in A-ball this year for the D-Backs and he was 0-0 with 1 save, a 2.37 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. He only gave up 13 hits in his first 19 innings in the minors while whiffing 28 batters as he has a very live arm. Belfiore has now pitched in 86 games (44 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 9-16 with 1 save, a 4.05 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.

The Orioles have designated 25-year old righty swinging 3B Zelous Wheeler for assignment. Wheeler has played in 27 games in AA+AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 20 for 99 (.202 avg, .571 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. The Orioles aren’t going to miss Wheeler even if someone claims him off waivers.

UPDATE: (5/14/2012) - Zelous Wheeler has cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright assignment to AAA to stay with the Orioles.

The Orioles have placed 32-year old righty reliever Matt Lindstrom on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained ligament in his right middle finger. Lindstrom has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Orioles so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has only given up 12 hits and 4 walks in his first 14 innings this year, while whiffing 14 batters. This is going to hurt the Orioles’ bullpen a little bit as Lindstrom was pitching good baseball so far this year.