The Orioles have placed 24-year old switch hitting catcher Matt Wieters on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Wieters has played in 77 games for the O’s this year and he is 66 of 269 (.245 avg, .672 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. Craig Tatum and Jake Fox will take over for Wieters while he is out of action. Tatum has played in 24 games for the Orioles so far this season and he is 15 of 61 (.246 avg, .622 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He will likely handle most of the catching because he’s a lot better defender than Fox is behind the plate. Fox has played in 12 games for the O’s this season and he is 7 of 28 (.250 avg, .847 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 homers and 4 RBIs.

The Orioles have placed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Millwood on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain. Millwood has started 18 games for the Orioles this season and he is 2-8 with a 5.77 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He has given up 135 hits (20 homers) in only 107 2/3 innings this season for the O’s as he has been throwing batting practice. The Orioles have activated 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Felix Pie who will be the starting LF going forward for the O’s. Pie has played in 8 games for the O’s this season and he is 8 of 20 (.400 avg, 1.105 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. He played in 11 games on his rehab assignment in Rookie+A+AA-ball in which he was 14 of 43 (.326 avg, .827 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

The Orioles have placed 32-year old OF/DH Luke Scott on the 15-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain. He hurt himself last night during a home run trot. He has played in 66 games for the O’s this season and he is 61 of 223 (.274 avg, .868 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 12 homers and 30 RBIs. The Orioles have called up 23-year old switch hitting 3B Josh Bell to replace Scott on the active roster. Bell has played in 74 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 76 of 286 (.266 avg, .765 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 10 homers and 44 RBIs. Bell does have a weakness and that is that he whiffs a lot….75 times already this season. He has now played in 489 games in his six years in the minors and he is 514 of 1,801 (.285 avg, .829 OPS) with 277 runs scored, 66 homers, 286 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see where Bell gets his P.T. as the Orioles need help at 1B.

The Orioles have placed 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Lou Montanez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique muscle. Montanez has played in 26 games for the Orioles this season and he is 8 of 57 (.140 avg, .296 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He will be replaced on the active roster by 24-year old righty starting pitcher Brad Bergesen who will make the start for the Orioles tonight. Bergesen has pitched in 12 games (10 starts) for the Orioles so far this season and he is 3-4 with a 6.50 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. He has allowed 75 hits in only 54 innings this season and he has only whiffed 14 batters this year. Bergesen needs to start missing more bats soon or he will be right back in the minors.

The Orioles have placed 35-year old righty reliever Koji Uehara on the 15-day disabled list due to a right elbow strain. Uehara has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the O’s this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. 25-year old righty David Hernandez will be shifting to the pen to replace Uehara. He has started 8 games for the Orioles this year and he is 1-5 with a 5.31 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He might be better off as a reliever anyway as long as he can throw strikes. He has walked 28 batters this season in 42 1/3 innings while only giving up 39 hits. Maybe shorter stints will help him be more aggressive with his stuff which would tighten up his control. 22-year old righty Chris Tillman will likely replace David Hernandez in the starting rotation come Saturday against the Blue Jays. Tillman has started 10 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 5-4 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has only walked 12 batters while whiffing 47 in 57 2/3 innings so he has improved his game a bit. Tillman pitched in 12 games (all starts) in his first taste of the majors last season for the O’s and he was 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. I expect him to be much better this time around.