The Baltimore Orioles have lost 23-year old righty reliever Dan Klein for the whole 2012 season as he needs major shoulder surgery. He came into this season as the Orioles’ #10 prospect according to Baseball America. Klein pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball last year before having season ending surgery to his shoulder last August and he was 3-1 with a 1.11 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. Klein has now pitched in 21 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He has only given up 24 hits and walked 7 batters in his first 38 2/3 innings with an eye popping 47 whiffs. Hopefully the doctors fix him for good this time around.

The Orioles have placed 31-year old lefty rookie starting pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada on the 15-day disabled list due to a elbow problem. This is a big blow to the Orioles as Wada was going to be in the starting rotation. They were counting on Wada and they hope he will be ready to return early in the 2012 season.

The Orioles have placed 28-year old switch-hitting catcher Taylor Teagarden on the 15-day disabled list, due to a back injury. He played in 14 games for the Rangers last year and he was 8 for 34 (.235 avg, .572 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. 30-year old righty swinging Ronny Paulino will backup Matt Wieters at the start of the 2012 season. Paulino played in 78 games for the Mets last year and he was 61 of 228 (.268 avg, .663 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 19 RBIs. Paulino will likely do a decent job until Teagarden is ready to return to action.

24-year old lefty starting pitcher Zach Britton is going to start the 2012 season on the 15-day disabled list due to a left shoulder injury. Britton pitched in 28 games (all starts) for the Orioles this year and he was 11-11 with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. This is a blow to both Britton and the Orioles as they were depending on him to give them a solid starter in 2012. The Orioles are going to be careful with Britton as he has a bright future for them.

34-year old switch-hitting 2B Brian Roberts is going to start the 2012 season on the 15-day disabled list due to post concussion symptoms. Roberts has only played in 98 games in his last two years with the Orioles and he is 100 of 393 (.254 avg) with 46 runs scored, 7 homers, 34 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He has been lost in the fog the last couple of years due to injury, so I don’t expect him to get back to the player he used to be at any point in 2012. Robert Andino will be the starting 2B for the Orioles when the 2012 season starts and they hope he will play at least as good as he did in 2011.