NEW YORK - - If the Orioles want to see how right-hander Koji Uehara reacts to a bullpen role, they'll have to wait until next season. With Uehara still experiencing some soreness in his right elbow, the Orioles decided to shut him down for the rest of the 2009 campaign, ending a disappointing year for the first Japanese native to play for the club.
"I'm upset because I wasn't able to contribute to the team," Uehara said through his interpreter, Jiwon Bang. "It's a lot of minuses, so I can't really assess my season."
Uehara (2-4, 4.05 ERA) made the last of his 12 starts for the Orioles on June 23, but was shut down shortly thereafter because of a partially torn flexor tendon in his right elbow. The Orioles were hoping to get him back for the last couple of weeks of the season. However, those plans changed after Uehara's bullpen session Wednesday at Fenway Park.
"It was probably at about 50 percent," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said of the bullpen session. "That gave us an indication right there that perhaps he was not going to be ready. We're going to send him home and keep in touch with him and get him on a throwing program in December just like everybody else to get prepared to come to spring training.
"He has given us the information that he's not ready. His elbow is a bit sore, so we're running out of time. He originally asked if he could take a week or so off with no throwing and then maybe start up from there. That just runs out of time for us."
Uehara maintained that he had no setbacks but simply didn't make enough improvement to feel ready to face major league hitters.
"Right now, I'm not in a stage where I can throw in a game situation," he said. "There's still a discomfort in my elbow and I'm not in a position - not only to throw to a batter - but to throw 100 percent. To be honest, I couldn't do a good job. Obviously, it's a disappointment."
Uehara, who signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Orioles in January, won his first two starts and had a solid April, going 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA. He left his May 23 start against the Washington Nationals after just three innings because of a strained left hamstring, a similar injury that sidelined him during spring training.
Uehara returned to make three more starts, but wasn't able to go more than six innings in any of them before the elbow injury forced him out of the Orioles' rotation.
