Disabled List

The Orioles announced Thursday night that outfielder Xavier Avery has been sent down to Triple-A Norfolk. Although they have not announced a corresponding move, left fielder Endy Chavez, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, is expected to come off the disabled list Friday. The Orioles don't want the 22-year-old Avery, who has hit .233 with a .317 on-base percentage in 24 games in three stints with the club, to be a fourth outfielder in the majors. They'd rather have him play every day. Steve Pearce and Chris Davis likely will serve as reserve outfielders.

Lefty Wei-Yin Chen, the Orioles' most consistent starter since the beginning of last season, is “very disappointed right now” to be going on the disabled list for the first time in his brief major league career. Chen confirmed that the diagnosis from an MRI on his right side was a strained oblique muscle. He'll be placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to Monday, but he won't be coming off the DL when first eligible. He has been instructed not to pick up a ball for two weeks, so it's likely he'll be gone from the active roster for three to four weeks.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Continuing to lose key players almost as rapidly as they are losing games, the Orioles put outfielder Felix Pie, one of the team's few hot hitters and the leadoff man in Brian Roberts' absence, on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Lou Montanez from Triple-A Norfolk. Pie, who suffered a strained left rotator cuff in spring training, aggravated the injury in Thursday's loss while swinging and missing at a pitch from Tyson Ross in the seventh inning. He'll return to Baltimore and have a magnetic resonance imaging Monday.

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen is likely heading to the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain. Chen, who abruptly left Sunday's 6-0 win over Minnesota after five shutout innings with pain in his right side, was re-evaluated Monday and the initial tests indicated that he will need to be shelved. An MRI was performed Monday morning and team doctors are expected to read it later today. “It sounds like he's a candidate for the 15-day disabled list,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

Heading out of Camden Yards shortly after the Orioles' 5-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, second baseman Brian Roberts said he has been given no official word that he would be placed on the 15-day disabled list today with a strained abdominal. "They haven't told me anything, I don't know what we are doing yet," said Roberts, who was injured stealing second base in the first inning of Friday's home opener and hasn't played since. Yet when he was informed that the Orioles had summoned second baseman Justin Turner from Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday, Roberts said, "Well, I guess I am going on the DL then."

Orioles designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero missed his third consecutive game and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, manager Buck Showalter said after Saturday's game. Guerrero was hit by a pitch in last Sunday's game against the Red Sox, cracking a small bone in his right hand. Showalter said the 15-day count would be backdated to July 6, theoretically marking his possible return date at July 21. The team called up Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Matt Angle to take Guerrero's roster spot.

Left-hander Dontrelle Willis , who left Triple-A Norfolk's game Wednesday after nine pitches, has been placed on the seven-day disabled list with a left forearm strain. Willis, whom the Orioles signed to a minor league deal late in spring, told the Virginian-Pilot that he "tweaked" his forearm yesterday and had been experiencing pain since spring training. “I've worked hard. Maybe it's overuse," Willis, who is being converted into a reliever, told the newspaper.

Orioles rookie right-handed reliever Stu Pomeranz is likely headed to the disabled list after injuring himself while preparing to enter Sunday's game in the top of the seventh inning. He had thrown seven or eight fastballs in the bullpen, before feeling a searing pain in his left side while throwing his first breaking ball. "Something popped up in my ribs," said Pomeranz, who is staying behind in Baltimore to have an MRI at 10 a.m. Monday. The Orioles are initially calling the injury a strained left oblique, and a 15-day disabled list stint is probable, Buck Showalter said.

The Orioles are placing second baseman Brian Roberts on the 15-day disabled list with a right groin strain, manager Buck Showalter said before Tuesday's game against the Mariners. Roberts was out of the lineup Monday with groin soreness and the Orioles were awaiting results of an MRI up until 90 minutes before game time Tuesday. Since early Tuesday afternoon, Showalter had two lineups written out. Roberts, who missed nearly 13 months recovering from multiple concussions, played just 17 games before landing on the DL again.

The Orioles' starting rotation, a strength during the team's early-season success, will be pieced together with patchwork the next two days. Right-hander Jason Hammel, who has anchored the rotation with a 4-1 record and 2.09 ERA, will most likely be pushed back from his scheduled start Thursday with right-knee soreness that he said had regressed the past two to three starts. But Hammel said he's confident that being pushed him back will avoid a stint on the disabled list.

Infielder Alexi Casilla, who has been a switch-hitter since he was 16, said hitting coach Jim Presley approached him about concentrating on hitting from the right side only, and he has been working on that for a few weeks in the cage. “They think I can stay better on the ball, on top of the ball better from my right side. I don't know. Let's see. Let's see what happens,” Casilla, naturally a right-hander, said before Friday night's game. “It's a test now for me. And I'm very confident I'm going to do good.” Casilla has primarily started at second base this season against lefties while left-handed hitting Ryan Flaherty, who is batting just .122 this season, has started against right-handers.

BOSTON - Outfielder Chris Dickerson, who was abruptly removed in the first inning of Tuesday's game at Triple-A Norfolk, will join the Orioles Wednesday in Boston. A corresponding 25-man roster move to add Dickerson is uncertain. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Monday he was optimistic outfielder Nolan Reimold, who left Sunday's game with a right hamstring injury, could avoid a disabled list stint with Tuesday's off day and a right-hander pitcher slated to pitch for Boston on Wednesday - which would give the right-handed hitting Reimold two extra days off. Since Dickerson is under a minor league contract, the Orioles would need to add him to the 40-man roster.

The Orioles made a move Thursday night that likely solved their Opening Day roster logjam - for a few days, anyway. Right-hander Chris Tillman was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left abdominal strain, retroactive to March 22, the earliest date a transaction can be backdated this spring. That means Tillman is eligible to come off the DL on April 6 and pitch the fifth game of the season against the Minnesota Twins. It also means the Orioles have an extra roster spot to play with for the first four days of the season, which likely will allow Rule 5 left-hander T.J. McFarland and infielder Ryan Flaherty - two players who have been on the roster bubble since camp opened - to make the club.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles' clouded roster picture became a lot clearer Wednesday with a couple obvious proclamations, one health setback and a top prospect heading to Double-A. Orioles manager Buck Showalter announced his rotation for the opening series of the regular season at the Tampa Bay Rays next week. There were no surprises. Right-hander Jason Hammel - who emerged as the team's top starter in last year's first half before dealing with a knee issue that eventually required surgery - will make the first Opening Day start of his career Tuesday.

Left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, a former Japanese All Star who signed a two-year deal with the Orioles last offseason but didn't pitch because of an elbow injury, threw off a full mound again Saturday. And manager Buck Showalter was there to watch the side session. “Pretty impressive. He's throwing the ball, fastball and changeup, and that's pretty fun to watch him throw because it just reminds me of what he can be for us,” Showalter said of Wada, who had Tommy John surgery in May. “He's got a chance to be pretty good.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Nolan Reimold hasn't played left field since last Friday, and if he can't get out there consistently this spring, he could end up on the disabled list when the Orioles break camp. That's so far away in Reimold's mind, however, that he's not even slightly worried. “What do we still got, four weeks [left]? I think I'll be all right,” said Reimold, who has been dealing with right shoulder tightness and has been limited to designated hitter duties. “I'm not really concerned about not being able to play the field.

Left-handed reliever Troy Patton's five-week recovery from a sprained right ankle took much longer than he expected, but he was finally reactivated from the disabled list before Friday's game. Patton, who sprained his ankle while walking home, went on the disabled list Aug. 14. At the time, he was the Orioles' sole left-handed bullpen arm. He had pitched to a 1.05 ERA over his last 27 appearances and had an 18-game scoreless streak over 13 2/3 innings when he was sidelined. He also held left-handed hitters to a .204 batting average.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he has liked what he has read in organizational reports about right-hander Jake Arrieta, who is 3-4 with a 4.91 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A Norfolk since being demoted in mid-July. Arrieta has allowed only two runs in each of his past two starts. "Good, he had a good outing last time out," Showalter said of Arrieta's recent performance. "He's getting real close to being in the form he needs to be to help. " Arrieta is expected to be a September call-up for the Orioles, but if the starters are pitching well, Showalter said Arrieta could be considered for a bullpen spot.