BALTIMORE—Relief pitcher Albert Suárez was moved from the 15-day to 60-day injured list with a strained right shoulder tendon on Monday. When he was originally placed on the IL, the injury was diagnosed as right shoulder inflammation.
“You don’t want to get hurt at any time, at any point but things happen in this game,” Suárez said. “You just have to deal with it. It takes time always to heal. Hopefully, I’ll be able to heal faster and be able to come back stronger.”
Suárez pitched once, on March 28th at Toronto, and was put on the injured list two days later. It’s unknown when the 35-year-old right-hander will return, but he thinks it will be at some point this season. Manager Brandon Hyde said that he expected his return would be measured in months.
“Right now, I’m working with the trainers, doing whatever I can to come back stronger,” Suárez said.
Suárez found out that his injury was more severe than originally thought after he had an MRI.
“The MRI showed something more like I was feeling. We decided it was going to take longer,” he said. “We need the muscle to heal first, to be able to get it back to normal. I’m not throwing. I’m just doing the rehab program.”
During his final Grapefruit League outing on March 21st, Suárez didn’t feel strong.
“I thought it was probably tightness, probably tired. That’s why I kept going,” he said. “I was taking longer to warm up. That’s why we decided, ‘OK, we needed to check.’”
Suárez could have moved into the starting rotation after the right lat strain to Zach Eflin.
“You want to help the team, but things happen, and I just need to get better and come back stronger,” he said. “I’ll probably get another MRI to make sure the muscle is healed. I guess it’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Hyde on pitching: Hyde hasn’t announced any starters beyond Sunday, when Cade Povich will pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays. Brandon Young’s start at Norfolk was moved from Sunday to the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
The 26-year-old right-hander could be an option for April 19th when the Orioles will need a fifth starter. He was with the Orioles during spring training.
“I haven’t seen him a ton,” Hyde said. “Our guys are high on the multiple pitches he throws for strikes. He had a couple of good appearances for us, a guy that the organization is high on.”
Kyle Gibson, whom the Orioles signed in late March and threw 3 1/3 innings in his first start for Triple-A Norfolk, will stay with the Tides for now.
“He’s getting a little more time,” Hyde said about the 37-year-old right-hander. “Down the road a little bit.”
Relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge, who had surgery to remove bone chips from his left knee, threw his first side session.
“He’s way ahead of schedule,” Hyde said about the 35-year-old right-hander. “He feels really good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’s real excited.”
Starting pitcher Kyle Bradish, who had Tommy John surgery last June, and starter Grayson Rodriguez, who is on the IL with right elbow inflammation, also threw side sessions.
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