Report: O's will call up Ishikawa

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 17, 2013, 8:19pm

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Norfolk first baseman Travis Ishikawa filed official paperwork over the weekend to opt out of his contract with the Orioles. At some point Tuesday, that was supposed to make him a free agent, but it appears the O's will not let that happen as they are planning to call up Ishikawa from Triple-A. Ishikawa has hit .316 in 49 Norfolk games with seven homers, 31 RBIs, a .413 OBP and a .939 OPS. Against right-handed pitching, he is batting .331 with an OPS of 1.002. The 29-year-old left-handed hitter was signed by the Orioles as a minor league free agent on Dec. 19. It is possible that Ishikawa could at least temporarily take the roster spot of pitcher Miguel Gonzalez, if the Orioles put Gonzalez on the paternity list. MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko reported on Ishikawa opting out of his deal over the weekend and also that the Orioles had explored trading him. Ishikawa has played in the major leagues for the Giants and Brewers, batting .264 in 375 major league games. He batted .257 with four homers and 30 RBIs in 94 games for Milwaukee last season. The news that the O's were planning to call up Ishikawa was first reported by MLBDailyDish.com.