Updates on Snyder, Erbe and Hobgood

Norfolk Tides first baseman Brandon Snyder, who has been out since June 17th, will likely begin a minor league injury rehab assignment sometime next week. Snyder is on Norfolk's disabled list and his injury was listed as a right shoulder strain, but he has also been dealing with an upper back injury. As a player with a full-season minor league team, he must play his rehab games with a short-season club, meaning he will play with Aberdeen, Bluefield, the Gulf Coast League O's or some combination of the three. Snyder was batting .255-5-28 in 64 Triple-A games and was having his best month when he became injured, batting .327-3-8 in 15 games in June. Snyder's Norfolk teammate, pitcher Brandon Erbe, went on the DL on June 25, retroactive to June 23, with right shoulder soreness. Erbe started a throwing program last week. The O's third-round pick from 2005, is 0-10, 5.73 over 14 starts. Erbe has pitched to an ERA of 4.82 his past ten starts after going 0-4, 8.35 in April. Pitcher Kam Mickolio has been on Norfolk's DL since June 14, retroactive to June 12 with a right shoulder strain. He began a throwing program last Saturday. In 18 games this year with the Tides, Mickolio is 2-2, 8.05 and the league hitters have batted .341 against him. Delmarva right-hander Matt Hobgood, who missed about three weeks with shoulder soreness, returned to the Shorebirds rotation this past Monday, allowing one run over three innings vs. Hickory. The 19-year-old Hobgood is likely to pitch four or five innings in his next start, set for this Sunday. He is 3-7, 4.41 in 13 starts on the year, but has pitched to an ERA of 3.00 over his last four starts.