Bridwell to seek opinion from Dr. Andrews, minor league rotation notes and more

Double-A Bowie right-hander Parker Bridwell was placed on the disabled list Sunday with elbow tendinitis. Bridwell, who turned 24 yesterday, will seek a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, and the Orioles are working to schedule that appointment.

Ranked as the organization's No. 22 prospect by Baseball America after the 2014 season, Bridwell is 4-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 18 Baysox starts. He has pitched to an ERA of 3.36 over his last eight starts.

Meanwhile Bowie pitcher Branden Kline, out since late May with elbow discomfort, has started a throwing program. Kline had a PRP injection in May. He has not had any setbacks and is doing well. However, he is not likely to pitch in any more games this season.

Hunter Harvey continues on a throwing program and keeps making progress. It's too soon to know if he can make it back to pitch in any games before the minor league season's end in early September.

The Orioles' Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds are quietly having a solid season. The Birds are 54-50, and they've done that with a team that currently has 14 players on the disabled list and with a squad not loaded with big-name prospects.

But the Shorebirds are 14-6 since July 10. They are 21-15 in the second half and in second place in their division of the South Atlantic League, four games out of first place.

Delmarva is 14-6 in its last 20 home games at Perdue Stadium, averaging 5.8 runs per game. The Shorebirds lead the Sally League in walks and rank third in team OBP at .332. Delmarva's Stephen Wilkerson is 10th in the league in batting at .295. Left-hander John Means, who pitched a seven-inning no-hitter Friday, is 8-7 and ninth in the league in ERA at 3.48.

Delmarva closer Garrett Cortright is being promoted to Single-A Frederick today. With Delmarva, he is 3-1 with 12 saves in 13 chances and has an ERA of 0.96. A 23-year-old right-hander and 40th-round pick out of Canisius College in 2013, he has not allowed an earned run over 26 2/3 innings since June 1.

The Orioles top two 2015 draft picks have been going well lately. Outfielder DJ Stewart of Florida State is starting to hit after a slow start, and Ryan Mountcastle ranks 10th in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, batting .321.

Stewart was hitting only .179 over his first 21 pro games. But he is batting .360 (9-for-25) his last six games with two doubles and two RBIs for short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Overall, in 27 games for the IronBirds, Stewart is batting .223 with three homers, 11 RBIs and a .662 OPS.

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides just keep rolling and are 63-44 for the best record in the International League. Norfolk now leads its division by 5 1/2 games.

Tides outfielder Henry Urrutia has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games at .300/.338/.486. Outfielder Dariel Alvarez went 1-for-3 Sunday with two RBIs and is batting .300/.362/.475 with 13 RBIs over his last 11 games.

Norfolk reliever Oliver Drake, who pitched in five games for the Orioles earlier this year, ran his scoreless streak to 24 games and 24 innings yesterday. Drake is 1-1 with an ERA of 0.56 and 14 saves in 14 chances for the Tides. Over 32 innings for the season, he has walked 13 and fanned 51 and has a .128 average against.

At Single-A Frederick, right-hander David Hess tossed a career high-tying seven innings Sunday. He did not a allow a run against Myrtle Beach. The Orioles' fifth-round pick in 2014, Hess improved to 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA over his last eight starts, holding opponents to a .182 batting average in that span.

For starters: Some rotation changes are coming on the farm, and I wrote about some of these Sunday. Right-handers Elih Villanueva and Terry Doyle are moving from Bowie to Norfolk to join the rotation ther,e and left-hander Chris Lee is moving from Frederick to the Bowie rotation. Lee has pitched to an ERA of 1.47 his last seven starts.

The Orioles have signed pitcher Sean Bierman out of the Atlantic League, and he is expected to join the Bowie rotation. Bierman went 10-2 with a 1.79 ERA for Somerset. Reliever Richard Rodriguez, who had an ERA of 1.27 at Bowie, has moved into the Norfolk bullpen. He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the Tides on Sunday. The Orioles have also signed a reliever that will join the Bowie bullpen in right-hander Andrew Robinson, who was with the Braves. This season at Double-A Mississippi, he has gone 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 34 games.

Norfolk has lost three starters in recent days with Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson joining the Orioles and Zach Davies traded to Milwaukee. Doyle will start for Norfolk tonight and Villanueva will pitch for the Tides on Thursday. Eddie Gamboa and Chris Jones remain in the Norfolk rotation. The fifth starter there is to be determined.

In the Bowie rotation right now, with the order to be determined, is Lee, Ariel Miranda, Joe Gunkel, Bierman and Gene Escat. In the Frederick right now are Hess, Mitch Horacek, Matt Taylor, Luis Gonzalez and Mikey O'Brien.

Junior Lake, the 25-year-old outfielder acquired by the Orioles in the trade that sent Tommy Hunter to the Cubs, will be activated and joining Norfolk tonight. In 58 games with Triple-A Iowa, he was batting .315 with seven homers, 31 RBIs and an OPS of .876. Lake is batting .224 this year in 58 big league at-bats with the Cubs.