Good reports on Erbe and Klein

The good news for O's pitching prospect Brandon Erbe is that he should be back on a mound sometime next year. Exactly when that will be, no one knows for sure right now, but his surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder last Friday was a success. "We feel like the surgery went well and less damage was found than they thought," O's director of player development, John Stockstill said. There are estimates that Erbe could be pitching again in eight to ten months, which would put him back on a mound somewhere on the O's farm anywhere from early to the middle of next season. Coming off the surgery, Erbe would not be expected to come right back and be pitching at top form, that could take a while and it could be the 2012 season until Erbe returns to pitch to his full potential. But heading into the procedure, which was performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum, it could have turned out decidedly worse. On another front, O's third-round pick, pitcher Dan Klein of UCLA has joined the Aberdeen IronBirds and is getting closer to pitching in a game. Klein, taken with the 85th overall pick, has thrown a bullpen session with Aberdeen. He has another scheduled for today and then a few days later will throw a live batting practice session. If all goes well at that point, he could join the active roster and get in a game. His innings will be limited this year as the minor league seasons have just a few weeks to go anyway. But, next season, he is expected to be used as a starting pitcher. Klein, who turned 22 on July 27, went 6-1, 1.90 with ten saves for the Bruins this year and fanned 55 with just 11 walks over 52 innings. According to Baseball America, he got an overslot signing bonus of $499,900.