Orioles considering whether to place Bleier on injured list

The Orioles are discussing a couple of ways to give struggling reliever Richard Bleier a "reset," including his placement on the 10-day injured list.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Bleier is being "checked" today by the medical staff and the Orioles will make a decision on him. It could happen later this afternoon or the following day.

Bleier endured another difficult outing last night, charged with four runs in 1 1/3 innings and raising his ERA to 14.54 with a 2.077 WHIP over four appearances. He's been scored upon in three of those games.

"I think with Rich, he's just not getting the shape on his pitches that he's used to," Hyde said.

"Having a lot of conversations with him the last few days, he's disappointed in his start and a credit to him that he's come off a major injury and is ahead of schedule. I know we've been patient with him and I feel really good with how we treated him since spring training with allowing a lot of recovery time and that sort of thing. But he was pushing the fast forward button a little bit, too.

"He really wanted to break with our club, he wanted to be on this team, and I think getting off to the start he's gotten off to, he's just disappointed and the stuff on his pitches isn't acting like he's used to.

"I don't know how well his arm is responding. He's getting a little checked out today. We're still going to continue to be patient with him. It's a major injury he's coming off of and I think it's pretty cool that he was trying to be on this club, but I think we're going to possibly reset him, also, and see how that goes."

Hyde confirmed that the IL is one of the options with Bleier.

"It's something we're going to talk about today," Hyde said. "He's really disappointed after how he felt yesterday, so after here we're going to discuss how we see him going forward with his health."

Bleier underwent lat surgery in June and was brought along slowly in spring training. He was encouraged by his progress as opening day approached, but no longer resembles the pitcher who's posted ERAs below 2.00 in each of his three major league seasons - the results uncharacteristic and his recovery sluggish between appearances.

"I'm just not quite rebounding as well as I would like and kind, especially yesterday," he said. "There's good days and bad days and yesterday just wasn't a good day feel-wise in terms of my arm and stuff. I feel like there's just a hurdle that I'm not quite getting over yet and I think it's more of a time thing than anything. It's just not quite there yet."

Asked if he's fine physically, Bleier replied, "My arm's still attached, so that's a good thing, but it's hard to say because this time last year I felt completely different. There's definitely still dealing with issues from the surgery, I would say."

Bleier hadn't pitched since April 3 before getting into last night's game, with Hyde hoping that an extended break would provide a cure. He was used March 30, April 1 and April 3.

"Sometimes it takes me a little bit longer to recover than others," Bleier said. "I might need the time off, but on the other hand I'm not getting better not pitching, so it's like a catch-22 almost.

"As long as I get an opportunity to keep competing, honestly I can only get better. I've got that going for me. But I'm going to do everything I can.

"Really, my cutter's fine and my changeup is better than it was last year. It's just my fastball that's not getting the same action as it has in the past and I need to figure that out and kind of get that back."

Bleier has surrendered two home runs in 4 1/3 innings. He didn't allow one in 32 2/3 innings last season before sustaining the injury.

Hyde pointed out that the lack of usual movement on the fastball isn't odd for a pitcher recovering from an injury.

"Not having the stuff look like what it did before," Hyde said. "I think Rich is just pretty frustrated by it. And not getting the ground balls he's normally giving and giving up fastball homers, which he really hasn't done in the past and not recovering normally after an outing like he has in the past. So there's some frustration there, but we're going to stay behind him.

"I just want to be patient because Rich is going to be a big part of this club. I want to do the right thing."

Bleier seems resistant to an extended rest, saying he doesn't believe it will do him any good, but he might not have a choice.

"It's just good days and bad days, so it's really hard to gauge," he said. "You could ask anybody who's had major surgery, it's definitely a constant battle."

On the other side of the health coin, Alex Cobb's back has improved and he should be ready when eligible to come off the IL in six days.

"I think (he has) a good shot," Hyde said.

Cobb is sidelined with a lumbar strain, but Hyde and a couple of teammates noted the veteran's improvement this afternoon. It's pretty hard to hide a back injury. Cobb was moving much freer.

"I just talked with him a little while ago," Hyde said. "Back feels a lot better today, so good news on that front for sure. And he feels like he's going to be ready to start when he comes off the IL."