Rasmus leaves Orioles, goes on restricted list (start delayed)

PHILADELPHIA - Outfielder Colby Rasmus is no longer on the Orioles. He has decided - at least for now - to stop playing Major League Baseball. The Orioles have placed him on the restricted list and they will work to get another player here for Wednesday's game. They will take on the Phillies tonight with a 24-man roster.

"Colby talked to me this afternoon and said he made a decision to go home and discontinue playing," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "We're going to honor that and give him the privacy he is due. Hope everything is for the best and wish him well. We'll see what the future brings. I won't get into a lot of details of our conversation."

This is the second year in a row that Rasmus decided to stop playing around midseason. He went on the Tampa Bay Rays restricted list last July 13 and later said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Showalter said the club was not blindsided by today's news.

"No. Not with some of the things that happened in the past. It shouldn't blindside you," he said. "Usually things like this, there are a lot of different reasons. But you know, respect his privacy and this was tough decision he had to make today. Usually it is not something that happens overnight."

In 18 Orioles games Rasmus hit .133 with one homer and one RBI. He was on the disabled list from April 7 through June 20 with a left hip flexor strain. Then he returned June 21 at Washington and homered off Max Scherzer his first time up. But he went 0-for-10 in his last six games.

Showalter would not say if there is any chance Rasmus could return this year. It sure seems unlikely.

"We all got to know Colby and we wish him well," Showalter said. "We hope he can get things. ... His reasons, those are his private reasons and I respect them. There is a lot more to life than baseball. And that is his decision."

Showalter said Rasmus did not address the team, but felt certain he told some individual players of his decision.

"I'm sure he's been talking to some of them about it," he said. "We just want what is best for Colby."

In other news today, Showalter announced that Yefry Ramirez will start here tomorrow, backed up by David Hess, and that Chris Tillman will start at Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. More on that in a later entry.

Update: The start of tonight's game will be delayed by inclement weather.