Tommy Hunter has been placed on the DL with a left groin strain. This is one of those “convenient” injuries that makes fans scratch their head. The question becomes: Does this injury explain poor performance, or is it a phantom “injury” in response to poor performance?
Either way, consider me relieved: for the next few days, I won’t have to silently plead with the baseball gods to keep Tommy from going boom.
To his credit, Hunter adamantly denies that the injury has anything to do with his abysmal performance thus far. Hunter may respect the fart, but he hasn’t commanded any respect on the mound. Saying he was “completely ineffective” would be putting it politely. Buck, who is loyal to a fault, has apparently pulled him from the closer role (his last outing came in the seventh inning).
Hunter, who has allowed 24 base runners and five earned runs over 15 IP, now has 15 days, plus possible rehab time, to get himself together. Whether he recovers from a legitimate injury to regain prior form, or he uses the time to right the ship, there is a finite amount of time he can be on the shelf.
Here’s hoping he can right the ship, because the Orioles are right in the thick of things in the AL East. If they’re going to make a push, they’re going to need the good Tommy Hunter. The effective Tommy Hunter. The Seductive Tommy Hunter.
Photo Credit: Kieth Allison
“completely ineffective”, huh? Okay, whatever. smh
They have more concerns than just Tommy Huner. How about Troy Patton’s 1.95 WHIP, or Jimenez 2-5 rocord or 1.48 WHIP? J.J. Hardy’s power numbers are abysmal for the first two month in 2014. Davis has only 6 homers in April and May, lucky he got three in one night. This team would be in trouble now if it weren’t for the pickup of Nelson Cruz, he has kept this team afloat. Plus the AL East is down this year with no team looking poised to make a W.S. run.