Conflicted...

...about how I'm feeling as a Baltimore fan today.

The bats have awakened and Baltimore looks to win the four game set from Cleveland today. That's good.

The O's have lost Adam Loewen to an elbow injury for most of the rest of the season. That's very bad.

This does give the younger pitching prospects a chance to get major league innings. That's a silver lining.

The best O's pitching prospect (Hayden Penn) is also injured. That's the dark cloud.

Loewen is out until September, Penn is out until late July, who knows when Jaret Wright will be feeling better, Kris Benson is long gone and two middle relievers look to take the mound for the foreseeable future as Baltimore starters. Did anyone have this as our mid-May rotation?

Erik Bedard
Daniel Cabrera
Steve Trachsel
Jeremy Guthrie
Brian Burres

I like Guthrie and Burres a lot as middle relievers. I sure don't like then as starters. (OK, I like Guthrie a little more than Burres in that role.)

Garrett Olsen is not ready yet. Rob Bell has pitched well but has been hurt for much of the season and I have no idea what kind of stamina that guy has. All the other top starter prospects are in single A.

Still, I don't see trading for Byun-Yung Kim or Josh Fogg as a good solution. OK, if we can get them for nothing (cash and a player to be named later) we can take a flyer.

For now though, the O's need to be patient. Bed-Rer-Sel has pitched well so far and perhaps Guthrie or Burres will prove to be a serviceable starter. That'll give Garret Olsen and Rob Bell a few more starts under their belt before they have to be tapped. And maybe Wright comes back healthy (lol).

Nice to see Millar back in the lineup this weekend, he deserves more playing time given the O's offensive struggles. Todd Williams is back from his banishment thanks to the rash of injuries and Scott Williamson should return soon.

Outside of the Red Sox, every team in the division has been dealing with injuries too so all is not lost yet...