Orioles’ closer Mike Gonzalez goes on the DL

UPDATE: Yep, he’s hurt. Gonzalez is on the 15-day DL with a strained left shoulder.

12:13 P.M. The Orioles’ new $12 million closer hasn’t been worth a thin dime so far. Based on this mashed-up series of tweets from Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, he may be more than merely ineffective. He may be hurt:

Dave Trembley just revealed that Michale Gonzalez was not available Tuesday. He may have a shoulder situation . . . Gonzalez came back from the birth of his first child on Monday and told Trembley he couldn’t get loose to come in game . . . Gonzalez isn’t available today and will see a team doctor, Trembley said. He apparently was in training room with shoulder iced.

When Gonzalez came over to the Braves from the Pirates in 2007 he pitched in 18 games, then missed the rest of the year and half of the following year with Tommy John surgery. The difference between then and now: at least Gonzalez was effective in the handful of games he pitched for the Braves before he got hurt. His three appearances thus far have been fairly disastrous.

I hope Gonzalez isn’t hurt, because really, who wants someone to be hurt? But given how hard he was worked last year -- 80 appearances in his first full post-Tommy John season -- I’m not entirely optimistic.