As Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tells us, the Orioles made a bit of a surprise move today by sending rookie left-hander Zach Britton to Double-A Bowie to make room for left-hander Mark Hendrickson on the active roster.
The move comes on the heels of Britton giving up a career-high seven runs over just two-thirds of an inning in last night’s blowout loss to the Red Sox.
Britton, 23, is 6-7 with a 4.05 ERA over 18 starts this season, but has allowed 17 runs in 17 1/3 innings over his last four starts. There’s a very real chance that he’s hitting a bit of a wall right now. He’s currently at 104 1/3 innings and is on pace for just under 200 innings. His previous professional high was 153 1/3 innings between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk last season.
Zrebiec writes that Britton is slated to pitch “a couple of innings” for Double-A Bowie on the 15th and should be back up in the Orioles’ rotation by the 30th. Not only is it a strategic decision to delay his service time, but it puts him in position to make it through most of September with the big club.