Vladimir Guerrero is out of the Orioles’ lineup tonight with a wrist injury that dates back to Sunday, when he was hit by a pitch in the game against the Red Sox that featured ejections (and later suspensions) galore.
Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com reports that Guerrero isn’t even available off the bench and will be examined by a doctor, with Matt Wieters taking his place as the designated hitter and Craig Tatum replacing Wieters behind the plate.
Guerrero’s poor second half and abysmal playoff performance last season hinted that he was in the middle of a steep decline at age 36 and sure enough he’s hit just .279 with seven homers and a .700 OPS in 83 games after signing a one-year, $8 million deal with the Orioles, which is the worst OPS of his career by nearly 100 points.
It won’t be tough for the Orioles to replace that production, but in signing Guerrero they were no doubt hoping that he could help them stay in contention or at least fetch some decent value in a midseason trade and right now neither looks like it’ll happen even if the injury proves minor.
