Nolan

Reimold

Reimold homered in his lone at-bat before departing. “I woke up this morning and it was sore,” he said. “I couldn’t push off on it. When I caught that last fly ball, I knew I couldn’t play center anymore. I was in a lot of pain. I must have done something to it.”

The Keys will face the Kinston Indians for the title. Reimold is easily the best prospect on a Frederick team loaded with veterans. The 22-year-old finished the regular season with a .255/.379/.455 line, 19 homers and 14 steals in 415 at-bats.

Reimold started the day off poorly, losing a ball in the sun that wwent as a double. However, he quickly made up for it with his third homer in five games. He has 12 homers and 35 RBI in 242 at-bats for the season, so he’s really starting to make a case to serve as Baltimore’s starting left fielder next year.

He also added a single on the day. Reimold has been getting some playing time of late and has brought out his power stick, belting five long ones in 20 games this month. He has 13 dingers on the season.

Chavez is hitting .421 to Nolan Reimold’s .167 so far. Given that Chavez is the closest thing the Orioles have to a leadoff hitter with Brian Roberts out, there’s a good chance he’ll get a lot of playing time against righties initially, perhaps at Reimold’s expense.

It’s encouraging that Reimold got the nod against a right-hander, but he could really use a hot start to secure his job. He’ll almost certainly be back in there against the lefty Francisco Liriano on Saturday, but unless he has a big game, we’re guessing Endy Chavez will start over him versus Liam Hendriks on Sunday.

Reimold is one of the hottest hitters in the league, having homered in four of the last five games, but he recently dealt with a hamstring injury and now has the neck ailment. Consider him day-to-day until further notice. Endy Chavez is getting the start in left field.

Reimold’s neck spasms appeared to be a thing of the past after playing in five straight games, but he’s apparently not out of the woods yet. The Orioles are hopeful he’ll be cleared and return to New York in time for Tuesday’s game, but he’ll likely be out of the lineup.

Reimold is expected to return to the Orioles’ Grapefruit League lineup after missing a few days with a chipped tooth. He was hit in the face by a pitch on Friday.

Reimold scored the tying run on a Wilson Betemit single in the eighth inning and added a solo shot for insurance in the ninth. He’s off to a solid start to the season hitting .308 (8-for-28) and seems to be entrenched as the Orioles lead-off hitter.