Willis

Roberts

Roberts hasn’t pitched since Thursday. Manager Mike Hargrove said Roberts could have been available for last night’s game, but even though the team used five relievers, Roberts wasn’t among them.

Roberts was placed on the DL less for his injury and more to allow him to pitch in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Ottawa.

Don’t expect them to turn up much of anything. Roberts is on the DL so the Orioles could have him pitch in the minors without losing him to a waiver claim.

With Roberts hurting, and B.J. Ryan and Pat Hentgen having seen a lot of action already, Rodrigo Lopez was left in the game longer than he might have otherwise been yesterday. Consider Roberts day-to-day.

Roberts have been unavailable the previous two games because of a sore throwing shoulder.

Roberts allowed seven runs in 12 innings during his six weeks with the Pirates, but six of the runs did come in one relief appearance. He’s no worse of an option than Mark Corey.

This deal makes some sense, and if the Rockies are willing to do it, the Orioles should pull the trigger. Since the Rockies haven’t been able to get good value in return for Jose Jimenez, they now realize they made a mistake in picking up Jones’s $3 million option. Going from Jones to Roberts would be a slight upgrade and save the team about $2.5 million. The Orioles can afford to take on the salary, and in Cust, would get the young middle-of-the-order hitter they desperately need.

Being eligible for arbitration probably prevented Roberts from being claimed. He did struggle during the first half of this season, but that might have been the rest of the partially torn elbow ligament which prevented him from pitching during the final three months. Paradis, a 1999 first-round pick, had a 5.27 ERA in 25 starts for Double-A Bowie this year. His only hope of making it is as a reliever. Leon and Escalona were obvious choices to be dropped from the 40-man roster.

The Pirates have decided to keep two lefties, no matter how lousy they are. As a result, their cutting perhaps their best reliever in Roberts, who has had the same spring as Jose Mesa except for the fact that he’s given up three earned runs and Mesa has allowed two unearned runs. Both have pitched eight innings (Roberts 8 1/3) and allowed nine runners to reach base. Acevedo had also pitched better lately and would have been a pretty good choice for a spot.