Dan Connolly

Orioles to promote lefty sidearmer Donnie Hart

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When the Orioles begin the second half Friday, they will have a lefty specialist in the bullpen.

According to an industry source, the club is promoting 25-year-old sidearmer Donnie Hart from Double-A Bowie to the majors. The club has a spot open on both its 25-man and 40-man roster for Hart, a 27th round pick out of Texas State University in 2013.

The unheralded Hart does not throw hard and is not on any prospect lists for the Orioles – including Baseball America’s Top 30 for the organization – but he has posted a 2.27 ERA in his career and is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA and two saves in 33 games this year for the Baysox.

More important, he has been excellent against left-handed hitters. This year, lefties are 9-for-57 (.158 average) against Hart with 26 strikeouts and one walk. Right-handers have hit .284 against him at Bowie.

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The Orioles are in desperate need of a left-handed reliever to join closer Zach Britton. They dealt away the ineffective Brian Matusz and Brian Duensing was felled by injury. Also, submariner Darren O’Day, who is good against lefties and right-handers, is injured and there is no set timetable for his return.

Hart is a member of the Eastern League All Star team, which plays tonight. But he’ll soon be on a much bigger stage.

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.

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Os fan in Detroit says:

July 13, 2016 at 12:28 pm

Interesting move... I like that he is not on anyone's radar. Hopefully that means other teams have not scouted him and they have no idea what to expect when he pitches.

We need O'Day back! Hopefully he can return soon and take care of business. I am impressed on how the bullpen has been in his absence.
robdaniels1966 says:

July 13, 2016 at 12:30 pm

So who goes?
- Dan Connolly says:
  
  July 13, 2016 at 12:42 pm
  
  No one. Garcia was sent down. O's have 24 men right now.