Dan Connolly

O’Day to have surgery; miss rest of year

The Orioles received the news they expected – and were hoping could be avoided – Saturday.

Veteran reliever Darren O’Day’s left hamstring injury will require surgery, and he will be out for the rest of the season.

The recovery time for similar surgeries is roughly six months, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

O’Day, 35, was 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 20 games this season. He has dealt with injuries for a chunk of each of the past three seasons. This year, he lost time to a hyper-extended right elbow and now the hamstring.

The timetable should allow him to be back for spring training, and, according to Showalter, the surgery gives O’Day ““a lot better chance of it not being an issue again. And that’s important.”

The four-year, $31 million deal he signed before the 2016 season expires at the end of next year.

In his seven-season Orioles career, O’Day has compiled a 2.40 ERA in 391 games.

His absence will be felt in a bullpen that earlier this month returned to full strength after closer Zach Britton came back from Achilles surgery.

O’Day also was considered a potential trade chip in July, but based on service time he had full veto rights of any possible deal.

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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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  • As bad as this year has been, they have had their fair share of bad luck. It still doesn't excuse bad signings and an inept front office.

    • Eldersburg Enigma, that makes us neighbors. We should meet up sometime.

      Dan, I had an out-of-the-box idea. Bench Manny. This would not materially affect the outcome of the season (just a couple of dozen more games until the trade, at most) but would protect his health for maximum return.

      Thoughts?

    • No shot. You have to let him play. Sends a terrible message to the other players. And also takes away fans the experience of watching him play in an Os uniform. That’s my 2 cents anyway. If he gets hurt, that’s unfortunate. But baseball.

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Dan Connolly

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