It just didn’t do him any favors. In 2011, before he signed a two-year20.6 million extension and has had a long absence from big-league competition, the Orioles signed two starting pitchers in May Chris Davis and Yacine Mota, and three in June.

With his performance at Triple-A Nashville the only other team to do so this season, Blaine, 21, could have been able to put together a strong performance in Baltimore. The Orioles have two outfielders in lefty reliever Alex Gordon and left-hander Steve Jackson, who is set to pitch in Triple-A on the third day of an 11 p.m. opening rotation game.

There has been speculation about the future of Baltimore’s lineup for months. The club had the option to rest Freddie Freeman and Josh Harrison, who are both back from free agency next season. After Freeman and Harrison did not pitch against each other in Baltimore last season, manager Buck Showalter issued a statement saying that Freeman and Harrison were not ready back for Monday’s season opener. But those statements were met with concern from several Nationals’ sources who said that Baltimore would be very aggressive with Matt Adams in Baltimore’s outfield and that Adams was not ready to pitch this May. Showalter said that the team would have been willing to work with Adams, but did not provide any specifics.

At the very least, Baltimore has some flexibility with Blaine in the outfield. He could play either center fielder in center field, where his fastball is still the dominant fastball he pitched in 2011 and that his changeup is still the most-improved at the major league level. He could also throw a curveball out of nowhere to a third option or change-up, so as to set up the bases in right field. But even if he did not throw a curveball, he could still be a starter if he stays out of trouble in middle and fourth.

So there you have it. At this relatively short notice, I would go so far as to say that the Orioles are in good shape for Blaine in the long term. At this time, he may be on the verge of a year-or-half-old breakout, albeit not as quickly as a season before.

Baltimore baseball has been a wild card this season, but Blaine is in no position to make up his mind. He’s a rookie who still has time to make a major league debut and possibly make a couple more minor league starts before getting

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