Chris Bassitt gave Craig Albernaz more rough Orioles timing Saturday, even with a little hope attached to the update.
The former Blue Jays right-hander underwent facet bone spur removal surgery in his lower back after injections failed to calm the pain that sent him to the injured list earlier this month.
That sounds heavy on its face, and back surgery usually does not invite much optimism in late June. But Baltimore is not treating this like a season-ending loss yet.
Mike Elias said there is still a “very strong possibility” Bassitt returns before the end of the season, which changes the tone from doom to delay.
That is the part Orioles fans will grab onto. Bassitt is 37, and a lower-back procedure is never nothing, but the front office clearly believes this was a smaller cleanup than a full shutdown.
Elias said the club will check on Bassitt again in a couple of weeks before deciding if and when he can start throwing. That leaves the recovery timeline open, but not dead.
There is still a baseball cost to this. Bassitt has not pitched since June 3, and Baltimore signed him to steady the rotation, not disappear into another injured list cycle.
Chris Bassitt's season is bruised, not buried
The numbers have not been good. Bassitt is 4-4 with a 5.27 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP in 12 starts, so this was already shaping up as a frustrating first year in Baltimore.
That is what makes the update strange in 2 directions. On one hand, the Orioles have not gotten the version of Bassitt they paid for. On the other, they still think he can come back in better condition than when he left.
That wording matters. Elias did not just say Bassitt might return. He said the club thinks it could get him back in better shape, which suggests the pain had been affecting more than Baltimore wanted to admit.
For Bassitt, that leaves the door open to salvage part of the season. He has built a reputation over the years as a durable veteran, and that is a big reason the Orioles took this bet in
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