masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgI can understand the decision to sit Matt Wieters today and can even understand Buck Showalter deciding to rest J.J. Hardy also at the start of today’s game.

But the omission of Nolan Reimold from today’s starting lineup is a real head scratcher to me. Knowing Showalter there is a very good reason to do it, I just haven’t heard it yet. Maybe he is putting defense first today.

But it’s the third game already that Reimold has not started, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with him…I can understand the decision to sit Matt Wieters today and can even understand Buck Showalter deciding to rest J.J. Hardy also at the start of today’s game.

But the omission of Nolan Reimold from today’s starting lineup is a real head scratcher to me. Knowing Showalter there is a very good reason to do it, I just haven’t heard it yet. Maybe he is putting defense first today.

But it’s the third game already that Reimold has not started, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with him needing a rest. I also get Showatler’s desire to keep the bench fresh but today specifically seems a curious time to start Endy Chavez ahead of Reimold.

Reimold is 5-for-10 in this series. He has four extra-base hits in Toronto in two games. This is the place and series where his bat got going. But he is not starting today. Again, could be a perfectly good reason for this.

But he has hit rockets for two days and I sure would have had a hard time sitting him for the series finale at Rogers Centre.

It’s a long season and keeping everyone fresh will no doubt have long-term benefits. In the short term – as in today – I am puzzled by this.

Having said that, you know Chavez will have four hits and the Orioles will score 10 runs today and we will have forgotten about all this by the third inning. Maybe.

Update: MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli just posted via Twitter that Reimold had a leg cramp last night and was almost taken out of that game. I figured there had to be more of a reason than just to get Chavez into a game. She mentioned that several players legs are sore from two days on the turf.