Karns: "This is just a minor setback"

Nate Karns expressed confidence this afternoon that his stay on the 10-day injured list won't linger and his placement is only a precautionary measure due to some tightness in his right forearm.

The Orioles called up reliever Evan Phillips as Karns' replacement in the bullpen and on the 25-man roster. Phillips was given the news around 11 p.m.

Karns threw 10 pitches last night while retiring the side in order in the ninth inning, and another decrease in fastball velocity prompted the move.

"It wasn't like a one-day thing," Karns said this afternoon. "It was just something where my velocity was kind of dipping down and kind of spooked some guys, and we felt like it was best to give it 10 days now and then get back out there instead of it going in the direction we didn't want it to go.

"It's just tightness. There's no pain. It's one of those things I could go out there and pitch, but if my velocity keeps going down, it's not something we think is going to be beneficial. So we're going to take a quick 10-dayer and then get back out there."

Manager Brandon Hyde referred to it as "arm fatigue" and also downplayed the severity.

"We felt like the best thing was to almost hit the reset button a little bit with him and give him 10 days or so to kind of back off," Hyde said. "We felt like for his long-term health, to keep him healthy this year, it was the right thing to do."

Karns said there's no similarity to the previous discomfort that forced him to miss the entire 2018 season.

"Last year, I couldn't even pitch in a game," he said. "This is just a minor setback, which is something we feel like if we squash now it will be better off for us in the long run."

The four-seamer averaged 89 mph last night and raised concerns within an organization that's been willing to slow-play Karns since the ink dried on his one-year contract.

"Normally I don't throw at 88-89 (mph)," he said. "I was still able to go out there and impact the game in a manner that I thought was beneficial, but with the velocity kind of trending downwards from the beginning of the season, we just want to give it 10 days to kind of get back up to where it feels good and productive and at a velocity that's normal for me."

"His velo was a little bit down last night," Hyde said. "We kind of discussed it after the game and going to hit the reset button with the forearm and just give him a little bit of time off.

"Got Evan here. Excited about that. Obviously had a great spring training and showed a really good fastball and slider and looking forward to watching him pitch."

Karns, who is staying with the club while on the IL, appeared in only nine games with the Royals in 2017 before undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in Dallas. He didn't pitch again until making his Orioles debut on March 30.

"No one wants to go on the DL," he said, "but everyone involved believes it's going to be a short 10 days, so just one of those unfortunate setbacks, but something that's not going to jeopardize the season."

The Orioles briefly shut down Karns after his first spring appearance in Fort Myers because the arm was slow to bounce back. They were especially careful with his innings and moved him to the bullpen after twice using him for two innings as the opener.

Today's move is the latest tactic to get him into the summer months healthy.

"This is part of the effort," Hyde said. "He's had a tough couple of years, so for him to maintain health and for him to stay strong throughout the year, I think there might be times where we give him a little bit of a blow and this is one of those times. We all discussed it last night and just give him a little bit of time to heal.

"I'm not concerned. I know he's not concerned. He just hasn't pitched in a long time. It's been a couple years and he's coming off some stuff that put him on the shelf for an extended period of time. I think there's periods of time throughout the year where you just give yourself a little bit of a breather, let the arm heal. No throw for a few days and hopefully he's going to respond and be good to go in 10 days or so."

For the Athletics
Marcus Semien SS
Matt Chapman 3B
Stephen Piscotty RF
Khris Davis DH
Chad Pinder LF
Mark Canha 1B
Ramón Laureano CF
Jurickson Profar 2B
Josh Phegley C

Brett Anderson LHP