Orioles reliever Pedro Strop, who starred for Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, has gotten off to a rocky start for Baltimore, MASNSports.com reports. Manager Buck Showalter fielded questions regarding his start to the year Wednesday.
"This guy had a really, really good year for us last year, with a little bump," Showalter said. "What I liked was the way he came back and was a contributor again. He got some big outs in the playoffs and leading up to the last week. I like him."
The 27-year-old Strop, who was converted to a pitcher from a shortstop just three years ago, got the final two outs of his first inning of work Tuesday against Tampa Bay with little issue. He came back out for another inning and couldn't retire a batter.
Strop allowed a leadoff homer to Kelly Johnson, walked a batter and then gave up a two-run shot to Evan Longoria before being pulled. His ERA is at 10.80, but he's been clean in four of his six outings.