O’s Fox Designated; Matusz Returns

Jake Fox admitted Monday that he was not very sure of his role with the Baltimore Orioles.  Today the club cleared things up for Fox, designating him for assignment.

Baltimore needed to open a spot for the return of starter Brian Matusz, and Fox was the roster casualty.

After his ridiculous spring, Fox has not been very effective for the O’s this season.  In 19 games, the 28 year old has only managed a line of .188/.250/.396.

Fox launched 10 spring training home runs to earn a spot on the Orioles opening day roster as a backup to catcher Matt Wieters.  His bat looked good off the bench, and his ability to play several positions offered the O’s roster flexibility.

Unfortunately things have not worked out for Fox or the Orioles.  The team has stated that they will try to trade him.

Manager Buck Showalter was fairly cut and dry when discussing Fox’s chances yesterday.

“If a guy is playing well and hitting well, it’s not that hard to find opportunities. Jake hasn’t made good use of the opportunities he’s had, with some exceptions. We saw in spring training in that environment what he’s capable of. We will see.”

It would probably be best for Fox to end up somewhere in the National League.  He would become a bat with some pop off the bench, and as already stated he provides teams insurance at multiple positions.

Matusz was set to be the O’s number 2 starter until injury issues forced him to miss the beginning of the season.  The team hopes the lefty can improve on his first full season in 2010 in which Matusz finished 5^th in Rookie of the Year voting.

A first round pick in 2008, Matusz logged 175.2 innings for the club while maintaining an ERA of 4.30.