Parker Bridwell dealt with his share of adversity in parts of eight years in the Orioles organization, through injuries and inconsistency and going from starter to reliever. But nothing prepared him for a 72-hour stretch he experienced in April.
His first two outings at Triple-A Norfolk didn’t go well. Thrown into the middle innings of a pair of lopsided games, he couldn’t stem the tide, and he was quickly looking at a 15.00 ERA. He knew he was better than that, but he fell victim to an early-season 40-man roster purge. The Orioles made four minor trades in the season’s first 12 days in an effort to supplement their pitching depth, and the last left Bridwell on the outside of the organization looking in for the first time in his career.