Troy Patton, 2008 Bowman #211

Tonight, Troy Patton finally made his Orioles debut two years and nine months after being acquired in the trade that sent Miguel Tejada to Houston. It's been a long (and probably frustrating) road back to the majors for Troy. In 2007, he was considered one of the top prospects in the Astros organization and had a three-game cup of coffee with the big league club. But the next spring, he barely had time to put on an orange jersey before he was diagnosed with a torn labrum and had to get shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the year. Last year he was excellent at AA Bowie (6-2, 1.99 ERA), but seemed to hit a wall after a promotion to AAA Norfolk (1-3, 6.45 ERA). He was shut down late in the year to limit the wear and tear on his shoulder in his first year post-op. By this spring he was an afterthought at the still-young age of 24, as David Hernandez, Jason Berken, Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta had all gotten significant exposure to the majors while he worked to regain his form. In 25 starts at Norfolk, he had mixed results: 8-11, 4.43 ERA. In the midst of his minor league work, he was called up to join the Orioles three times.

On July 21, he was promoted for potential long relief work. He was not needed, and was returned to the Tides the following day as Kevin Millwood returned from the disabled list.

On August 1, he got the call once more. With the O's rotation suddenly firing on all cylinders, he sat idle in the bullpen for more than a week. On August 9, he was sent down again.

On September 7, Troy was probably hoping that the third time would be a charm. Two weeks later, he has finally thrown his first pitch for Baltimore. He did well enough for himself. Entering in the seventh inning with one out, he allowed a double to Ryan Kalish, induced a groundout from J.D. Drew, walked Victor Martinez, and struck out David Ortiz to strand both runners. Welcome back, Troy. Hope you don't have to wait another three years for your next appearance.