Oriole # 905- Jo-Jo Reyes

On August 3, Jo-Jo became the 905th player to appear in a game for the Orioles when he pitched two innings in a loss against the Royals. I didn't have an autograph of double J at the time of his debut and was away from the blog for a few days, so that's why it took me just over three weeks to write about his debut.

Jo-Jo was drafted by the Braves in the second round of the 2003 draft and rose through their Minor League ranks to become one of their top pitching prospects. He made his MLB debut with the Braves in late 2007 but he has mostly struggled in the Majors thus far in his career. He was essentially an extra player in the 2010 Blue Jays-Braves trade that sent him and Yunel Escobar to Toronto for Alex Gonzalez and two minor leaguers. He is best known around baseball for his unfortunate streak of 28 starts without a win that was snapped earlier this season with a Jays victory over the Indians. Those 28 starts without a W tied him with two other pitchers for the all-time record, and I'm sure that he is happy to avoid holding that one all by himself.

The Jays designated Jo-Jo for assignment on July 23rd and the O's claimed him on August 2nd. I see him as just another pitcher in a long line of Orioles late season warm bodied pick-ups to finish out the season. He might prove me wrong and he has been decent so far with a 2-2 record and 4.57 ERA over five appearances (four starts) but I would be happier if Jo-Jo was a middle reliever moving forward. His six inning, one earned run start yesterday will likely keep him in the rotation for at least one more start and it would be great if he had continued success through the end of the season.

Good luck double J!