Kris Benson Out for the Upcoming Season...

I was not planning to blog until later today about baseball stuff, but O's pitcher, Kris Benson is lost for the season.

Here are notes from Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com:

“In a sharp blow to the Orioles' 2007 hopes, right-hander Kris Benson will miss the entire season due to a partially torn rotator cuff, FOXSports.com has learned.

Benson, 32, will require surgery to repair his injury, which surfaced after he began throwing in off-season workouts, according to a source with knowledge of his condition.”

and…

“Benson is no stranger to arm trouble — he missed all of 2001 due to elbow-ligament transplant surgery and made only 18 starts in '03 due to right shoulder tendonitis.

He averaged 30 starts and 186 innings over the past three seasons with the Mets and Orioles, but missed time with elbow tendonitis last season and finished 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA.

Although Kris only had 11 victories last season, he could have easily won a few more games with better support from the bullpen, and he did show flashes of brilliance throughout the 2006 season. Even though his record may only be average, he served as an innings eater for the team and pitched many quality starts.

At this point, don’t be surprised to see Hayden Penn given another chance in the rotation.