Remember Tsuyoshi Wada? The Japanese left-hander signed a two-year, $8.15 million free agent contract with the Orioles last winter but developed elbow discomfort shortly after arriving at spring training and wound up needing Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery in early April.
He is recovering nicely, sources told MASN’s Roch Kubatko down at the Winter Meetings, and expects to be in the running for a rotation spot when spring training gets underway about three months from now.
Wada registered a dominant 1.51 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 168/40 K/BB ratio across 184 2/3 innings (26 starts) in 2011 for the Softbank Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League. He turns 32 years old on February 21.
If Wada can’t crack the rotation, he could be used as a long man in the Baltimore bullpen.
