Baltimore Orioles say catcher Matt Wieters not close to return

There was hope that when catcher Matt Wieters tested out his injured elbow this weekend, he’d be much closer to a return.

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That won’t be the case as the Orioles say Wieters isn’t close to a return, though, the news isn’t all bad.

After throwing on both Friday and Sunday, Wieters didn’t experience any pain though Baltimore is going to take extreme caution with their franchise cornerstone before allowing him to return to the field according to Brittany Ghirolo.

“Wieters threw again today. Felt better than Friday,” says Ghirolo. “Buck said doubtful he’d return in 2 weeks. Still July 1 is date for them to decide w him.”

Baltimore is hoping that Wieters will continue to progress and come July 1st, he’ll be in position to return. If he’s still dealing with soreness or hasn’t improved enough to their standards, it’s the belief of many that Baltimore will shut the catcher down for the rest of the season while he undergoes surgery.

The catcher will continue to be on an every-other-day throwing program (as to not wear him out/create further injury) for the time being until the Orioles decide otherwise.

Baltimore currently sits in third place of the American League East with a 27-27 record, though they’re only 4.5 games behind the division leading Toronto Blue Jays.