Orioles Keep Joseph, Send Down Clevenger

May 7, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher

(36) looks to the dugout for a call during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles made a very interesting decision on Tuesday. With the return of Chris Davis from the birth of his first child, someone had to be sent to AAA.

The assumption would be that it would be a catcher, which was accurate. But which catcher it was sent to Norfolk is the surprise.

Steve Clevenger was sent to AAA, while Caleb Joseph remains in the majors.

Not long ago, Joseph had no idea if he would ever make it the majors with the Baltimore Orioles. He was unprotected last year in the Rule 5 draft, a curious decision by many.

The Orioles wanted Caleb to work on his defense. And now, he has the highest percentage of people thrown out of all the catchers on the Orioles staff.

Many of the pitchers have said they like working with Caleb … not that they maybe didn’t with Clevenger; but the pitchers’ ERA with Joseph as the backstop is considerably lower than that of Clevenger.

Matt Wieters may be out for quite a while, or he may be back in another month. Nick Hundley is the starter for now, allowing the O’s to have someone with experience in the majors catch.

But this is quite a move for Joseph, and has to be disappointing for Clevenger. But, remember that Matt Wieters is soon going to be a free agent. Allowing Clevenger to start every day in AAA and really see what they have in him could help the Birds decide what to do with Wieters’ contract.