While the ad may sell some tickets, it may have cost the Orioles more than they bargained for. The 24-year-old Bergesen strained his right shoulder during the shoot, which was filmed in early December, and will miss at least the first 10 days of spring training, according to The Baltimore Sun.
“Obviously, I hadn’t picked up a ball [before throwing in the commercial],” Bergesen told the newspaper. “I’m kicking myself in the head about it. That’s really what it was from. Not working on a mound up to that point. I just jumped up on the mound and gave it a go. I was trying to be game speed. I was trying to be realistic as possible with it. … The production company that came in wanted it to be as realistic as possible. And I was trying to please, and I got caught up in a moment.”
Bergesen went 7-5 last year in his rookie season, posting a 3.43 ERA in 123 1/3 innings pitched. He said he still expects to be ready for the start of the season, but Orioles president Andy MacPhail told the paper that the team will make sure that medical staff is on hand for future events such as this one.
For Bergesen, the minor arm injury is just a minor setback compared to last season. He was struck in the shin by a line drive off the bat of Billy Butler on July 30, and though there was no structural damage, he didn’t pitch for the rest of the season. Obviously, picking up a baseball and hopping on a mound in December wasn’t the best remedy for a guy who hadn’t done so in months.
