Justin Duchscherer has had himself a difficult spring. After showing up feeling good, Duchscherer experienced a setback with his hip and had to take a break. He worked his way back to the mound and even appeared in a Grapefruit League game, but just Sunday he was scratched from a scheduled appearance in an intrasquad game because of more hip trouble. Now the starter is going to have an MRA (similar to an MRI) to see what's going on. The exam will likely take place on Monday afternoon.

The reason this is so worrisome is because Duchscherer missed almost the entire 2010 season after undergoing hip surgery. It wasn't the first time he's had his hip operated on, either, as he also went under the knife for a significant procedure in 2007. Throw in elbow surgery in 2009 and you have a guy who's thrown a total of 186 Major League innings since the start of the 2007 season. Duchscherer's been fragile, and while he was hoping to put that all behind him, these continued flare-ups aren't going to help.

With luck, this latest issue will end up being something minor, and Duchscherer will shortly be able to return to the mound and work out of the Orioles' rotation. However, you never know with this guy, and it may be that his body's simply unable to bear the strain of pitching. We'll find out more before long. Note that Duchscherer signed a one-year, incentive-laden contract with Baltimore in February.

In the meantime, check out more on Duchscherer and the Orioles over at Camden Chat.