Latest look at 40-man roster and Rule 5 decisions (updated)

Latest look at 40-man roster and Rule 5 decisions (updated)
The task of clearing room on the 40-man roster began as the Orioles worked through the final games on their schedule. No need to wait until the last out. Pitcher Carson Fulmer, the former first-round pick of the White Sox, didn't make it through waivers. Reliever Cody Carroll passed through and was outrighted. The 40-man roster was reduced to 37 players, but the Orioles activated pitcher Kohl Stewart from the 10-day injured list yesterday, per their transactions page, and he goes back on the...
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Closing arguments on bullpen role

Closing arguments on bullpen role
Teams in a rebuild, and specifically the people behind it, wonder about the obsession over a defined closer for the bullpen Fans ask about it. The media tracks it. The first reliever to rise after the eighth with his club holding a slim lead is crowned. Five pitchers recorded saves for the Orioles this year and Hunter Harvey wasn't counted among them. He was supposed to handle the responsibility, according to everything written and reported over the winter and spring and during summer training...
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Giving Orioles the business now that season ended

Giving Orioles the business now that season ended
The next step after waking up without baseball is to gauge your own interest in the playoffs - hard for me to root against the Padres with those familiar faces - and wonder what's next for the Orioles beyond the fall instructional league. Will they be active at the Winter Meetings? Will there be a Winter Meetings? At least remotely, I'd assume. Hold onto that Zoom account. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is going to determine the interest in his trade chips, including...
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Orioles move back into offseason phase

Orioles move back into offseason phase
The first day without baseball. It feels like only two months ago that the Orioles were waiting to get started. I didn't like the chances of Major League Baseball making it through the 60-game season, but here we are, with 16 teams ready for the expanded playoffs. The Orioles finished with a 25-35 record, tied for fifth-worst in the majors, but stayed in contention until the final week. A nice sidebar to the main story, which was tracking the progress of top prospects who made their debuts in...
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Orioles win finale 7-5 to secure fourth place (updated)

Orioles win finale 7-5 to secure fourth place (updated)
The Orioles will not surrender fourth place. Their heels dug in one last time in 2020. The final notation on the season came this afternoon in Buffalo, where the Orioles rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Blue Jays 7-5 at Sahlen Field. Keegan Akin surrendered a solo home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third and a two-run shot to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., with a Randal Grichuk single in between, to destroy a 1-1 tie. But the Orioles knotted the score again with three runs in the...
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Hyde's final pregame media session of 2020

Hyde's final pregame media session of 2020
The Orioles are finishing their "two-part season" today, as manager Brandon Hyde calls it. Players who were hot early and faded this month. A team that made a run at the playoffs and fell hard down the stretch. "I think a lot of guys are disappointed in the last 20 games and how they're finishing up, and that's really them putting pressure on themselves, wishing from a team aspect they could have done more to help us in the last 20 games," Hyde said today in his final pregame Zoom...
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Final Orioles lineup for 2020

Final Orioles lineup for 2020
The 2020 season ends today for the Orioles with Keegan Akin on the mound for his sixth major league start. The Orioles are one game ahead of the Red Sox for fourth place in the American League East. Akin made his first start against the Blue Jays in Buffalo and was tagged with two unearned runs with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He's walked one batter and struck out 15 in his last two starts over nine innings. Austin Hays is batting .388/.423/.612 (19-for-49) with three home runs and 11...
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Means finishes strong in Orioles' 5-2 loss (updated)

Means finishes strong in Orioles' 5-2 loss (updated)
The penultimate game of the 2020 season found John Means on the mound again for the Orioles and Randal Grichuk out of the Blue Jays' lineup. Means hasn't caught a lot of breaks this summer. Give him that one. Then again, maybe he didn't need it the way he's been pitching down the stretch. Coming off a 12-strikeout gem last weekend in Baltimore, Means kept the Blue Jays hitless tonight until Cavan Biggio homered with two outs in the sixth. Grichuk entered the game in the top half of the...
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Lots of positive developments in losing 2020 season

Lots of positive developments in losing 2020 season
The time for reflection begins today. The Orioles are playing their final game of a wacky season. Some would call it "truncated." Everyone would agree that it's so far from the norm that proper evaluations are complicated. A passing grade is earned by the promotions and successes of outfielder/first baseman Ryan Mountcastle - in that order - and pitchers Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann. The rookies should comprise three-fifths of the rotation in spring training 2021, but...
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Elias conducts season-ending review on final weekend

Elias conducts season-ending review on final weekend
The standings can't be ignored, no matter how much Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is comforted and encouraged by prospect performance and the work done at the alternate camp site. How he judges a season includes production on the field. "It's very difficult for me to label any season a success where we have a losing record and don't make the playoffs," he said in today's Zoom conference call. "But I see enough positive things where we can a feel good that...
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Orioles and Blue Jays lineups (updated)

Orioles and Blue Jays lineups (updated)
José Iglesias is starting at shortstop tonight in Buffalo after serving as the designated hitter and homering in the last two games. Ramón Urías has moved to second base, with Hanser Alberto now the designated hitter. Urías hit his first career home run last night and is batting .381 (8-for-21) with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs in nine major league games. Austin Hays is leading off and playing left field. He's a career .296 hitter (50-for-169) in 52 September games, with...
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López ambushed early in Orioles' 10-5 loss (updated)

López ambushed early in Orioles' 10-5 loss (updated)
An abnormal 2020 season that began with serious doubts about its staying power naturally is ending for the Orioles in Buffalo. Because so little has felt right. So little has made actual sense. Manager Brandon Hyde joked again today about doing his Zoom conference call from "a tent." The ballpark's extreme makeover couldn't hide all the blemishes. Hyde also stressed again the importance of finishing strong. But here's where abnormal spins to back to uncomfortably normal. Randal Grichuk...
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Iglesias hasn't got time for the pain

Iglesias hasn't got time for the pain
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde can read the statistics. He can stand in the dugout and watch the innings and at-bats. The stuff that's laid out for everybody. Sometimes, it's the little things that grab his attention. That don't directly impact a 13-1 win but stand out as much as the home runs and strikeouts. José Iglesias convinced Hyde that he could play Thursday night in Boston. He took batting practice again and lobbied for his inclusion in the lineup as the designated hitter. For a...
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Hyde on Sunday starter, Núñez, Hays leading off and Santander

Hyde on Sunday starter, Núñez, Hays leading off and Santander
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has confirmed today that left-hander Keegan Akin will close out the season with Sunday's start against the Blue Jays in Buffalo. Akin will be making his sixth major league start and eighth appearance. The bullpen also could be active on Sunday. "It's going to be Keegan Akin," Hyde said. "And maybe Johnny Wholestaff after." Left-hander John Means gets the start Saturday night. Hyde said Renato Núñez, out of the lineup again tonight with a sore knee, is a...
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Orioles lineup vs. Blue Jays

Orioles lineup vs. Blue Jays
Jorge López makes the start tonight for the Orioles as they begin a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo that closes out the 2020 season. López has registered back-to-back quality starts. The Orioles haven't announced their Sunday starter. John Means is on the mound Saturday. Austin Hays is leading off for the first time since Aug. 1 and playing left field, with Cedric Mullins batting ninth. DJ Stewart is the right fielder. Hanser Alberto moves down to sixth in the...
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Santander chosen as Most Valuable Oriole

Santander chosen as Most Valuable Oriole
Anthony Santander demonstrated his value to the Orioles this summer during his appearances in the lineup and in right field. He also showed how much he's missed. Santander appeared in 37 games before the Orioles shut him down with a strained right oblique muscle, but his overall impact earned him the Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole award for 2020. The award is voted upon by members of the media who cover the team on a regular or semi-regular basis. Outfielder Trey Mancini won it in...
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Rotation a possible remedy for defensive regression

Rotation a possible remedy for defensive regression
The defensive decline that's hurting the Orioles on the field and in the metrics again is going to be a point of emphasis in the offseason. Doesn't it seem that way every year since the days of Manny Machado, J.J. Hardy and pre-decline Adam Jones? The Orioles wanted an upgrade at shortstop, discussed Adeiny Hechavarría and signed plus-plus defender José Iglesias to a one-year deal with an option for 2021. They wanted Richie Martin to play shortstop every day at Triple-A Norfolk and...
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Orioles' offense awakens in 13-1 win (updated)

Orioles' offense awakens in 13-1 win (updated)
On the day that Orioles manager Brandon Hyde summons Austin Hays into his office this weekend for the traditional exit interview - in a non-traditional major league city - he's going to talk again about the importance of staying healthy in order for the young outfielder to reach his full potential. The Orioles know what Hays can do when he's on the field. They just need to keep him on it. Exactly how does a team protect a player from a succession of freakish injuries? Hays hasn't slowed down...
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Notes on roster move, Núñez, Phillips and exit interviews

Notes on roster move, Núñez, Phillips and exit interviews
The Orioles recalled David Hess, who was on the taxi squad, to give them a fresh bullpen arm for tonight's series finale against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. With Dean Kremer making his final start last night, the rookie has been optioned to the alternate camp site in Bowie. It's the type of move often made leading into the All-Star break. "We optioned Dean just because he wasn't going to make another start," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in his Zoom conference call with the...
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Orioles and Red Sox lineups

Orioles and Red Sox lineups
José Iglesias has returned to the Orioles lineup tonight as the designated hitter after receiving treatment for a sore left wrist. Renato Núñez has been excluded after appearing to be in some discomfort last night while running the bases. Ryan Mountcastle is in left field and Pat Valaika is the first baseman. Ramón Urías gets another start at shortstop. Austin Hays is in right field. The Orioles are one game ahead of the last-place Red Sox and trying to avoid sharing the division...
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