SARASOTA, Fla. - Mark Trumbo will back off baseball activities for a while as part of the reset in his recovery from right knee surgery and, he hopes, eventual return to the lineup.
The Orioles will place Trumbo on the injured list and keep him back in Sarasota while they break camp and get ready for opening day at Yankee Stadium. Trumbo met with executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde and they came to an agreement.
"The realistic part about it is I...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Mark Trumbo will begin the 2019 season on the injured list, opening up a roster spot and delaying the veteran's return from September knee surgery.
Trumbo is excluded from both split-squad lineups this afternoon and manager Brandon Hyde confirmed the decision to put him on the newly named IL.
"Trum's not going to break with us," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We're just going to give him some more time. We're going to let him continue to do his rehab down here.
"I give him...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Infielder Jace Peterson has been scratched from the Orioles lineup today for their split-squad game against the Pirates in Sarasota. Zach Vincej has come over from minor league camp and is starting at second base.
Peterson may be the latest roster cut following today's news that the Orioles optioned reliever Evan Phillips. Or it could be injury related.
Peterson was hit twice by pitches last night, but he stayed in the game.
The utility competition has been one of the more...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles reliever Evan Phillips didn't allow a run this spring in 9 2/3 innings.
He still didn't make the opening day roster.
Phillips has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, reducing the camp roster to 34 players. Pitcher Gregory Infante is excluded on my list because he never reported due to illness.
Two more scoreless innings last night against the Twins couldn't save Phillips, though it's always possible that the Orioles bring him back to replace an injured player.
For...
SARASOTA, Fla. - We've reached the penultimate day of spring training, with the Orioles breaking camp following Monday afternoon's game against the Mets at Ed Smith Stadium. Boxes already have been loaded on the truck for delivery at Camden Yards. Player cars already have been removed from the premises via carrier trailers.
(Carrier pigeons would have taken too long, PETA would have objected and it just wasn't worth the aggravation.)
The Orioles were tweaked again in Florida with today's...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Alex Cobb appears to have sustained a mild groin strain tonight and the club might get a clearer read on the severity of the injury by Sunday.
Whether Cobb can make his opening day start won't be known until later.
Cobb retired leadoff hitter Max Kepler on a ground ball to first baseman Chris Davis, who flipped the ball to the veteran starter for the out. Cobb showed no signs of discomfort while inducing a soft line drive from Ehire Adrianza...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Alex Cobb's final start before opening day lasted only one inning.
Cobb retired the Twins in order tonight on 13 pitches, but Jimmy Yacabonis replaced him unexpectedly to begin the second inning. The team announced that Cobb exited with right groin soreness.
Head athletic trainer Brian Ebel escorted Cobb to the clubhouse as Yacabonis trotted onto the field.
A ground ball, liner and popup completed Cobb's work. He threw nine strikes - and a scare into the Orioles.
Cobb is...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn't able to provide much clarity to the catching situation following the Pedro Severino waiver claim earlier this afternoon.
Chance Sisco is starting tonight and the club is discussing whether he'd benefit from another stint at Triple-A Norfolk. Jesús Sucre still hasn't been told whether he's made the club. And it's possible that the Orioles attempt to pass Severino through waivers after the Nationals failed, a move former executive Dan...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles consummated a minor league trade this afternoon, obtaining right-hander Tyler Herb from the Giants for outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Herb made 13 starts last summer at Triple-A Sacramento and went 2-8 with a 5.35 ERA and 1.599 WHIP in 70 2/3 innings. The Harrisburg, Pa., native turns 27 in April.
The Mariners drafted Herb in the 29th round in 2014 out of Coastal Carolina University. He's 30-34 with a 4.14 ERA and 1.439 WHIP in five minor league seasons.
The Giants...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have tossed another competitor into the catching mix today, claiming Pedro Severino off waivers from the Nationals and designating infielder Stevie Wilkerson for assignment.
Severino, 25, is out of options and the Nationals were trying to pass him through waivers.
The move gives the Orioles six catchers in camp and 35 players overall. Wilkerson already had been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and was on the minor league side.
A defense-first player in his four major...
SARASOTA, Fla. - Renato Núñez is the designated hitter again tonight as the Orioles host the Twins.
Núñez popped up and walked last night in two plate appearances after replacing Mark Trumbo as the designated hitter in Dunedin.
Dwight Smith Jr. is leading off and playing right field. Rio Ruiz is the third baseman.
Chance Sisco is catching tonight. Yusniel Diaz comes over from minor league camp to play center field.
Alex Cobb makes his final start before his opening day assignment in...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The hints keep coming that Joey Rickard will be with the Orioles on opening day, perhaps in right field at Yankee Stadium.
Rickard is tearing up the Grapefruit League again and is a virtual lock to break camp with the team, whether as the starting right fielder or a rover of sorts. The competition keeps thinning out, including the Orioles' decision yesterday to release veteran Eric Young Jr.
Prospects Austin Hays, DJ Stewart, Anthony Santander and Yusniel Diaz already have...
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Orioles didn't get their first baserunner tonight until Chris Davis drew a walk against Aaron Sanchez leading off the top of the fifth inning. They didn't have a hit until Jesús Sucre singled up the middle with one out - their only hit through seven innings.
They still haven't scored.
Mike Wright turned in a decent outing tonight, but he was playing second fiddle to Sanchez, who retired the first 12 batters and shut out the Orioles on the one hit over six...
DUNEDIN, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn't ready to confirm that Jesús Sucre has made the team as a non-roster invite. Not before he actually meets with the veteran catcher.
Sucre is in tonight's lineup against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. He could have opted out of his minor league deal this morning.
Shortly before boarding the bus this morning, Sucre said he still hadn't heard from the club or his agent regarding his status and joked with reporters that he'd flash a signal if...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have released veteran outfielder Eric Young Jr. in the latest spring training cut, a move made despite his impressive showing at the plate and defensively.
Young was 10-for-31 (.323) with a double, home run, seven walks, nine strikeouts and two stolen bases after joining the Orioles at the beginning of camp.
"Eric has looked and played great this spring," executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said in a statement. "Once we determined he was...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles get to again experience the sheer joy of making a trip to Dunedin to play the Blue Jays, and it's in an extremely rare night game. Under the lights. Hasn't happened, I'm told, in a very long time.
Perhaps the traffic going back to Sarasota will be a little more tolerable.
Mike Wright makes his final spring start before learning his fate, which is more likely whether he's in the rotation or bullpen. He opposes Aaron Sanchez tonight.
Wright had followed 10...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The latest roster cuts yesterday, condensed and earlier than usual, left the Orioles with 35 players in camp. Manager Brandon Hyde has to remove 10 more before opening day while knowing that the waiver wire is a potential complication.
In a good way, of course.
Mark Trumbo is a wild card because he could go on the injured list. Hyde will be asked about it again in a day or two and repeat that the decision is on hold. It's going down to the wire.
The Orioles need Trumbo healthy...
BRADENTON, Fla. - As Francisco Cervelli circled the bases today, his fly ball to the opposite field dropping on the other side of the fence, Orioles starter David Hess had to be wondering about his hold on a rotation spot.
Six home runs allowed in his last two outings. All of them in 3 2/3 innings. None of them a good look for a guy trying to convince the new regime that he can be the fourth starter.
Hess spun the story in the opposite direction, making the kind of recovery usually found in...
BRADENTON, Fla. - Catcher Jesús Sucre appears to have won a job with the Orioles.
The opt-out date on Sucre's minor league deal arrives Friday and manager Brandon Hyde said the veteran has "a good shot to make the team."
"I've been playing him every other day," Hyde said this morning before heading to Bradenton. "He went down and took a bunch of minor league at-bats a couple days ago to try to catch up on the at-bats. He's catching great, he throws great, does a really nice job...
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles made two more roster cuts this morning, reassigning infielder Jack Reinheimer and pitcher Josh Lucas to minor league camp.
Reinheimer follows Alcides Escobar out the door after the veteran was released yesterday, further reducing the competition for a utility job. Reinheimer was 11-for-28 (.393) with two doubles and a home run while mostly coming off the bench later in games.
Lucas had a 5.06 ERA in six games with three runs and four hits allowed in 5 1/3 innings....