Hyde on Vavra, Orioles introducing Holliday tomorrow at contract signing

The Orioles are ready to unleash another prospect on major league opponents.

Terrin Vavra, acquired from the Rockies as part of the 2020 Mychal Givens trade, has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll be on the bench tonight with the Rays starting left-hander Shane McClanahan.

Vavra is batting .324/.435/.451 with 14 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 18 RBIs, 28 walks and 36 strikeouts in 45 games with Norfolk. He missed five weeks with a strained right hamstring.

For the month of July, Vavra is slashing .296/.441/.444 with 16 hits in 54 at-bats. He was 17-for-52 (.327) in April and 2-for-4 in May before the injury.

“He’s been swinging the ball well all year in Norfolk,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “He played a few positions. And we’re so right-handed that adding a left-handed bat is nice for us. And good to see a young guy playing well in Triple-A get rewarded with getting called up to the big leagues.”

Hyde indicated that Vavra, 25, would be used at second base if placed in the lineup. Vavra also plays the outfield, making 17 starts in center with the Tides, and Hyde used him in the corners in spring training.

The Orioles don’t really need a third center fielder behind Cedric Mullins.

“(Austin) Hays and (Ryan) McKenna will, if Cedric for whatever reason is not out in center field, I’ll have those two guys before him,” Hyde said, “but it is nice to have another athletic guy who can run and be able to play multiple positions. But for me, it’s also the left-handed part and the amount of right-handers we have. To get another left-hander is great.”

Vavra, who’s wearing No. 77, would be the 50^th player used by the Orioles in 2022. They put him on the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 deadline.

Asked whether he wanted to get Vavra in a game rather than letting him sit, Hyde said, “I’m going to try to win the game.”

“If the opportunity presents itself, then it does,” he said. “We’re trying to win every night’s game.”

Vavra joins catcher Adley Rutschman, formerly baseball’s No. 1 prospect who debuted on May 21. Outfielder Kyle Stowers, the Orioles’ No. 7 prospect, debuted on June 13 in Toronto as a replacement for Anthony Santander, whose vaccination status at the time prevented him from entering Canada.

The Orioles needed a roster replacement today for infielder Jonathan Araúz, who sustained an avulsion fracture on a finger on his right hand while diving into second base last night in the eighth inning. Araúz was playing his first game since July 8.

An avulsion fracture occurs when a small chunk of bone attached to a tendon or ligament gets pulled away from the main part of the bone.

“It’s an unfortunate injury,” Hyde said. “The guy gets an opportunity to play and hits one off the wall and is hustling, and jams it into the base. Hopefully, it’s not too long.”

Araúz started at shortstop last night. The Orioles have ample coverage at the position with Jorge Mateo and Ramón Urías. Otherwise, they might have recalled Richie Martin.

The Orioles have scheduled a press conference Wednesday afternoon to introduce shortstop Jackson Holliday, the first-overall selection in the MLB Draft. Agent Scott Boras will be present.

Holliday’s signing will become official. He’s receiving $8.19 million to set the franchise record.

Left-hander DL Hall is starting for Norfolk tonight in Memphis. Mike Baumann starts Wednesday and Matt Harvey on Thursday.

Outfielder Cristopher Cespedes has been released from his Single-A Delmarva contract.