Hyde on Wynns: "He's an ultimate team guy"

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde sat down with catcher Chance Sisco this morning and talked about the club's decision to option him to Triple-A Norfolk. The reasoning, the reassurances that it hadn't given up on him.

What must be done in order to return.

The Orioles selected Austin Wynns' contract from Triple-A Norfolk and sent down Sisco, who's batting .154/.247/.185 with no home runs and three RBIs in 73 plate appearances after going 3-for-30 in spring training.

"Tough conversation this morning," Hyde said on his Zoom call. "I love Chance, great kid. Team guy, works his tail off. So it's not a fun morning when these kind of things happen.

"I would just like to see him go down and get back to driving the baseball. I like all the improvements he's made defensively. Continue to work on his defense. He's throwing the ball much better than he has the past couple years, his receiving is continuing to improve. I think he' s learning the position a little bit better. He's becoming a better defensive catcher right now. Now, for me, we've got to get the bat going.

"I've always loved his plate discipline and ability to lay off pitches, borderline and off, and we don't really have a lineup full of those types of guys. But he's got to start putting up some offensive numbers and getting back to really driving the ball from gap to gap and just feeling more comfortable offensively and getting regular at-bats, four at-bats a night in Norfolk. We're hoping that gets him going."

Wynns, back in the majors for the first time since 2019, batted .333/.448/.563 with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and seven walks in 15 games with the Tides. He's known more for his defense, handling of a pitching staff and energy.

"Austin was off to a nice start in Norfolk," Hyde said. "Swinging the bat well, hitting the ball hard, hitting for average, catching extremely well. Austin is just very, very solid defensively and I've seen that for three springs and for the times he's been up the last few years. I like Austin's intangibles. He's got a great feel behind the plate, he does a great job with pitchers, he's a really good clubhouse guy. He's an ultimate team guy. I just like the way he really invests himself in getting pitchers through innings and to help out guys on the mound. So I was excited to see him here today.

"We talked a little bit about that and I told him to be who he's always been. Any kind of offense he gives us is a bonus. Just take good at-bats and help out our pitching staff."

Wynns is starting today with Jorge López on the mound to open the homestand. Pedro Severino is sitting.

"With the playing time, I'm not sure," Hyde said. "I'm going to play whoever I think is playing better. Maybe a little matchup-wise, but I don't know at this point. I'm going to watch both guys play, they're both going to play a little bit here and it'll be day-to-day for me. Whoever's playing better. Like the rest of our guys, too, right now.

"Whoever's playing well is going to play, so that's how I'm kind of looking at it going forward."

Shortstop Freddy Galvis also is on the bench today after starting 48 of 53 games and ranking second on the team with nine home runs and tied for third with 20 RBIs. He hit three home runs in the White Sox series.

"Freddy Galvis is an ultimate pro," Hyde said.

"I told him that I was giving him today off and he fought me on it a little bit, but he has been playing every single day, both games of the doubleheader, with nagging things going on and has just been an incredible team veteran pro. Love this guy. This guy, you can see why he's in the big leagues for a long time. He's everything I heard and more. With the kind of effort he's given and what he's done for our team, and not just defensively but at the plate, and what he does showing these younger guys, these guys with inexperience, what it's like to be a pro."

Pitching coach Chris Holt, also the director of pitching, has rejoined the team after leaving to attend to a personal matter.

The Twins have won 15 consecutive games against the Orioles, the last loss coming on Adam Jones' walk-off homer on opening day 2018. They're 31-12 against the Orioles since the start of the 2014 season.

A loss today would extend the Orioles' losing streak to 14 games, matching the second-longest in club history (August 1954).