Injury updates on Urías, Webb, Mountcastle, Westburg and Kremer

Ramón Urías ditched his crutches and is offering positive news on his sprained right ankle, including his readiness to begin baseball activities in a couple of days.

Urías said earlier today that the ankle is feeling “pretty good” and “progressing fast.”

“I’m walking now, it feels pretty normal,” he said while standing at his locker. “Hopefully can start doing some baseball activities soon.”

Urías rolled the ankle while covering third base in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game in Colorado, the same night that he also was hit on the nose by a pitch and Dean Kremer exited in the fourth after taking a line drive off his right forearm.

Kremer is starting tonight. Urías won’t be ready for reinstatement when eligible on Wednesday but is aiming for a return later this month.

“Yes, that’s for sure,” Urías said. “If nothing happens in the progress, I think I’ll be ready to go.”

Urías hasn’t used his crutches for the past two days and is putting full pressure on the ankle.

“Ramón’s made huge strides,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We’re expecting, hoping, he’ll be back before the end of the regular season. But made a lot of progress in the last few days with the ankle. He’s already kind of moving around, so we’re really encouraged by him.”

The timing of the injury was terrible with Urías. He slashed .357/.440/.738 with a 1.178 OPS over his last 14 games before Saturday.

“It’s hard, you know?” he said. “But at the same time, I know it’s part of the game. Sometimes it goes like that, but I’ve just got to stay positive and hopefully I can stay hot whenever I come back.”

The nose is fine because Urías was able to turn away from a 93.8 mph sinker and avoid full impact.

“I got very lucky,” he said with a laugh.

Reliever Jacob Webb has made two injury rehab appearances – one each at Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie – and his assignment could extend to another game. The Orioles are in the midst of making a decision.

Webb tossed a scoreless inning with Norfolk and was charged with four runs at Bowie in one-third of an inning, two scoring after he left the game.

“He’s gonna get checked out this afternoon,” Hyde said. “It’s possible he has another game in the minor leagues. We’re evaluating this afternoon.

Hyde spent his pregame media session providing injury updates, joking that he should have brought a script.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle went on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Aug. 23 with a sprained left wrist. He’s hitting off a tee.

“Showing a little bit of progress,” Hyde said. “He’s still not coming along the way we were hoping.”

Infielder Jordan Westburg, on the IL since Aug. 1 with a fractured right hand, is doing some baseball activities but hasn’t been cleared to swing a bat.

“No change in his timeline,” Hyde said. “Still progressing the way we thought he would.”

Hyde didn’t expect Kremer to make his next start after a 103.1 mph line drive created a huge welt above the wrist. Kremer threw a bullpen session on Wednesday, played catch Thursday and stayed in the rotation.

“I kind of jumped the gun after that game just because of what it looked like, I guess,” Hyde said. “What it sounded like, what it looked like, how swollen it was. Our medical staff and Dean did an amazing job of treating that thing this week.

“He’s a quick healer and unbelievably tough. You still see the seams where it hit him. But yeah, he wants the ball and let’s hope he pitches well tonight.”

Hyde didn't know the exact details of the treatments but said, "I'm sure there's a lot of ice involved."

There usually is with my off-days, but not for treatments. But I digress ...

* Former Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini stopped by Camden Yards. He’s co-hosting a charitable event tonight called “Rhythm of Life” with friends George and Patricia Davis at the Baltimore Museum of Art to benefit the Johns Hopkins Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence. George Davis also is a former patient.

* We have a scoring change from Tuesday night. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Eloy Jiménez reached base on what was ruled a hit, but White Sox left-hander Jared Shuster is now charged with a throwing error.