Martin has broken bone in wrist, three spots in rotation appear set

The utility competition in the Orioles' summer training camp no longer includes Richie Martin, who's been lost in an unexpected manner.

Martin underwent X-rays yesterday afternoon that revealed a fractured bone in his right wrist, an injury that occurred after he collided with first baseman Chris Davis while diving back into the bag during Friday night's intrasquad game.

The former Rule 5 pick held his left hand while walking off the field, the discomfort caused by a torn fingernail and laceration. However, he tried to play catch yesterday and felt pain in his throwing hand.

"It's a big blow," manager Brandon Hyde said during today's Zoom conference call. "I feel terrible for Richie. It wasn't something we were expecting. We were going out to play catch for a broken fingernail and a cut and this happened. My heart goes out to him."

Martin slashed .208/.260/.322 last year in 120 games as a rookie, but went 11-for-29 with two doubles and two home runs in September. He had a chance to earn a bench role this summer with the minor league season canceled. Hyde used him at second base and shortstop in intrasquad games.

"He had a great offseason from a work standpoint," Hyde said. "He's making huge strides. We were just talking about how much he's improved defensively yesterday morning and I like the swing adjustments that he's been making. That was a disappointing evening and talking this morning, he's pretty down about it."

Hyde said he didn't know the timetable for Martin's recovery.

The utility competition still includes Pat Valaika, Andrew Velazquez, Stevie Wilkerson and Dilson Herrera.

"It opens opportunity for everybody," Hyde said. "We're obviously going to look for versatility on our roster. Richie was somebody who could play multiple positions. We have other guys who can do that as well. It's part of the game. You need guys with versatility and we're going to have an expanded roster, so to add some flexibility to our roster is going to be big. We're going to take a long look at guys who can play multiple positions."

Shortstop José Iglesias hasn't played in the last two intrasquad games while receiving treatment on his sore back.

Ty Blach is getting a second opinion on his sore left elbow after undergoing an MRI. He could be facing Tommy John surgery.

Reliever Dillon Tate has a swollen right elbow after being hit by a Valaika comebacker on the same night that Martin sustained his injury.

"He did get an MRI, got looked at. There's no damage. He's just going to be day to day to get that swelling and soreness out of there," Hyde said.

Meanwhile, the Orioles remain in the process of setting up their rotation, but the first three spots appear to be set.

John Means has been named the opening day starter on July 24 in Boston, with Alex Cobb expected to follow after pitching in Friday night's simulated game.

Wade LeBlanc tossed five scoreless innings last night and is lined up to start the third game of the season.

Pitching coach Doug Brocail said on a Zoom conference call that Means, Cobb and LeBlanc will start the three exhibition games - again lining them up for the Red Sox series. Means is facing the Phillies in Philadelphia, Cobb is facing the Nationals at Camden Yards and LeBlanc is pitching against the Nationals in D.C.

Seems pretty clear.

Asked about LeBlanc as the No. 3 starter, manager Hyde said, "I think he's a candidate to be in our rotation. I'm not ready to slot guys really yet, but he did throw the ball really well last night going five scoreless innings and putting himself in position to win a rotation job."

Kohl Stewart also pitched in last night's intrasquad game after the Orioles pushed him back one day because of a cramp in his calf. He allowed three runs in four innings.

The Orioles have a handful of options for the back end of the rotation, including Stewart, Asher Wojciechowski and Tommy Milone.

"I'm still keeping it pretty open," Hyde said. "I like the way Kohl Stewart threw the ball last night. Throwing 94-95 (mph), nice cutter, throwing strikes. We haven't really seen much of him. I think we're going to continue to get a long look at him. We didn't get to see Tommy Milone much in spring training because of the neck, so we're going to continue to look at him. Ty's now going to be out, so I think that there's guys that we are still continuing to look at.

"(Chandler) Shepherd's throwing today, we're going to still continue looking at (Thomas) Eshelman. We like to keep our options open at this point, but we're going to continue looking at guys and I'm not sliding guys into certain spots yet. But I'm encouraged about a lot of our guys are throwing the ball."

The shorter preparation period leaves Brocail with some concerns about the rotation. Not the depth, but the need to build up innings so the team isn't, in his words, "killing the bullpen the first two weeks of the season."

"LeBlanc and Milone, they've been there, they've done it. Two very savvy guys, two guys who know how to pitch, two guys who know how to work their way through a lineup," Brocail said

"Kohl Stewart, younger guy, probably a little more energetic, athletic. Worry with him is, did he get enough while we were gone in that three months to be able to build up to where we need him to be with the two weeks that are left? It's a question that will haunt us the rest of the year. But we had Ty, we have Shep, we have Eshelman, we have Woj, we have LeBlanc, Johnny, Cobber.

"We have enough of those five guys make it to get started with and hopefully finish all the way through our 60 games and then the playoffs if we're blessed to make it. I think we're fine."

Injuries have been a concern for Brocail as pitchers ramp up again following the extended layoff.

"Probably moreso now than any time I've ever thought about it or worried about it," he said.

"We don't know the quality of the attack when these guys were at home for three months. Are they facing high school kids, are they facing junior college kid, are they facing legitimate ... (Richard) Bleier was facing (Paul) Goldschmidt and a bunch of other big leaguers. The intensity level is always different in a simulated game than it is a real game. Even if you don't have fielders on the field.

"It's hard to simulate a real game in simulation only because you don't have the adrenaline factor, you're working on stuff. You're not always working on getting the guy out on three pitches. Tommy Milone came to me the other day and said, 'Hey man, I still need to work on stuff. I need to throw my breaking ball backdoor.' That might not happen as much in a real game as it does right now.

"You take your simulation - yes, I need you to compete, but I still need you to work on the things that you're lacking on. And that is where the concern comes because you don't necessarily see the crispness of the attack as much as, I'm trying to make this pitch, I'm trying to find my arm slot. It's been off. It's like a guy comes to spring training and we know come opening night when the lights flip on he's going to be 97 (mph), yet he's living 91-92 trying to throw strikes, trying to get his release, trying to get that feel. We're in a short window here and that's why the concern."

Brocail concludes his morning meetings with his pitchers by making the same request.

Be honest with him and themselves.

"If you feel achy, we still have enough time in the two weeks that's left to skip a day if need be," he said. "We've already seen it. We've lost one guy and it's a heartbreaker because he's not 21, he's 30-something. So you've got to hope that there's enough time in that guy's career to make a comeback."

Brocail said he doesn't know who's going to close. He suggested that he could be Mychal Givens or Hunter Harvey. It could be Bleier on certain nights if the opposition's order is stacked with left-handed hitters. But taking a broader view of the bullpen, he's happy with how it's shaping up.

"The thing I like is the work that's been put in by the younger guys, mainly Harvey, (Miguel) Castro worked his tail off and sent videos mostly twice a week," Brocail said. "Made some big changes in his delivery that allows him to throw more strikes, quality strikes, attack the strike zone. Smaller misses. Primarily going to work out of load-and-go. The quicker he moves, the quicker the arm gets to slot, the less mistakes he's going to make. Velo's there, up to 98 last night.

"I think guys like your (Cole) Sulsers, your (Travis) Lakins ... Sulser was with Tampa, did a very, very fine job with them. The nice thing about that he's not just a one-inning guy. We're going to have some guys who are capable of two, three. Tate's looking very well. Unfortunately, line drive off the elbow. It's about the size of my knee right now. We're going to have to give him time.

"If he's not ready for opening day, he's not ready for opening day. He gets his innings down below and we call him when we need him. That being said, we don't know if he'll be ready opening day."

Brocail is wrestling with the evaluation process that no longer includes exhibition stats in summer training camp.

"The stat part of it, we're keeping that on our own," he said. "A little bit different. I guess we're going a little bit on what we saw in the spring. I don't know about other teams, but Holmie (bullpen coach Darren Holmes) and I were on twice-a-week Zoom calls with our guys. Video sent to us on a daily basis with workouts. Guys that were working on certain things in their deliveries, making sure we're hitting our check points. So we've been on top of these guys, probably to an annoyance to them. But at least it proved to us the guys were getting their work in.

"I guess as far as the stats go, you have to make sure your baseball eyes aren't lying to you. It's kind of cheating. We know our hitters inside and out being pitching coaches. Hey, don't make a mistake here because the only ball he's going to drive and hit out is down/in, has an upward swing. Hanser (Alberto), be careful first pitch middle/up. He's got the short arms, he'll drive that to right.

"So as far as the stats go, everybody knows that spring training and September is the hardest time to evaluate. You can have a young guy come in throwing 98 (mph), mow everybody down. Doesn't mean that he's a guy who goes out and throws 60 percent strikes, has a breaking ball that's sufficient at the big league level. He can just get by with pure stuff. So we just have to make sure we communicate with Hyder, we communicate with each other, we're communicating with (Chris) Holt on a daily basis. And make sure that we're not fooling ourselves."

The Orioles are conducting a workout today with heavy emphasis on live batting practice. The next intrasquad game is Monday night.

"I'm just getting the guys off their feet a little bit," Hyde said. "It's a big offensive day for our guys."