More on Orioles' expanded roster and exclusions

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field is running low on available locker space. Roster expansion can shrink a room.

It also can trigger some fans, depending on which players are kept out of it.

The pitching staff is gaining more arms for the bullpen and perhaps the rotation with the arrivals of David Hess, Chandler Shepherd, Ty Blach and Evan Phillips. A third catcher always is desired, and Austin Wynns boarded a flight last night.

Blach is starting the opener of today's doubleheader while the Rays counter with Trevor Richards.

Outfielder Mason Williams, the former Yankees prospect, finally is having his contract selected after batting .309/.372/.481 with 15 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 489 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. A corresponding 40-man roster move is pending.

The clubhouse won't include Norfolk's Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays and Keegan Akin, as I also reported yesterday.

Mountcastle's exclusion was bound to upset the people who wanted to watch him play in Baltimore later this month.

Trust me, they're upset.

The arguments for selecting his contract include how he's the International League's Most Valuable Player, he's a top prospect and he has to be placed on the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft. Reward him, evaluate him in the majors and throw fans a bone.

Here are counterpoints that I've heard beyond how he's only 22: The .312/.344/.527 slash line, 35 doubles, 25 home runs and 83 RBIs impress the Orioles, but he still doesn't draw a sufficient number of walks, which was pointed out to him last year. He finishes the season with 24 walks and 130 strikeouts, which won't improve against major league pitching.

There's also the change in positions to first base and left field, and having Chris Davis, Renato Núñez and Mark Trumbo on the roster is squeezing Mountcastle. He'd be hard-pressed to find meaningful playing time as it's constructed.

He's still working to improve his overall game and certainly could make his major league debut in 2020. He'll compete for a job in spring training.

Hays has accumulated only 257 plate appearances with Norfolk this year, with thumb and hamstring injuries again interrupting his season. He's about 200 short of satisfying the Orioles.

The .254/.304/.454 slash line in 59 games with Norfolk and an overall .248/.299/.464 in 87 minor league games didn't kick down any doors.

The Orioles have seen flashes of his ability, but they want more than 18 walks and fewer than 83 strikeouts in those 87 games. They don't like how the ratio stacks up against major league pitching.

What would a poor September showing with the Orioles really do for them or the player? That's the thinking here. Whether or not you agree.

There's more development in the works. The Orioles want to pile on more at-bats while they hope for improved production and another red-hot spring training. That would allow them to plug Hays into center field on opening day. They want to avoid sending him back to Triple-A.

Recalling Hays also would prevent him from playing in the Arizona Fall League, which begins earlier than usual with a Sept. 18 start date and no longer runs into the third week of November.

Akin went 6-7 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 112 1/3 innings with Norfolk. He walked 61 batters and struck out 131.

I'm told that the Orioles discussed the idea of selecting his contract, so at least he was under consideration. But the walk rate was a little high, a "nitpick" as one person put it.

Akin will be given the chance to win a rotation spot at some point next season.

As for Williams, he can become a minor league free agent after the season, and the Orioles improve their chances of holding onto him with a late promotion. I've heard that they'd like to keep him as outfield depth, at the least, while trying to get Hays and Cedric Mullins back to the majors. A stop-gap guy.

There's also the opportunity to evaluate him and put an actual center fielder in the middle, which would be nice.

Williams can become the 57th player to appear in a game with the Orioles, breaking the club record set last season.

Did anyone choose Trumbo as the tying 56th and Williams as the record-setter? That's an impressive daily double.

How many of you had Mountcastle?

Too soon?