Orioles pregame notes on Frazier, Mullins, Hicks, Webb and more

Orioles second baseman Adam Frazier has his right thumb taped after jamming it on a diving play in the final game in Toronto. He remains out of the lineup.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Frazier is available off the bench tonight. He might not have started anyway with the Orioles facing another left-hander, Houston’s Framber Valdez, who threw a no-hitter in his last outing.

“He’s been getting treatment since then, but he feels way better today,” Hyde said.

“He should be in there tomorrow.”

Center fielder Cedric Mullins remains with Double-A Bowie, starting in center field tonight in Richmond. His rehab assignment is nearing a conclusion.

Mullins is 1-for-10 in two games, but the Orioles are more interested in how he's feeling. He's on the injured list with a right adductor groin strain.

“He’s getting really close,” Hyde said. “We’ll see how tonight goes, but just want to get him some more at-bats and some more playing time, and he should be joining us soon.”

Outfielder Aaron Hicks ran on the field today to test his left hamstring. He’s nearing a rehab assignment.

“That went really well,” Hyde said. “He did some high-velocity batting practice to get him going to game speed as much as possible.”

The Orioles claimed reliever Jacob Webb on waivers from the Angels yesterday but he hasn’t reported.

“In the next couple days,” Hyde said.

Major League Baseball released the postseason schedule earlier today, but Hyde didn’t read it. He isn't comfortable looking past the games in front of him.

“I’ve got the Astros tonight,” he said.

Asked another playoff-related question, Hyde said, “First we have to get there.”

“We still have a long way to go, and we need to play good baseball the rest of the way, and a lot of things can happen. We need to stay healthy, we need to continue to play good baseball. Hopefully things work out in the end," he said.

“Playoffs are a different story. Playoffs are a totally different season. The roster can be a little bit different, you’re facing frontline pitching on a nightly basis. But let’s just continue to play well and continue to get better. I want to continue to improve these last 50 games or so. We have a tough schedule. We go to the West Coast twice, there’s a lot of things ahead of us. We’re going to deal with some more adversity I’m sure as we go along, but we’ve just got to continue to play well.”

The Orioles have posted a 21-7 record since July 5, the best in baseball.

The Astros are 21-11 (.656) against the Orioles dating back to the start of the 2017 season, including 12-5 at Camden Yards. That’s the Orioles’ worst home record against any American League opponent during that span.

The Sept. 15 game against the Rays at Camden Yards will air on Apple TV+.

Oakland claimed former Orioles pitcher Spenser Watkins on waivers from the Astros.

For the Astros
José Altuve 2B
Alex Bregman 3B
Yordan Álvarez LF
Kyle Tucker RF
Yainer Díaz DH
José Abreu 1B
Jeremy Peña SS
Jake Meyers CF
Martín Maldonado C

Framber Valdez LHP