Orioles pregame notes on Mountcastle, Irvin, leadoff hitters and more

The Orioles’ lineup tonight was influenced by Ryan Mountcaste’s health rather than his slump.

Mountcastle is under the weather, according to manager Brandon Hyde. Anthony Santander is playing first base and James McCann is serving as designated hitter.

“Just not feeling real good,” Hyde said. “Tried to play through it yesterday. I could tell he wasn’t feeling well. He tried to battle through it and still feeling sick today, so we decided to give him a day today.”

Mountcastle went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts yesterday and is batting .227/.264/.421 in 60 games. He’s drawn 12 walks and struck out 64 times in 261 plate appearances.

A change in months hasn’t shortened the skid. Mountcastle is 2-for-15 with seven strikeouts after batting .222/.275/.435 in May. He has four hits in his last 30 at-bats.

Hyde has held Mountcastle out of the lineup in three of the last seven games.

Cole Irvin is in the clubhouse today and will join the active roster for Saturday’s start, his fourth with the Orioles. Irvin is 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.048 WHIP in seven starts with Triple-A Norfolk, and he’s walked only four batters in 42 innings.

“Throwing the ball well in Norfolk, so we’re excited to have him back,” Hyde said. “We need a starter for tomorrow. We’re looking forward to watching him start.”

Irvin posted a 10.66 ERA and 1.974 WHIP in three starts before the Orioles optioned him. The reputation of being a strike-thrower didn’t follow him from Oakland. Irvin walked eight batters in 13 innings in his four appearances, including one-third in relief.

The improvements in command with Norfolk got him back to Baltimore.

“To be honest, it was just getting back to my strong suits,” he said. “Throwing my sinker, throwing my changeup, which I wasn’t doing much of while I was here. Felt really good the last time I was called up. Only got one out. And ultimately, that’s part of the game when you have options, and part of my job is to be a pro and continue working no matter what level I’m at.

“The expectation of us is, when your number is called, is to be ready and take the ball and be ready to go."

Bruce Zimmermann was optioned today after throwing 61 pitches in relief Wednesday night. Hyde said the Baltimore native wasn’t under consideration to start Saturday, but covering three innings against the Brewers made other relievers available yesterday.

“We kind of were already in mind that we were going to give Cole that start,” Hyde said.

Reliever Nick Vespi could have another short stay with the Orioles after they recalled him this afternoon. Perhaps depending on bullpen usage tonight.

“Unfortunately, with 13 pitchers, the bullpen’s a little bit always in flux,” Hyde said. “Optioning guys who have options is part of the game now, so it’s always a night-to-night situation.

“Nick’s earned a promotion. He pitched well in Triple-A last year. We kind of bounced him back and forth. He did a nice job up here when he was up here last year. Kind of in that boat this year. We don’t have a ton of bullpen guys who have options, and he does, as well as some others.”

Austin Hays is batting leadoff tonight for the 12^th time this season with Adam Frazier out of the lineup against Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch.

Adley Rutschman leads the club with a .399 on-base percentage but remains the No. 2 hitter in the order. Hyde said he’s “considered” batting Rutschman first, “but I haven’t done it.”

“With Ced (Mullins) here against righties, that was pretty much a guarantee," Hyde said, "and then with Haysy with the way he’s swinging the bat against lefties, I like Rutschman hitting two.”

As it turns out, Anthony Santander didn’t break an 0-for-25 slump with yesterday’s double in the eighth inning. A scoring change from Sunday’s game in San Francisco has removed an error on second baseman Brett Wisley and awarded Santander with a hit.

Santander actually was 0-for-10 before the double.

The rally enabled the Orioles to avoid being swept for the first time since May 2022.

“Coming into the clubhouse yesterday, I didn’t notice anybody panicking or any different than if we had won the first two games,” Hyde said. “I think that there’s a consistent tone kind of set, and big-picture-minded. We obviously wanted to win that game big-time yesterday, but I didn’t see any panic. I just thought guys were really prepared. Didn’t start off well, but we got going those last few innings.”

For the Royals
Nick Pratto LF
Salvador Perez C
Vinnie Pasquantino 1B
Bobby Witt Jr. SS
MJ Melendez RF
Maikel Garcia 3B
Michael Massey DH
Drew Waters CF
Nicky Lopez 2B

Daniel Lynch LHP