Orioles recall Burdi and McKenna

The Orioles are carrying a four-man bench in Toronto today after recalling reliever Zack Burdi and outfielder Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk.

Spots were opened yesterday with the Orioles optioning pitchers Paul Fry and Spenser Watkins.

Burdi, a former first-round pick out of the University of Louisville, was selected off waivers from the White Sox on Aug. 18. He has an 8.27 ERA and 1.898 WHIP in 14 major league relief appearances covering 16 1/3 innings, but he averages 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings in five minor league seasons.

Burdi appeared in three games with Norfolk and struck out seven batters in three innings. He can become the 56th player used by the Orioles this season, two shy of the club record set in 2019.

The Orioles assigned Burdi uniform No. 71.

McKenna has been riding the shuttle throughout the summer. Here's his updated transactions page:

April 5: Recalled from alternate site
April 20: Optioned to alternate site
April 21: Recalled from alternate site
April 27: Optioned to alternate site
May 9: Recalled from Norfolk
May 21: Optioned to Norfolk
May 26: Recalled from Norfolk
June 10: Optioned to Norfolk
June 27: Recalled from Norfolk
July 20: Optioned to Norfolk
July 21: Recalled from Norfolk
Aug. 17: Optioned to Norfolk
Aug. 30: Recalled from Norfolk

The Orioles had optioned McKenna again while reinstating Ryan Mountcastle form the concussion list. He's played in 63 games and slashed .208/.328/.287 in 121 plate appearances.

McKenna is batting .307/.423/.683 with 11 home runs in 27 games with Norfolk. He hit five home runs within nine games this month.

Left-hander Alexander Wells is on the taxi squad after throwing only two innings and 26 pitches Saturday night. He hasn't allowed a run in his last three appearances with the Tides over 11 2/3 innings, but the Orioles didn't place him to the active roster today.

Wells is a candidate to replace Watkins in the rotation.

The rookie left-hander and native of Australia has made six appearances with the Orioles and allowed 16 runs and 27 hits with nine walks and 15 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings. His major league debut came against the Blue Jays on June 26 in Buffalo and he tossed two scoreless relief innings.

Catcher Nick Ciuffo also is on the taxi squad.

The Orioles are playing in Toronto for the first time since Sept. 25, 2019. They're 3-6 against the Blue Jays this summer and finally can get back into Canada.

Chris Ellis makes his second start and again could be limited in his innings, which gets the bullpen busy. He went three-plus innings in his Orioles debut against the Angels and allowed three runs and five hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Mountcastle's 24 home runs are tied with Trey Mancini (2017) for the third-most by an Orioles rookie. He's hit four homers in nine games while batting second.

Mountcastle is slashing .349/.386/.762 this month with five doubles, seven homers and 14 RBIs. He's hitting .295/.331/.625 since the All-Star break.

Blue Jays left-hander Robbie Ray is a candidate for the American League's Cy Young Award with a 9-5 record, 2.72 ERA and 1.024 WHIP in 25 starts. He's walked 37 batters, struck out 192 and surrendered 24 home runs in 152 1/3 innings.

He also has a 5.8 WAR per Baseball-Reference.com.

Ray has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last six starts, with a total of seven in 40 innings. He's struck out 50 batters.

Ray made one start against the Orioles this season and allowed two runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Cedric Mullins hit a leadoff home run.

Third baseman Moises Ramirez hit his fourth home run today with the Rookie-level Florida Complex League orange team and he's batting .313 with an .885 OPS.

Ramirez, 19, signed in 2016 out of the Dominican Republic. He received a $225,000 bonus.