Reviewing yesterday's roster moves and latest offensive sputter

The Orioles created two openings on their 40-man roster yesterday by again designating left-hander Cole Irvin and infielder Nick Maton for assignment.

Left-hander Danny Coulombe, on the 60-day injured list, can fill one spot when he’s reinstated. He retired all three batters faced yesterday in his second rehab appearance with Triple-A Norfolk.

Maton was bumped to make room for outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who returned from the concussion injured list and stayed with the major league club rather than being optioned. The offensive woes prompted the Orioles to give Kjerstad another shot, and he went 0-for-2 while batting cleanup and serving as the designated hitter before Eloy Jiménez pinch-hit for him.

This is the level of, dare we call it desperation, to find an offensive spark that the Orioles slotted Kjerstad fourth after his long layoff from major league competition. It didn't help.

They were held to two runs or fewer for the sixth time in the last 10 games and have scored 21 in that stretch. And a 4-2 loss at Comerica Park dropped them three behind the first-place Yankees with 12 remaining. They lead the Royals by two for the top wild card and home field.

Their .248 average ranked 11th in the majors last night, a .436 slugging percentage was third, a .751 OPS was fourth and a .315 on-base percentage was 12th. The .240 average posted since the break was 20th, the .408 slugging percentage was 16th and a .727 OPS was 14th. The 437 hits were 15th.

The Orioles are 26-28 in the second half and 31-35 since July 1. It isn't a brain-teaser.  

Kjerstad hasn’t received regular playing time and he went 2-for-18 after Clay Holmes drilled him on the helmet during a July 12 game at Camden Yards. The Orioles probably aren’t going to hand him right field down the stretch, but they can find at-bats, especially as the designated hitter.

Having Anthony Santander take ground balls at first base over the weekend wasn’t a coincidence. Kjerstad was deemed ready to leave his rehab assignment and Ryan O’Hearn is scuffling, though he lined a single into center field Saturday night. O’Hearn is 6-for-43 this month and 3-for-34 in his last 10 games.

Coby Mayo pinch-hit for O’Hearn yesterday and struck out twice to make him 3-for-35 with 19 strikeouts in the majors. Power bats often need steady starts to get going, but Mayo isn’t finding them. Of course, the counter point is that he’d play more if he produced. Choose a side. But let’s not judge him on what he’s done in 15 games.

The Giants haven’t listed all of their starters when they visit Camden Yards this week, but left-hander Blake Snell is on the mound Tuesday night and that could remove Kjerstad from the lineup. Jiménez has started as the designated hitter in 23 games this season but he’s 1-for-21 this month.

This is almost a team-wide outage.

Jackson Holliday was out of the lineup the past two days and Liván Soto went 3-for-6 as his replacement. Emmanuel Rivera played third base in all three games and went 1-for-9.

Maton is 0-for-5 with the Orioles after going 0-for-23 in spring training. He wasn’t expected to last through the month.

Irvin provided value in his ability to cover multiple innings but wasn't secure. You get designated once, which happened at the trade deadline, and you’re always vulnerable. He pitched twice this month, allowing one run in three innings against the White Sox on the 2^nd and back-to-back solo homers in the eighth inning against the Red Sox on the 9^th.

The Orioles are paying Irvin $2 million this season. He’s eligible for arbitration again and a non-tender candidate if he clears waivers despite questions about the 2025 rotation with Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells rehabbing from elbow surgery and Corbin Burnes likely to leave as a free agent.

The current rotation is staying in order after today’s break in the schedule. Albert Suárez, Dean Kremer and Zach Eflin are starting against the Giants, who went 1-2 against the Orioles last year in San Francisco.

The Giants won two of three games at Camden Yards in 2019. The Orioles were 18-41 after the series.

See, it could be a lot worse.