Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias sat on the dugout bench this afternoon, media crowded around him, and held a piece of paper that he referred to as his “crib notes.”
To memorize the injuries and updates would require a special skill that’s rare in baseball circles, though the Orioles keep testing their front office and manager.
Elias covered 11 players, including a pair of minor leaguers. The injured list has no limits. The same must apply to the Orioles’ collective patience.
Zach Eflin
“He continues to feel really good after coming out and hitting the IL with what we hope is a very mild lat strain. He’s going to start playing catch in a few days. We’ll have to see how that goes and kind of take it from there. But so far encouraging with the way he’s felt since being injured and I’m hopeful at this point that his stay on the IL will be measured more in weeks than in months. But again, kind of see how he responds. He’s starting to play catch.”
Grayson Rodriguez
“Recuperating from the sore tricep/elbow injury that he had in spring training. He’s thrown two bullpens now. His most recent one had off-speed pitches, spins as we say, and he’s got another bullpen day after tomorrow. So far he is tolerating everything well physically, so that’s good news, but we still have a lot ahead of us in terms of bullpens, buildup, live BP, ultimately rehab assignment, and I’m not ready to assign a timetable to his recovery yet. I know that he’s doing everything he can to strengthen up and get back to help the team as soon as possible, but we’re not at the point yet of kind of ballparking when that’s going to be. But he continues to feel pretty good.”