Orioles place Sánchez and Westburg on injured list in series of roster moves

The Orioles couldn’t make it to first pitch without diving back into their injured list. It’s becoming a daily exercise.

Catcher Gary Sánchez, hit twice by pitches yesterday, went on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation. Infielder Jordan Westburg went on the 10-day IL retroactive to yesterday with a left hamstring strain.

Sánchez, who signed an $8.5 million contract over the winter, is 3-for-30. He caught yesterday while Adley Rutschman received treatment on a sore right hand that kept him out of the lineup. Rutschman is playing tonight after the swelling went down.

Westburg wasn't available yesterday because of the discomfort in his hamstring, which surfaced after he started in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. He finally began to heat up, collecting nine hits in a stretch of 24 at-bats.

In a corresponding move, catcher Maverick Handley had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and he’s wearing No. 98. His first appearance will be his major league debut.

Handley, a sixth-round draft pick in 2019 out of Stanford, has been on the Orioles’ taxi squad in the past but didn’t get into a game. He’s batting .346/.433/.558 with six doubles, a triple and a home run in 15 games with Norfolk.

Today's move solves the riddle of which catcher would be promoted in case of injury. Top prospect Samuel Basallo recently came back from a hamstring injury but he's restricted to designated hitter duty because of a sore elbow.

In another corresponding move, the Orioles selected infielder Emmanuel Rivera’s contract from Norfolk after he delivered two run-scoring singles yesterday with the Tides. He was 20-for-65 (.308) with a .708 OPS with the Tides.

Rivera hit .313/.370/.578 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 14 RBIs in 27 games with the Orioles last season and he signed for $1 million to avoid arbitration. He accepted an outright assignment in February.

The Orioles announced their waiver claim of left-hander Walter Pennington from the Rangers and they optioned him to Norfolk.

The 40-man roster needed two spots and the Orioles created them by transferring outfielder Colton Cowser and pitcher Grayson Rodriguez to the 60-day injured list.

Rodriguez is listed in the news release as having a right lat strain. He went on the 15-day IL with right elbow/triceps inflammation but couldn’t complete a bullpen session due to pain in the shoulder. An MRI revealed the lat injury and he sought additional opinions.

The Orioles have 13 players on the injured list as they try to escape last place in the division.