Orioles place Urías on taxi squad, Means on IL (and other notes)

Allowed to carry five players on their taxi squad for the trip to Philadelphia, the Orioles have taken a more conservative approach and added infielder Ramón Urías for their series against the Phillies.

Urías is the lone extra and he's with the club to provide insurance with shortstop José Iglesias out of the lineup again tonight due to soreness in his left quadriceps muscle.

Manager Brandon Hyde planned to sit Iglesias on Sunday, but the veteran was expected to start tonight. He's available to pinch-hit.

"His quad's just a little bit sore," Hyde said. "Didn't start him out of precaution, but he'll be available tonight and we'll see how he feels tomorrow."

Urías is on the 40-man roster. The Orioles claimed him off waivers from the Cardinals in February.

Having the alternate camp site in Bowie enables the Orioles to avoid carrying a full taxi squad. They didn't bring anyone on the trip to D.C. because they were commuting.

"I think when you see us travel further we'll have more guys on the travel squad," Hyde said. "But we just wanted to bring Ramón for depth in case something happens with one of our infielders. It allows us to bring a utility guy here.

"If we needed somebody else, it's not a far drive for them to come on over."

Thomas Eshelman will start Thursday afternoon's series finale. Left-hander Tommy Milone will start Friday night against the Nationals at Camden Yards following the completion of the suspended game.

Left-hander John Means is headed back to Baltimore and the Orioles placed him on the injured list while he undergoes testing for COVID-19. The intake process must be done prior to rejoining the active roster.

The move allows for proper health and safety protocols. The Orioles made the same transaction yesterday with pitcher Jorge López after claiming him off waivers from the Royals.

Reliever Mychal Givens has made only four appearances, the last on Thursday against the Marlins. He hasn't surrendered a run in four innings and has struck out six batters.

Cole Sulser is getting the bulk of the save opportunities and Miguel Castro is pitching in more late-inning situations.

"I'm still going to use Mike in high-leverage spots," Hyde said. "The times I have used him has been where I felt is the best matchups for him. That's usually somewhere in the middle of the order, sometimes when the game is tight, and I'm going to continue to use him in that way.

"I feel like I have a few guys that I trust with giving the ball to and we try to match up the best way we can with Miggy and Mike and Sulser, who emerged this year, and Tanner Scott. There's some guys I feel pitched well toward the last part of the game, so we just try to match up the best way we can."