Bautista on injured list with sore knee (and other notes)

The Orioles have recalled reliever Yennier Canó from Triple-A Norfolk and placed Félix Bautista on the 15-day injured list with left knee discomfort. Bautista is done for 2022.

The rookie made the 40-man roster and then the opening day roster and finished with a 2.19 ERA and 0.929 WHIP in 65 appearances, which tied for second-most behind Dillon Tate’s 66. He recorded 15 saves, 13 after the Jorge López trade to Minnesota, and he allowed 38 hits and struck out 88 batters in 65 2/3 innings.

Bautista averaged 3.2 walks per nine innings, compared to 5.1 in seven minor league seasons.

“We’re going to shut him down for the rest of the season, unfortunately,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “So happy with the season he had and him going forward. What a great story. Great story for us, great story for him. Love watching him pitch, and looking forward to having him next year.”

Bautista, who received votes on the Most Valuable Oriole ballot, said earlier today that his knee felt better and he could come out of the bullpen if allowed.

“I know I can go out there and pitch, but I don’t know what decision they’ll ultimately decide for me,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones.

“It feels good. They did some tests on it and everything came out clean, came out good.”

Bautista threw a scoreless eighth Friday night at Yankee Stadium, but pain shot through the knee on one pitch. He did some lunges to work through it and finished the inning.

DL Hall was called upon to record his first major league save.

Hyde said he isn’t concerned about a long-term injury.

“It’s just, we ran out of time with him,” Hyde said.

Canó was part of the return from the Twins in the López deal. He made one relief appearance with the Orioles and was charged with seven runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings on Sept. 10 against the Red Sox.

The Orioles haven’t decided on Wednesday afternoon’s starter for Game 162. Jordan Lyles is a candidate, needing only one inning and two strikeouts to tie his career highs.

The alternative probably is a bullpen game.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was named Most Valuable Oriole earlier today. The best part for Hyde was the number of candidates, a much deeper pool than in past years.

“The cool thing this year, for me, was that you had a lot of people to pick from,” he said. “With Rutch, we started playing a lot better when he got here. Just the way that he is behind the plate, his leadership skills way beyond his years. The at-bats he takes is like a veteran. He’s only going to improve offensively. He’s only going to improve defensively, too. But his ability to impact the game, both sides, defensively and offensively, is enormous. Especially from behind the plate in a prime position.

“Our pitching has improved dramatically this year. Our catching has been a big part of that. So, Rutschman’s been right in the middle of our improvement this year. He’s had a really, really good rookie year and a big part of our turnaround.”  

Hyde is celebrating his 49^th birthday today, with rain threatening the status of tonight’s game.

“I’m trying to remember the last time it wasn’t an off-day after the season on my birthday,” he said. “Usually, you’re in the playoffs and you have a day or two off. But to be able to play this late, the regular season’s a little bit unusual.

“Love our team. It’s going to be fun. Hopefully, we get this in and the weather cooperates. It looks pretty nasty right now. The last home series of the year is always special, and you get to thank your fans for the way they support us this year, home and away. We had a lot of road fans this year, which was super cool, and we appreciate it so much.

“Hopefully, we can say ‘thank you’ to our fans and play well these last three games and end the season on a positive note.”

Hyde notices the increased interest in the Orioles in the city. He sees and hears it.

“Probably one of the more enjoyable things has been fans' reactions outside, running into people in a restaurant or wherever, where they’re excited about our club,” he said. “The energy in our ballpark is definitely improved, and I know our players really appreciate that, how much they feed off the fans and the excitement.

“It was a fun summer for these guys and I hope the fans appreciated it. I know they did. I thought our team was fun to watch and exciting, and we’re going to be exciting going forward.”

For the Blue Jays
George Springer CF
Bo Bichette SS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. DH
Alejandro Kirk C
Teoscar Hernández RF
Matt Chapman 3B
Raimel Tapia LF
Whit Merrifield 2B
Cavan Biggio 1B

José Berríos RHP