Bradish debut, Wells injury, Baumann demotion, Nevin arrival and more

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had to wait before posting tonight’s lineup, checking on Ryan Mountcastle’s neck and welcoming back Tyler Nevin.

A busy transactions day included promoting Nevin and starter Kyle Bradish from Triple-A Norfolk, optioning reliever Mike Baumann and putting left-hander Alexander Wells on the 10-day injured list with a sore elbow.

Hyde said Wells noticed the discomfort after pitching Tuesday night in New York, where he surrendered solo home runs to Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. He’ll undergo further tests on the elbow later tonight.

The Orioles chose to bring up a position player rather than another reliever, and Nevin seemed like a solid choice after batting .364/.434/.546 with six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs in 17 games with the Tides. He’s starting at third base tonight and Hyde can him around to other corner positions in the infield and outfield.

“We feel pretty good about our pitching right now, as of today, and we like what Tyler’s done in Norfolk, want to give him an opportunity,” Hyde said.

“I think he’s going to add for us offensively. I just want him to be steady defensively, which he’s worked extremely hard at in both the outfield and the infield. We like the way he swung the bat in spring training. He’s off to a great offensive start down there, taking really good at-bats. Just want to see him do the same thing up here.”

Nevin’s arrival comes a day after the Orioles committed five errors, two by third baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez, in a 10-5 loss to the Yankees.

The Orioles optioned Mike Baumann after yesterday’s game against the Yankees, with the announcement coming this afternoon. They want Baumann throwing multiple innings in each controlled appearance with Norfolk.

Baumann allowed five earned runs (six total) and seven hits with six walks and six strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings over his five games with the Orioles.

“When you send guys down, it’s easier to kind of schedule them out. It’s harder in the big leagues, just because things change on a day-to-day basis, game-to-game, inning-to-inning,” Hyde said.

“Mike, we felt like, in talking to him last night, we hope for him to go down there and get regular work. Really believe in his stuff, love his arm. Wasn’t getting hit hard. It’s about pitching ahead in the count here, being able to command his breaking ball a little bit better. He’s got a plus fastball and a really good slide, so we just want to see him get some regular work, and hopefully he’ll be back up here soon.”

None of the moves can lessen the attention given to Bradish, 25, who’s making his major league debut tonight.

It was time.

“You saw the start that he got off to in Norfolk,” Hyde said. “We wanted him to get two or three starts down there when we broke spring training, something we talked about, and we felt like he was ready.”

Bradish permitted only two earned runs and struck out 17 batters in 15 innings in his three starts. He’s the second of four pitchers from the December 2019 Dylan Bundy trade with the Angels to reach the majors. Isaac Mattson made four relief appearances last summer.

Baseball America ranks Bradish as the No. 9 prospect in the system and MLBPipeline.com puts him 10^th. He’s one of the major pieces in a rebuild plan that’s highly dependent on its young starters.

“We wanted to get him off to a good start in Norfolk,” Hyde said. “He got off to a good start and now he’s here.”

Hyde said Bradish is stretched out to where he could give the Orioles six innings and 85-90 pitches “if all goes well.”

Nevin, the son of Angels third base coach Phil Nevin, came from the Rockies in the August 2020 Mychal Givens trade and made his major league debut last summer, going 4-for-14 with two doubles and a home run.

Tonight showcases two acquisitions by executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias since his hiring in 2018. With more to come.

“Since Mike’s been here, the drafts, a lot of the guys we’ve traded away, the returns, seeing Tyler make his debut last year … I think it’s important that we’re getting homegrown guys here and guys that either Mike’s acquired or drafted here the last few years. It’s fun to have these guys come up,” Hyde said.

“I think we’re excited to watch Bradish pitch. His couple appearances he made in spring training obviously left a nice impression on everybody, because I had never seen him pitch before and a lot of the staff had never seen him pitch. How he threw the ball, what it looked like coming out of his hand, the reaction from major league hitters. He threw against two big league clubs (Phillies and Yankees) that had their guys in the lineup those days. That was a lot of fun.

“I think you’re going to see major league stuff. That’s what you saw in spring training. So, excited for him, excited for his family, and look forward to watching him make his debut.”

Bradish was slated to start tonight with Norfolk, but left-hander Zac Lowther drew the assignment.

“I think (Bradish) will be OK,” said Keegan Akin. “He’s very talented. He’s gotten experience under his belt in the spring and we saw some really good outings from him. He seems pretty calm today, so I’m excited to see how it goes for him and hope for the best. I’m glad to see him up here finally.”

Chris Ellis, who replaced John Means in the rotation and went on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, underwent an MRI in Baltimore and awaits further instructions. A plan of action, as Ellis termed it.

“I guess the doctors are going over some stuff right now, and then they’re supposed to get back to me sometime by the end of the day,” he said.

“I don’t really know anything about injury stuff or any of that jazz, so I’m kind of just waiting to see what they tell me.”

This injury is the same as the one that put Ellis on the IL in September. A dull soreness. A source of frustration for a pitcher who saw an opportunity here after signing a minor league deal in March and is shelved.

“I spent a lot of time this offseason rehabbing, and with the lockout stuff going on, it was just a big whirlwind of things, and show up at camp,” he said. “Kind of thought I was pitching through some things that just never really alleviated, and unfortunately, have to address it now. But hoping for the best, so we’ll see what happens.”

For the Red Sox
Trevor Story 2B
Alex Verdugo LF
Xander Bogaerts SS
Rafael Devers 3B
Enrique Hernández CF
Franchy Cordero 1B
Christian Arroyo DH
Jackie Bradley Jr. RF
Christian Vázquez C

Rich Hill LHP

For the Orioles
Cedric Mullins CF
Trey Mancini RF
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Austin Hays DH
Ramón Urías 2B
Tyler Nevin 3B
Robinson Chirinos C
Jorge Mateo SS
Ryan McKenna LF

Kyle Bradish RHP

No Anthony Santander in tonight’s lineup. No idea why. The lineup was posted after Hyde’s media session.