Chicago pregame notes on Mountcastle, the roster move and minor league promotions

CHICAGO – The Orioles have played without first baseman Ryan Mountcastle in the lineup since June 8. That was when the Orioles were in Milwaukee. He went on the injured list on June 13, retroactive to June 10, dealing with vertigo.

Mountcastle is here with the team in Chicago, took part in some pregame work yesterday and is doing the same today. On the 10-day IL, he could return as soon as Tuesday, when the Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Orioles don’t yet know if Mountcastle will make it back for that series. But manager Brandon Hyde was encouraged by his pregame fielding and hitting work on Friday at Wrigley Field.

“Yep, he’s going to do that again today,” Hyde said earlier. “We’re kind of just re-evaluating every day and see what we’re going to do. But he’s going to hit again today and move around the field a little bit.

“Really just taking it day-to-day with him right now. He swung the bat extremely well yesterday in batting practice, with a bunch of balls onto Waveland. Hopefully he does that again today and feels good, and we’ll reassess every day.”

Mountcastle for the year is batting .227/.264/.421/.686 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs. He is just 2-for-15 (.133) in June.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins remains in Florida while resuming some baseball activities. He is out with a right groin strain and has not played since May 29 versus Cleveland.

“Baseball activity in Florida, doing really, really well,” said Hyde.

But still no set timetable for Mullins' return to the roster.

“Not right now," Hyde said. "He is still doing the running progression. He’s running well right now, so making positive steps every day. I don’t have a definitive timeline but it’s all good news.”

The O’s face lefty Justin Steele (6-2, 2.65 ERA) today as he comes off the IL for the Cubs, who put infielder Patrick Wisdom on the 10-day IL with a right wrist sprain. Steele has been out since early June with a strained left forearm.

“We saw him last year (when he gave up three earned runs to the Orioles over six innings). Just a really good left-handed arm coming off the IL,” said Hyde. “He’s had great numbers this year, he’s punching out a lot of people and has a great breaking ball. Really impressed with him last year, just the overall left-handed stuff.”

The Orioles added a fresh arm and long man for their bullpen today, calling up right-hander Spenser Watkins from Triple-A. They optioned right-hander Reed Garrett back to Norfolk. Watkins was 2-1 with a 7.27 ERA over 26 innings with 17 walks and 20 strikeouts for the Tides.

“So, someone we are very familiar with. Kind of had a weird season at Triple-A. Cut his finger or hand, but it’s someone that is built up a bit," Hyde said. "Can give us some length and be a long guy out of the ‘pen for us.”

Watkins has not had the year he wanted at Triple-A, and had that fluke injury to the ring finger on his right hand that required a couple of stitches.

“It has taken some time to get to my full rhythm building back up to six innings, but I feel like I’m back now, for sure,” Watkins said this morning in the Baltimore clubhouse.

He said he's confident he can help if the Orioles need him today or soon, in part because of some big league success he had last year, when he posted a 4.70 ERA for the 2022 Orioles and had a 3.80 ERA on Aug. 1, before some late-season struggles.

“Absolutely. I kind of looked at this year as my situation hasn’t been ideal in building back up," Watkins said. "But I do feel I’m still able to offer a quality arm and quality effort here in the big leagues." 

Right-hander Dillon Tate has had his next rehab outing with Triple-A Norfolk pushed back from today to tomorrow.

Catcher José Godoy is with the Orioles in Chicago on the taxi squad.

Minor league news: There are two minor league promotions to pass on today. Both infielder Rolphy Cruz and pitcher Zack Showalter are moving from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League O’s roster to Single-A Delmarva.

Cruz, 20, from the Dominican Republic, is 13-for-26 in eight games in the FCL, with two doubles, two triples, four homers and nine RBIs. He had a batting line of .500/.594/1.192/1.786. Cruz is a switch-hitting infielder and posted a .543 OPS last year in the FCL.

Showalter, 19, no relation to former O's manager Buck Showalter, was the Orioles’ 11^th-round draft pick in 2022 out of a Florida high school. He had an ERA of 0.90 in three FCL games. Over 10 innings he gave up just one run with four walks and 16 strikeouts.