Davis expected to complete latest roster moves

The First-Year Player Draft resumes today with the Orioles launching the third-round selections at 1 p.m. It will continue through the 10th round and move much faster than last night's proceedings because there's no television coverage.

Teams won't be on the clock. They'll just take their respective turns as the baseball gods intended.

The Orioles will try to improve their pitching depth in the system. No one was worthy of the first selection, but they'll hunt for it in the later rounds.

Meanwhile, the players already in a major league uniform will gather at Globe Life Park and try to win a series against the Rangers. And the roster will look different than the one that ended the homestand.

Catcher Chance Sisco was recalled yesterday after the Orioles optioned Austin Wynns to Triple-A Norfolk. Sisco hasn't played for the team since Sept. 16, going 0-for-11 in his last five games and 3-for-43 after June 13. He was optioned twice.

Sisco might be on the bench the next two nights with the Rangers starting left-handers Drew Smyly and Mike Minor. Pedro Severino is batting .351/.405/.649 in 42 plate appearances against southpaws.

The Orioles didn't announce a corresponding roster move yesterday for Stevie Wilkerson, who was optioned Sunday, but Chris Davis could be activated from the 10-day injured list.

Davis said he's ready. Manager Brandon Hyde indicated that Davis could be activated if the hip didn't flare up again.

The Orioles placed Davis on the IL on May 26 while they were in Denver and he was in another prolonged slump. He was batting .171 with a .575 OPS and again looking uncomfortable at the plate.

Davis is 5-for-41 with 25 strikeouts since May 10 and no one is checking whether his average can reach .200. He'll need to heat up again.

Hitting coach Don Long keeps working with Davis, whether in the cage or out on the field. Whether with soft tosses, regular batting practice or swings off the tee.

Davis had a spurt last month, his average climbing to .193 after he went 2-for-3 on May 10. He homered twice in three games. He collected a hit in seven of nine games that he started, barrel meeting ball again. But it stopped.

"You know, that's just the nature of hitting with anybody," Long said. "With Chris, I think it was a matter of being really intentional on a couple of simple things, kind of back-to-basic things, if you will, so you can build some momentum.

"I think it's easy for any hitter when they're not getting the end result that they want, it's easy for them to bounce around. And it's really being stubborn with the process. It's really saying, 'I understand the concept of what I'm trying to do and I'm going to work relentlessly every day and let that one day build into the next.' And if you're jumping all over the place you don't have the ability to build any momentum. So the initial push is hard, but then once you get going you can start to get a little bit of momentum."

We'll find out later whether Davis plays tonight against a left-hander. The switch-hitting Wilkerson is gone. DJ Stewart bats from the left side and is hitless in his last 16 at-bats.

Renato Núñez won't sit tonight. He's hitting .360/.439/.920 with eight home runs in his last 15 games.

* Here's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias on first-round pick Adley Rutschman:

"It's hard to know where to start with Adley Rutschman. He's a switch-hitting catcher with power, plus he can hit from both sides with an unbelievable statistical resume. He did it with Team USA, Oregon State and won a national championship. He's a team leader on and off the field. He's everything you want and he plays a premium defensive position with athleticism that gives him versatility to play elsewhere as needed. Adley is a future fixture for this organization."