Five Orioles reassigned to minor league camp

SARASOTA, Fla. - Five non-roster players have been removed from the Orioles spring training camp roster, including infield prospects Rylan Bannon and Mason McCoy and left-handers Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells.

Infielder Malquin Canelo, a longshot candidate to win a utility job, also has been reassigned to minor league camp.

Bannon, McCoy, Lowther and Wells never were in line to head north with the club. They'll report to Twin Lakes Park and await their assignments, which could lead to a reunion at Triple-A Norfolk.

Wells, who now prefers to go by "Alexander," never made it into a game due to an oblique injury. He's the 2020 spring version of Dean Kremer, who had the same issue last year.

Kremer was outstanding at Double-A Bowie and lauded for his performance in the Arizona Fall League. Wells can find inspiration.

Lowther tossed a scoreless inning this afternoon in a 3-2 win over the Phillies in Clearwater, but he allowed a hit and walked a batter. He was charged with four runs and five hits with two walks in 1 1/3 innings in his first game against the Red Sox in Fort Myers and exits the Ed Smith Stadium complex with a 15.43 ERA.

Bannon went 3-for-10 with a double, home run, five runs scored and five strikeouts.

McCoy was on today's travel roster, but he didn't get into the game. He went 1-for-7 with two runs scored and made a couple of impressive plays at shortstop that had teammates talking about his defensive skills.

McCoy was selected to the Arizona Fall League's Fall Stars Game and, like the others, could surface in Baltimore this summer.

Canelo was 1-for-3 with a double and RBI. He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in November.

The camp roster is down to 64 players with the first round of cuts.

Survivors today include catcher Adley Rutschman, who replaced Bryan Holaday in Clearwater and struck out looking. He's still searching for his first hit.

Still too many pitchers in camp to start removing catchers, though Twin Lakes Park is a 20-minute commute.

The Orioles will take all of their position players to West Palm and Jupiter for games Tuesday against the Nationals and Wednesday versus the Marlins. Only pitchers who aren't scheduled to throw will remain in Sarasota.

A few more seats on the buses opened up today.