Hyde on roster move, Mullins, Hays and more

The Orioles were expected to make a roster move this afternoon after left-hander Zac Lowther covered 5 1/3 innings last night. There was no reason to keep him in the bullpen while being unavailable for at least three days.

Lowther was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, with Denyi Reyes returning to the club. Reyes can provide length out of the bullpen.

Manager Brandon Hyde appreciates that Lowther aided the ‘pen last night with an extended appearance, though the final line included six runs (five earned), plus two inherited from Bryan Baker.

“Zac did a great job for us,” Hyde said. “The first couple innings were a little rough. Once the game got to where it was, we really needed him to go as long as he possibly could, and he did that. I told him I appreciated the effort and I appreciated him staying out there for us. It allowed me not to use some other guys that I wouldn’t want to use in that type of situation, and unfortunately that’s just kind of the way the game goes. You option guys down.

“We got Denyi Reyes up here because of what he did in Boston and the things he’s done here to give us some relief help.”

Cedric Mullins is leading off again tonight and trying to get hot at the plate. He’s batting .236/.297/.365 in 50 games and 223 plate appearances.

The games are tied for most in the American League and the plate appearances rank first.

Mullins is 7-for-43 (.163) in his last 10 games. He’s struck out in nine of the last 11.

“They’re really crowding him in,” Hyde said. “Yesterday, his first at-bat, for me, was one of his better swings in a while. Just missed a homer there to right-center. But the swing looked short. It was a pitch he could drive. Ced’s just got to push them out over the plate a little bit for me. He’s trying to get there a lot of times, and he’s kind of chasing some balls in that he’ll learn over the course of teams making adjustments to him, where his strength is a little bit more.

“I just see teams crowding him. And he’s so quick in there, too, I think he feels like he can get there, and he did a lot of times last year. But you see a lot of right-handed cutters in, trying to move his feet with fastballs in off the plate.”

Perhaps trying to meet the expectations set after producing the first 30 home run/30 stolen bases season in franchise history also could be taking a toll.

“I was concerned about that early,” Hyde said. “I think that’s natural, to think you’re going to do what you did last year and put pressure on yourself. I think he’s just grinding right now. I see him take really good batting practices. Yesterday, I watched him closely and loved the BP he was taking with the big part of the field. It was line drives to left-center, legs were underneath him, the swing looked compact, and it looked right.

“It’s a long season, and he’s off to a little bit of a slow start. I think he’s going to get it going.”

Austin Hays will try to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He’s batting .326/.383/.488 (14-for-43) with a double, two home runs, nine RBIs, three walks and nine runs scored in the last 11.

Hays went 3-for-4 with two doubles on May 18 against the Yankees in just his second day back in the lineup after the Cardinals’ Génesis Cabrera stepped on his left hand during a play at first base. Hays had three lacerations that required stitches.

“It’s incredible,” Hyde said. “I probably didn’t let on what that looked like the next few days after. I mean, he was gashed up, it was ugly.

“When I first ran out there in St. Louis and saw it, I didn’t know what he was going to be able to do, because the cut was deep, there were multiple cuts on the hand. He’s really a tough kid. To be able to just put a glove on and say, ‘I can play through it’ shows you the toughness he has, and the will to play. He wants to play”.

Adley Rutschman is getting a scheduled night off unless he’s needed late in the game. He’ll be in Thursday’s lineup.

The Orioles have played three consecutive games that ended with a 10-run margin, losing two of them.

“It’s very odd,” Hyde said. “Going into a few days ago, you felt like every game was tight, at least until the sixth, seventh inning, and we’ve played the last three where they’ve kind of gotten out of hand early.”

For the Mariners
Jesse Winker LF
Ty France 1B
Julio Rodríguez CF
J.P. Crawford SS
Eugenio Suárez 3B
Adam Frazier 2B
Mike Ford DH
Taylor Trammell RF
Cal Raleigh C

Robbie Ray LHP