O's pregame notes on Tyler Wells, Ryan Mountcastle, the trade and more

TORONTO – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said the immediate plan for right-hander Tyler Wells, who was optioned to Double-A Bowie after Saturday night’s game, is still being formulated. But Wells will spend some time at the team's pitching lab in Bel Air in Harford County.

"It's still being mapped out," said Hyde. "He's going to go to our lab. The main thing is a little bit of rest. Get him backed off and allow the body a chance to recuperate. Give him a breather and not throw as much. Go to the lab, maybe work on some mechanical things. And then kind of slowly get him back to where we want him to be. But it's mainly about giving him more of a reset, and hopefully he can be a big part of our pitching the staff the last month, month and a half of the season."

As we got to the All-Star break Wells had an ERA of 3.18, and it was 2.83 in his last eight starts leading up to the break.

But over his past three starts his ERA is 11.00 over nine innings and he's allowed 2.11 WHIP. He has given up four homers and nine walks while getting eight strikeouts. Opponents have hit .278 with a 1.069 OPS.

Ryan Mountcastle drove in three runs last night with a two-run double and a sac fly. Mountcastle is a career .313/.371/.625/.996 hitter in 46 games versus Toronto, with 15 homers and 39 RBIs.

Last night Mountcastle hit the ball four times to right and right-center field. Was that by design?

“I just think it was a really good approach,” Hyde said. “Good approach off (Chris) Bassitt. Sac fly situation he was really thinking right-center, to be able to stay on the baseball. Infield in, use the big part of the field, kind of got a ball away from him and did a nice job of staying on it.”

Mountcastle has reached safely in all 11 starts while recording a hit in 10 of those since returning from the injured list July 9. In that span he is batting .361/.400/.667 (13-for-36) with five doubles, two homers, seven runs, six RBIs and three walks in those games.

“When Mounty is going right for me, that is where he’s hitting the baseball a lot of the time. You don’t see the head fly and the swing and miss. But the eyes down and being able to stay through the baseball. He’s got so much power, and so much power to the middle of the field. Just like to see him catch those off-speed pitches out front of the homers he hits to left, because his eyes are staying down and staying over the plate. That is what he did last night, stayed on the ball so well."

Interviewed before this game about an hour before the 6 p.m. trade deadline, Hyde was asked how confident he was in his current roster if the O's did not make a deadline deal.

“We’ve, you know, played really well up to this point. We’ll see what happens," he said. "I think our guys are total pros and understand there are things out of our control. We’ve had a very successful season up until this point with this group, and we’ll see what happens (in the next hour)."

Reports indicate the Orioles have added St. Louis Cardinals 27-year-old right-hander Jack Flaherty (7-6, 4.33 ERA). He has an ERA of 3.03 in five July starts. His last start was last Wednesday, so the O's could use him later in this series.

ESPN reported the Orioles are sending infielder César Prieto and pitcher Drew Rom to St. Louis. And MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko reported that minor league pitcher Zack Showalter was also involved in this deal.  

Earlier, Hyde was asked if he has stayed in the loop today on trade discussions.

“A little bit. But they’re all grinding and they’re trying to figure things out. I’m more cheerleading at this point," he said.