Orioles pregame notes on bench depth, Means, Frazier in the clutch and more

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde understands the logic behind going with a 12-man pitching staff, with the four-day All-Star break creating a rested bullpen. An extra arm isn’t necessary.

Hyde endorses the unbalanced ratio of pitchers to position players.

Ride with a dozen until it can’t be done.

A five-man bench is ideal for Hyde, however long it lasts. The late-game choices are much more enticing than in past seasons with the increase in talent.

“I have options this year," Hyde said, "which is nice.”

Hyde used Sunday’s game in Minnesota as an example, when he sent up Ryan Mountcastle to bat for Ryan O’Hearn after the Twins made a pitching change. Mountcastle lined an RBI single into center field.

Colton Cowser pinch-ran for Mountcastle, who was reinstated from the injured list after suffering from bouts of vertigo, and went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

“To have that sort of flexibility,” Hyde said. “This is kind of old school National League five guys on the bench. Now we’re not hitting for the pitcher, but you have a ton of options that you can use, and I’d love to keep this the rest of the way if we could. That would be something. Hopefully, we can.”

Cowser didn’t play last night and remains out of the lineup tonight with the Marlins starting left-hander Braxton Garrett. The home crowd is primed to give him a loud ovation, as it did with Jordan Westburg before the break. But a deeper roster is both a blessing and a challenge for a manager.

“I’m trying to get as many guys in as I can and rotate a little bit, but also it’s matchup based some nights,” Hyde said. “Every night’s matchup based, but I’m also trying to rotate guys and not have guys buried on the bench and try to get at-bats.

“He didn’t start the last day before the break, and he got three at-bats in Minnesota. But now we’re at full strength.”

* John Means is throwing in the bullpen as he makes further progresses from a pulled muscle in his upper back that ruined his chances of pitching for the Orioles this month.

Hyde said the club hasn’t discussed Means’ role if he returns in 2023.

“We just want to see him get healthy and then we’ll kind of figure out where we are roster wise, where we are in the rotation, where we are in the bullpen,” Hyde said. “It’s different now, and September rules are way different, so I don’t know what our roster’s going to look like by the time he’s ready. It’s still a ways away.”

Hyde also said the Orioles don’t have a timeline for Means going on an injury rehab assignment. He hasn’t appeared in a game since April 13, 2022, before undergoing Tommy John surgery.

“Not right now,” Hyde said.

* Adam Frazier had his first career two-homer game last night and tied his career high with four RBIs. He’s gone 7-for-14 in his last three games and raised his average to .240 and OPS to .730, its highest since May 28.

Frazier has been a clutch hitter, posting a .303 average (23-for-76) two doubles, six home runs, 34 RBIs and a .945 OPS with runners in scoring position.

“I think a ton of experience, being in the league for a while,” Hyde said, offering an explanation. “And just his kind of simple approach at the plate, where he doesn’t try to do too much. He’s really short to the baseball, tries to stay in the big part of the field, doesn’t pull off. You saw him get the base hit the other way on a two-strike ball down and away, a pitcher’s pitch. Base hit to drive in a run in his first at-bat. Then, he goes deep twice pull side. Kind of shows you the range that he’s able to do.

“Not every hitter is like that and has those kinds of skills. Just the short, simple swing, easy approach with runners on base. Fortunately for us, he’s gotten a ton of hits for us in those spots.”

* A couple scoring changes are impacting the Orioles.

Westburg is no longer credited with a single in the ninth inning of a July 4 at Yankee Stadium. Reliever Albert Abreu is now charged with error.

Also, Ramón Urías’ error in the ninth inning on July 6 is switched to an RBI single for Billy McKinney, which leaves an earned run on Eduard Bazardo’s line.

For the Marlins
Luis Arraez 2B
Jorge Soler DH
Bryan De La Cruz LF
Jesús Sánchez RF
Yuli Gurriel 1B
Jean Segura 3B
Joey Wendle SS
Nick Fortes C
Dane Myers CF

Braxton Garrett LHP