Orioles pregame notes on Kjerstad, Rutschman, Eflin and more

Heston Kjerstad walked into the clubhouse this morning with his right elbow wrapped in white tape and a smile on his face.

He seemed fine last night after leaving the game with a bruised elbow from the 99.5 mph fastball from the Reds’ Hunter Greene that slammed into his arm in the first inning. He swung both arms while walking to his locker and fist-bumped a teammate. And he went out to the field today to do a health check.

Fortunately for Kjerstad, the ball hit part of the protective elbow gear and part of the arm, which caused some numbness in his hand. He wasn’t able to bat in the third inning, and Ramón Laureano hit two home runs off the bench.

X-rays came back negative.

The timing for Kjerstad is unfortunate. He began the game slashing .353/.389/.941 with a double, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs scored since April 12.

“He’s a guy that, he’s always going to have success because he’s got really good pitch recognition, he’s got great plate discipline,” said assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph. “And obviously, when you get the ball in the air here to the pull-side as a left-handed hitter, you’re gonna have success.”

Adley Rutschman is in an 0-for-19 slump that’s dropped his average to .192 with a .632 OPS, and he’s 1-for-24 in his last six games.

“His at-bats are elite, they’re some of the best in major league baseball,” Joseph said. “His OPS is, what, .630 right now? His expected OPS is close to .930. It’s just a lot of bad luck. He’s a really, really good player. Arguably, one of the best catchers in baseball, if not the best catcher in baseball. His at-bats are great. There’s nothing wrong with Adley Rutschman.”

Rutschman had an impressive spring, slashing .357/.438/.595 with a double and three home runs, and he went 3-for-5 with two home runs on Opening Day. He collected at least one hit in 12 of his first 14 games.

“Everyone’s very aware that Adley’s doing great. He’s very aware of it,” Joseph said.

“Sometimes the numbers on the scoreboard don’t reflect that, which is unfortunate because it can affect people and maybe waver some confidence, but he’s not one to waver away from that. He’s a really good player. He knows it and we all know it. We’re glad he’s on our team.”

Zach Eflin threw on flat ground from 120 feet this morning as he works toward a return from a right lat strain.

“I feel really good,” he said. "I just got done throwing. I feel like it’s just, at this point, kind of ramping up, start throwing bullpens soon and get back out there. But everything feels great. I feel healthy, feel normal. Just ready to go.”

Eflin doesn’t know whether the Orioles will send him on a brief rehab assignment. He’s made three starts and totaled 18 innings.

“We’re not thinking about that yet. It’s too early,” he said.

The Orioles recalled Brandon Young to make yesterday’s start in his major league debut. He was optioned this morning because they needed a bullpen arm and chose Cody Poteet from Triple-A Norfolk.

“It’s awesome, I’m super happy for him,” Eflin said of Young. “He’s a great dude and a really good pitcher and I’m glad he was able to pitch yesterday. It was really fun watching his debut. But at the end of the day I want to be out there, I want to be a part of the team every day, not just here every day because I’m on the IL. I want to be on the field. Just kind of focused on that and ready to get back.”

The Orioles are starting Dean Kremer, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich in the three-game series in D.C. that begins Tuesday night.