Orioles return home hounded by questions regarding rotation, bullpen and bats

NEW YORK – Players changed into their home white uniforms last week at Camden Yards and filed out of the clubhouse and onto the outfield grass for the annual team photo. Closer Félix Bautista was there despite the elbow surgery that cost him the entire season. Danny Coulombe joked with Jordan Westburg, wondering if they’d be asked to leave.  

An agreement was reached.

“If you’re going, then I’m going.”

You’ve gotta laugh to keep your pennant hopes from dying.

The roster has undergone so many dramatic changes that some players might be hard to identify without a scorecard or elite facial recognition skills.

Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells are away from the club while rehabbing their elbows and missed a chance to line up with teammates, but most of the crew is here.

The Orioles have 11 players on the injured list after Zach Eflin’s surprise inclusion Tuesday due to right shoulder inflammation. The hits just keep coming, and not from the offense. But that’s a separate story.

“It obviously sucks whenever somebody goes down, but hopefully he’s back pretty soon,” said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. “It doesn’t seem like it’s season ending or anything like that, so hopefully we get him back at the right time and have him right for the playoffs.

“It’s pretty crazy, all these pitcher injuries, but it’s just the nature of the sport I guess. Just got to try to pick up the pieces and keep it moving forward.”

The next man up motto has worked wonders for this club but it also raises a disturbing question.

What happens if the Orioles run out of men?

“I think it turns into the point where you’re playing with house money,” Coulombe said. “I saw a thing that our starters on the IL, it would be an impressive starting staff. So yeah, at this point we’re just playing with house money. Just go out and have fun.”

Eflin’s shoulder put a damper on it. He was a torrential downpour at your holiday cookout.

“He was pitching so well. He was an X-factor for us,” Coulombe said.

“It’s gonna hurt losing him. But just like we’ve said a thousand times this year, other guys have got to step up. It’s pretty wild what’s going on here.”

An Orioles fan at Penn Station yesterday asked who was closing tonight. I asked how his arm was feeling.

Seranthony Domínguez was given a shot after an impressive start to his Orioles career. He’s surrendered home runs in his last three appearances, including a pair of walk-offs at Citi Field. He fell behind 3-0 to Francisco Alvarez and had a full count against Jesse Winker. Overall, he’s allowed four home runs since the trade with the Phillies.

Craig Kimbrel retired both batters he faced Tuesday night, was handed the ball again yesterday and gave up a tie-breaking homer to Mark Vientos in a situation that qualified as high leverage. His ball traveled 414 feet, was 107 mph off the bat, and caused Kimbrel to momentarily freeze his delivery at the end, his body turned toward first base and his fist clenched.

J.D. Martinez lined to right fielder Anthony Santander at 101.2 mph. More loud contact but an out.

Kimbrel was working back-to-back days and Domínguez and Cionel Pérez three of the last four. Yennier Cano has pitched five times in the last eight, and his 58 appearances were tied for sixth yesterday in the American League.

“We’re going to continue to throw them out there," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Whoever’s on the roster. We’ve got eight guys in our ‘pen and trying to find some guys to get hot for us."

Gregory Soto is due for an audition. He’s spun four scoreless outings in a row and hasn’t pitched since Saturday. What’s the risk at this point?

Burch Smith impressed early with the Orioles but has been scored upon in five of his last seven appearances. Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer Saturday and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer Tuesday.

“I still think he’s got really good stuff,” Hyde said. “I like the fact that he’s got 95-96 with a couple breaking balls. I used him three days in a row because one of those three was really low, under five pitches, which I normally don’t do, and then I gave him a couple days off.

“I just thought (Tuesday) night he just made a bad pitch to Martinez. Got a breaking ball up, the left-hander with a double. I thought the pitch to (Francisco) Lindor was a good pitch down and away, just a good piece of hitting from a great hitter. And then just a ball out over the plate to Martinez there in a bad spot. But I thought the stuff was still good.”

Smith on three straight days recently is an unusual move for Hyde, but guys will warm and sit. That counts, too. And as the playoffs near and the Orioles can’t establish a comfortable division lead, Hyde indicated that he’d be more inclined to use his higher-leverage relivers that way if there’s a decent break period before it.

“I use Cano and Pérez so much,” he said. “That’s the other thing, too. When you’re winning games and you’re playing tight games, I need to use eight and not just use three. So what their workload is before the three days, that really matters. I had Cano up five games in a row. He only pitched in three, but he was up five, and that’s not ideal. So we need to find guys to be able to fill those types of roles.”

Starters can make it much easier to shield the bullpen, but losing Eflin removes a guy with four quality outings. Grayson Rodriguez also is on the injured list, with a return perhaps stalled until late September. The innings eaters are going away.

Cole Irvin had his contract selected yesterday and didn’t clear the fifth, which set the ‘pen and another loss in motion. But Dean Kremer has registered consecutive starts of one run allowed in six innings. Build the statue.

“I want to try to protect guys as much as you can and sometimes you’ve got to go for it,” Hyde said. “(Tuesday) night Dean goes six. That’s wonderful. We need six.

“You’re trying to monitor everything right now. I think communication on a daily basis is the most important thing with how these guys are feeling. There are guys I’ve stayed away from because I just didn’t have a real good … You go into the game knowing they don’t feel their best. We’ve still got a month-plus to play and you don’t wanna lose anybody more.”

One of the most unexpected twists in baseball is Albert Suárez as stopper. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts over 17 2/3 innings, with three walks and 17 strikeouts.

He came from Japan and Korea, and now he comes to the rescue.

“He’s just been that steady presence both in the clubhouse and on the field,” Hyde said. “He’s really appreciative to be in the big leagues. He’s incredibly professional in every single way. He’s really enjoying it. You see him having a great time and it’s refreshing. In this grind of a day-to-day world we live in right now, to have a guy who’s in his mid-30s who’s not only pitching extremely well but also just being a great teammate to everybody. Really well-liked on our club and almost like a father figure for a lot of guys because he’s got so much experience.”

Did Hyde see it coming back in February and March?

“No,” he said. “Did you?

Absolutely not. I called him “Andrew” a few times in articles. But I also didn’t imagine eight pitchers and three position players on the injured list in August.

“You need great stories,” Hyde said. “You need cool things to happen. And Albert’s one of those great stories of a guy that’s been a journeyman who’s been a huge part of why we have the record that we have.”

The record has the Orioles a half-game behind the Yankees after the walk-off loss, with a four-game series coming against the Astros, leaders of the American League West. They’ve had their own health issues this season, though Justin Verlander is back.

“I think a lot of people are going through a little bit what we’re kind of going through,” Hyde said, “where you have some guys banged up, try to do the best you can on the mound and hopefully your offense can provide some support.”

Oh yeah, the offense. The Orioles had three hits yesterday and settled for only one run in the eighth inning after loading the bases with no outs. They also finished with three on Sunday but in a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.

“That happens for an offense, I don’t think we’re too concerned about it,” said Austin Slater, who homered yesterday to break up Sean Manaea’s no-hit bid in the sixth. “This offense is too talented to have too many more games like that."

“It’s a grind right now on the mound,” Hyde said, “so until we get through this thing, we’ve got to be able to help them out and score some runs.”