Pregame notes from Seattle on the six-man rotation and more

SEATTLE – The Orioles will be on hand tonight for a big night in Seattle as former Mariners pitcher Félix Hernández goes into the team’s Hall of Fame. He was a six-time All-Star and the 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner. He pitched a perfect game for Seattle against Tampa Bay on Aug. 15, 2012.

He tried to make it back to the bigs with the Orioles in the spring of 2021, but arm issues kept that from happening. He eventually opted out of his O's minor league deal and was officially released by the club in late March.

“We came here in 2011 and they were down the stretch, and he pitched a game that was sold out and we saw the King’s Court (fans section in the stands) when he was in his prime,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde recalled today. “He punched out, like, 15 and he was great in his prime. This place was absolutely going bananas. We saw at that time what he meant to the city and how big a deal he was.

“Being able to meet him (in spring of 2021) and spend some time with him, really enjoyed that. I’m excited to watch the (pregame) ceremony tonight.”

The Orioles have transitioned into a six-man rotation, at least temporarily, as left-hander Cole Irvin (1-3, 5.44 ERA) re-enters the rotation tonight. Hyde said that Irvin would likely be expected to go just four or five innings after his last five appearances were two innings or less.

Hyde said the coaching staff sought feedback from the pitchers before determining to go to a six-man.

“We talked with all of them and we felt like it was going to be important down the stretch to keep everybody as healthy as possible, and fresh," he said. "You see a lot of teams around the league doing this right now because it’s this time of the year. It’s tough when you have one less guy in your bullpen. We’ll keep it like this for a little while and see how it goes."

Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins returned to the active roster Friday after a second stint this year on the injured list. He made an immediate impact with an outstanding play in center field in the last of the first against Julio Rodríguez. At bat, Mullins went 0-for-4 while batting fifth in the order. Tonight he is back in center and batting second.

Hyde said Mullins brings much to the table and the team is delighted to have their center fielder back.

“He adds so much power, speed factor," Hyde said. "He’s driven in a ton of runs this year. I think he was our best hitter, and might still be, with runners in scoring position (he’s batting .349 with RISP), just the at-bats he takes. Then he adds Gold Glove defense and yeah, we’re excited to have him back.”

Adley Rutschman hit leadoff again Friday and could stay in that spot for now. He's hitting first again tonight. In 13 games as a leadoff batter he has batted .314 with a .900 OPS, going 16-for-51 with two doubles, a triple, two homers and 11 RBIs.

“We’ll see,” Hyde said of the leadoff spot going forward. “I don’t know. Might be a day-to-day thing. Might keep it the way it is. I haven’t looked that far ahead yet. I’m just glad he’s back in the lineup and we’ll kind of see how it goes.”

Rookie outfielder Colton Cowser went 0-for-1 Friday night with a lineout to right field and he also drew two walks. His first two-walk game since July 25 at Philadelphia. Cowser is batting .115 in 61 at-bats.

“I think these are just typical young guys' struggles,” Hyde said. “Really patient when he first got here and was getting on base quite a bit. And when teams started to attack him a little bit more, early in the count he started to kind of get aggressive and he was in an 0-1 hole quite a bit. When you are struggling it feels like you are always behind in the count. He hit a couple balls hard recently. He’s just a little bit in between right now.

“We remind our young guys all the time, it’s just not easy up here.”