Updating some injured and rehabbing Orioles pitchers

SAN DIEGO – No team is going to keep an Opening Day roster intact for 162 games. The first month is dicey. The first half is virtually impossible.

The Orioles have used 47 players this season and are 121 games into their schedule. They are expected to reinstate left-hander John Means from the 60-day injured list next month. They’d likely provide major league debuts to a few more prospects under different circumstances, but expanded rosters capped at 28 players and the improved depth make it much harder.

Means, catcher James McCann and relievers Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate began the season on the injured list. McCann is the only one on the active roster. Givens is out of the organization after the Orioles designated him for assignment this week.

Givens is expected to become a free agent. The reunion lasted six games before its cancellation.

Tate hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Orioles since Oct. 5, 2022 against the Blue Jays, when he allowed two runs and walked three batters in two-thirds of an inning. He was pulled from his injury rehab assignment after a June 21 appearance with Triple-A Norfolk, his 13^th game overall among three affiliates.

The latest shutdown came with his ERA at 15.19 and WHIP at 3.000 in 10 2/3 innings.

The Orioles haven’t given up on Tate for 2023. He’s recovering from a right elbow flexor strain and throwing down in Sarasota.

Time hasn’t run out for Tate, but he’ll need to go back on a rehab assignment. The last one was choppy, at best.

Means threw 45 pitches Tuesday night in 1 1/3 innings at Double-A Bowie and came out of the game in the middle of an at-bat. His health is fine. The increase in pitch count will be gradual after he threw 28 in his first start.

Keegan Akin, on the injured list since June 30 with lower-back discomfort, made one start in the Florida Complex League on July 31 and allowed three runs and four hits in one inning. He tossed a scoreless relief inning with Norfolk on Aug. 3 and is shut down again.

Akin remains in the process of flushing out his back discomfort. The next step is returning to a throwing program, delaying his possible reinstatement from the IL.

The Orioles don’t know whether Akin can be a September option for them.

The Opening Day bullpen consisted of Akin, Félix Bautista, Cionel Pérez, Danny Coulombe, Bryan Baker, Austin Voth, Mike Baumann and Logan Gillaspie. Voth is on an injury rehab assignment with Norfolk. Coulombe is on the injured list with left biceps tendinitis. Baker and Gillaspie are in the minors.

Baker pitched last night in Memphis and allowed a run in the sixth inning on a hit and two walks. His ERA is 6.75.

We didn’t know what Yennier Cano could be until his April 14 season debut in Chicago. We had no clue that Shintaro Fujinami and Jacob Webb would be Orioles relievers in August.

Seth Johnson won’t pitch for the Orioles before next year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022, immediately after they acquired him from the Rays in the three-team Trey Mancini deadline trade. But there’s good news.

Johnson, the organization’s No. 16 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is expected to pitch in the FCL this weekend to start his injury rehab assignment. He hasn’t faced batters since May 20, 2022 with High-A Bowling Green.

The Orioles knew that Johnson needed surgery and still jumped at the chance to get him. He has a 2.81 ERA in 39 games over three seasons and averages 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. He turns 25 in September.

The fastball touched 98 mph before his surgery. The slider is a swing-and-miss pitch.

Many scouts think he’s a can’t-miss prospect.

Johnson’s stay in the FCL could be brief. The Orioles want him at Single-A Delmarva before the season ends.