Wynns expected to join Orioles for upcoming homestand

The Orioles are prepared to make a change with their catchers.

Austin Wynns is in Baltimore, according to sources, and could be placed on the active roster for Monday afternoon's game against the Twins.

Because he isn't on the 40-man roster, a corresponding move would be necessary.

Wynns didn't play in the majors in 2020. He's a career .239/.271/.339 hitter in 70 games with the Orioles and has thrown out 10 of 36 runners attempting to steal.

Among three catchers on Triple-A Norfolk's roster, Wynns has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games and is 16-for-45 (.356) during that stretch, with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs, six walks, seven runs scored and six multi-hit games. Wynns leads the Tides in average, slashing .333/.448/.563 with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and seven walks in 15 games and has thrown out six of 11 runners attempting to steal.

Brett Cumberland caught today at Norfolk and Taylor Davis was the designated hitter. A fourth catcher, Nick Ciuffo, is on the injured list.

The closest that Wynns has gotten to the majors since 2019 is on the taxi squad.

Pedro Severino and Chance Sisco have struggled at the plate this season and the defense has been a growing concern for the Orioles. They're batting a combined .212/.299/.263 and Severino has accounted for the only home run.

Sisco has a minor league option and could be the corresponding move on the active roster, though the team hasn't confirmed a pending transaction. He's slashing .154/.247/.185 after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts Thursday night in Chicago.

Improvement for Sisco has come in throwing out runners attempting to steal. He's gone 6-for-9. Sisco has been charged with three passed balls and six wild pitches have occurred while he's catching.

Severino is out of options and making $1.825 million after avoiding arbitration over the winter. He's slashing .236/.312/.299 after going 0-for-3 today with two strikeouts.

Severino is 2-for-15 attempting to throw out runners - a ball deflected off his glove today while Tim Anderson swiped second base in the seventh inning - and has been charged with four passed balls. Pitchers have thrown 22 wild pitches while he's catching.

Asked about his catchers earlier today, manager Brandon Hyde said, "It's a little bit different with both guys."

"Sevie, for me, you saw him hit some rollover ground balls to short," Hyde said. "I think when Sevie's using the right-center field gap and stays on the baseball, for me that's when his power comes into play. He's shown that he can do that over the last few years, he just kind of goes away from that approach sometimes and gets a little bit anxious.

"Chance, for me, the last couple starts has been a little bit more aggressive offensively. For me it's about aggressiveness with Chance Sisco, and he's always had good pitch selection, but now they're really attacking him in the strike zone and now he's just got to maybe be a little bit more aggressive, let it go a little bit. He's had better swings his last couple games."

It's the work behind the plate that seems to be a bigger issue while the starters run up high pitch counts and struggle to get deeper into games and the bullpen outside of Paul Fry is mired in a collective slump of varying proportions.

"I think that we have two catchers that are still learning and early still in development ages," Hyde said this morning. "I think catching takes a while to develop as a really good catcher. Their pregame work is good, I think they do a nice job relationship-wise with the pitchers, but they're still learning some nuances of the game behind the plate, from on the field navigating a pitcher through the lineup, helping out during big innings.

"They both have been throwing the ball well, which is a positive, but I still think that there's a lot of growing and learning that we're doing with both guys behind the plate."

Meanwhile, top prospect Adley Rutschman, the second-overall pick in the 2019 draft, hit three-run homers in both ends of today's doubleheader at Double-A Bowie. He was a combined 5-for-6 and is batting .293 with a 1.039 OPS.

The Orioles figure to promote Rutschman to Norfolk later in the summer, but could delay his major league debut until 2022.