The Orioles announced that Grayson Rodriguez has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list, and he’ll make his return to the mound today in a start against the Mariners. To make room on the active roster, right-hander Mike Baumann was designated for assignment.
Rodriguez was retroactively placed on the IL on April 30, and the righty’s bout of shoulder inflammation ended up being minor enough that he’ll return after less than three weeks on the sidelines. Baltimore’s star pitching prospect has done well over his first two MLB seasons, and he has a 3.71 ERA in 34 innings and six starts thus far in 2024.
In the definition of “good problem to have,” basically all of the Orioles’ starters have fared well this season, allowing the team to pretty easily navigate IL stints for Rodriguez, John Means, and Tyler Wells. The logjam of quality pitchers bodes well for a team that has entered a very busy portion of the schedule. Yesterday’s game with Seattle kicked off a stretch of 42 games in 44 days for the O’s, so the team will be moving to a six-man rotation to keep everyone as fresh as possible.
Even with this oncoming rush of games, the pitching logjam filtered down to the bullpen, making Baumann the odd man out. Baumann is one of several Baltimore relievers who is out of minor league options, so the O’s had to designate him in order to try and move him to Triple-A, thus exposing the reliever to waivers. It certainly seems possible that another team might scoop Baumann off the DFA wire, but the O’s will surely first test the trade market for any particularly keen suitors.
Baumann has spent his entire pro career with the Orioles, since his selection as a third-round pick in the 2017 draft. Debuting in the majors in 2021, Baumann started four of his 13 appearances in 2022 but has since worked out of the bullpen, posting a 3.69 ERA in 83 bullpen innings since Opening Day 2023. With a pretty average 21.7% strikeout rate and an 11.8% walk rate that is on the high side, Baumann isn’t necessarily a darling of the advanced metrics, though his expected statistics (via Statcast) have improved this season, and he is doing a much better job at limiting barrels. All of this combined with Baumann’s ability to work beyond one inning out of the pen might add up to a good deal of interest for teams in need of bullpen depth.
Brutal for Baumann! He’s been pitching great!
Someone had to go. I don’t know who else is low on the totem pole in the pen but having no bad pitchers isn’t the worst problem to have.
I get it Hole, he’s just been around for a minute and he’s not going unclaimed. Between him and Suarez is a tough call. But you’re right, too much pitching is not the worst issue to have!
Wow. He is usually good, but at times he can be really bad.
Didn’t understand the DFA on McKenna.
McKenna is a long term AAAA player. Aging and no upside with younger more talented players in need of a spot. Nice guy to have around but just no room on this team.
Having a guy who has had as many brain farts as him is not a nice guy to have around if you want to challenge for the WS.
McKenna is a shtty defensive replacement who can’t hit righties and is a poor baserunner who admits he has difficulty keeping his concentration on the field. He’s a placeholder on a crappy team, not a cog on a playoff-caliber team. Is that enough reason for you?
As expected. Someone will pick up Baumann and make him a starter, I would think.
I don’t know about a starter, but I could see the Cubs being interested as a bullpen piece. I’m guessing he’s out of options?
He is indeed out of options. That’s why he was DFA and not simply optioned to the minors.
And that does tamp down his value since if he has a bad week or two, he’d be a dfa candidate again. Still, I’d pick him up if I had a bullpen in need of help. And the Cubs do.
I’d think there will be enough interest in Baumann that a small trade will be arranged, for cash if nothing else.
He won’t pass a claim though, so somebody is picking him up.
Is he out of options? They’ll be interest in him.
Yes he is.
He is out of options. He pitched a no hitter in the minors if I remember correctly.
Correct. He was a pretty solid starter at every MILB level. There will be waiver wire competition for his services.
Hyde on the Baumann DFA:
“It’s been a really tough morning,” Hyde said. “Mike has been with us for a while. You think about the first half he had for us last year, how many games he helped us win, how good he was. Threw the ball really well last night. And on top of all those things, just the incredible person he was, unbelievable teammate, first-class pro in every single way. So well liked by the guys in our clubhouse.
“It’s been a gloomy morning.”
GRod back on the bump. Let’s go Os
We all knew that Baumann was likely to be DFAd bc he didn’t have options, like McKenna but it’s going to take a while for Birdland to get used to the new world of being flush with prospects.
After the Dark Years, where we clung onto the hope of Radhames Liz or Brian Matuz, it’s hard to say goodbye to yesterday, as Boyz to Men sung. That having been said, there is certainly talent in Norfolk waiting for their turn. Sometimes, you can’t just keep clinging into the way we used to do it, it’s time to get used to having to let talented players up that can’t find the consistency that the club needs to have in a race to the top and not just a race to be vaguely relevant.
Coming into the season I thought it was gonna be extremely unlikely that Irvin, Baumann, Webb, and Perez could all stick around the full season.
Irvin and Webb fully took themselves out of that. Could’ve been Perez— but I’m guessing we preferred to have another lefty for now.
I know one thing. After tonight, and the dominance G-Rod showed, only to be pulled after the 6th, goes to prove Hyde is another Lee Mazzilli and can’t run a damn pitching staff. I hope Rubenstein pulls the plug on him and gets a seasoned Vet manager that actually wants to play the young guns, and doesn’t our pitchers out.
Rodriguez hadn’t pitched in 19 days. He did not do a rehab assignment. He was at 82 pitches after 6 innings. The goal before the game was 80 pitches. He threw over 20 pitches in the 6th inning. The Orioles want Rodriguez pitching into October. They don’t want him blowing his arm out in May. I wouldn’t have complained if they had taken him out after 5. It’s his first game back. Hyde won Manager of the Year last season. He knows what he’s doing
Not on Hyde last night. I didn’t love putting Suarez in after Coulombe had put 2 guys on. I personally would’ve went to Webb there but that’s pretty small. Cano and Coulombe are typically very reliable but they got hit last night. It’ll happen.
I want Buck Britton to be the manager. He knows all the prospects intimately because he managed all of them.
Let’s be honest, Elias and Sig are pulling the strings on the field.