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The Opener: AL Wild Card, Phillies, Moreno

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As the final week of the 2024 regular season kicks off, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. AL Wild Card race tightens:

The American League has put the “wild” in Wild Card this weekend. After months of the Royals and Twins consistently holding the final two Wild Card spots behind the Orioles, things got more interesting over the weekend as the red-hot Tigers knocked Minnesota out of playoff position entirely. Now, Kansas City and Detroit are tied for the last two playoff spots in the AL with identical 82-74 records, with the Twins just one game behind at 81-75. Should things come down to a tiebreaker, the Twins would benefit as they hold the tiebreaker over both Kansas City and Detroit, while the Royals won the tiebreaker over the Tigers.

The Wild Card isn’t limited to AL Central teams, though, and the Mariners notably lurk just one game back of Minnesota at 80-76 though all three Central clubs hold tiebreakers over Seattle. Meanwhile, neither the Red Sox nor the Rays have technically been eliminated at this point, but it would take a miracle for either 78-78 club to squeak into the postseason. Of all the potential Wild Card contenders in the AL, only the Mariners play today as they start a three-game set against the Astros that could either officially eliminate them from the AL West or vault them back into a playoff spot. That series kicks off at 7:10pm local time in Houston tonight, with youngsters Bryce Miller (3.06 ERA) and Hunter Brown (3.57 ERA) set to face off.

2. Phillies could clinch division:

The Phillies lost out on an opportunity to clinch the NL East against their division rival this weekend when they dropped the final two games of their series against the Mets, but that doesn’t have to stop them from clinching in front of the home crowd. The club will start their final regular season home series at 6:40pm local time this evening against the recently-eliminated Cubs, and winning any game in the three-game set would clinch the division. Meanwhile, sweeping Chicago would guarantee for the Phillies that they’ll land a bye through the NL Wild Card series. Their series against the Cubs kicks off tonight with right-hander Aaron Nola (3.54 ERA) on the mound opposite a likely bullpen game for Chicago that’s likely to be started by Nate Pearson (3.13 ERA in Chicago).

3. Moreno undergoing MRI:

The Diamondbacks are set to wrap up their regular season at home this week, hoping to clinch a playoff spot with six games to go against the Giants and Padres. While the reigning NL champs appear likely to make their second consecutive playoff run this October, it’s up in the air who will be behind the plate for them during that run after the club announced (as noted by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that Moreno exited yesterday’s game against the Brewers with left adductor tightness.

Piecoro notes that the injury affects the same side as the groin strain that sent him to the IL for more than a month recently, and D-Backs reporter Jody Jackson notes that Moreno is set to undergo an MRI today. The loss of Moreno for the postseason would be a tough one for Arizona to stomach, as he not only won the Gold Glove for his work behind the plate last year but also has posted a 108 wRC+ in 92 games this season. Glove-first backup Jose Herrera and hot-hitting prospect Adrian Del Castillo (who batted .313/.368/.525 in 87 plate appearances in his first taste of MLB action this summer) would take over catching duties if Moreno misses time.

Reds Fire David Bell

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The Reds announced that they have parted ways with manager David Bell.  Bench coach Freddie Benavides will act as the club’s interim manager for the remainder of the season.

In a statement released to the media, president of baseball operations Nick Krall said that “David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons.  We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward.  We have not achieved the success we expected, and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”

Bell’s tenure ends just short of six full seasons as Cincinnati’s manager.  Three of Bell’s six seasons saw the Reds finish with a winning record — their 31-29 record in the shortened 2020 season that led to a playoff berth, an 83-win campaign in 2021, and an 82-win season in 2023.  That latter season hinted at bigger things ahead for the Reds, given how the team seemingly had an overload of young position-player talent all breaking out at the same time.  The organization even awarded Bell for his role in the Reds’ progress, as Bell was signed to a new contract extension in July 2023 that covered the 2024-26 seasons.

However, it perhaps shouldn’t be ignored that the Reds waited to give Bell a new deal until he was only about two months away from the expiration from his previous contract.  That might’ve been the first hint that the Reds’ ownership and front office was only willing to give Bell so much leeway in continuing as the club’s skipper, and the disappointing nature of the 2024 season sealed Bell’s fate.

The announcement of Noelvi Marte’s 80-game PED suspension in early March was the first sign of trouble for the Reds, and the bad news continued during Spring Training when Matt McLain had to undergo a shoulder surgery.  McLain ended up missing the entire season recovering from that surgery and then a stress reaction in his rib cage suffered during his rehab work.  Christian Encarnacion-Strand didn’t play after the first week of May due to a wrist injury that required surgery, thus leading to a lost year for yet another of the Reds’ promising young infielders.

Injuries continued to deplete the roster at other inopportune times, including a near rotation-wide slate of injuries that hit the pitching staff in August.  Beyond the injuries, other would-be cornerstones like Spencer Steer or Alexis Diaz provided only average levels of production, and offseason acquisitions like Jeimer Candelario and Frankie Montas also disappointed.

It all added up to an underwhelming season in Cincinnati, and while Bell is hardly the only culprit behind the Reds’ lack of success, the organization will now shake things up in the dugout.  USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (X link) has already reported that Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is under consideration to be the Reds’ next field general, and Schumaker has past ties to the club as a former Reds player in 2014-15.  Schumaker won NL Manager of the Year honors in leading Miami to the playoffs in his first year as skipper in 2023, but the Marlins’ decision to part ways with GM Kim Ng (who hired Schumaker) and then shift into rebuild mode has all but confirmed that Schumaker is leaving South Florida at season’s end.

Bell finishes with a 409-456 record over his time as the Reds’ manager.  That lone postseason appearance in 2020 ended in a two-game (and scoreless) sweep in the wild card series, and Cincinnati still hasn’t won a playoff round since the 1995 NLDS.  The pandemic’s impact on Bell’s managerial career can’t be understated, as the organizational loss of revenue over the 2020-21 seasons led ownership to suddenly change course after a payroll increase in the 2019-20 offseason, and the Reds started to heavily rebuild following their winning record in 2021.

Viewed through this lens, the Reds have done well to get back to playing competitive baseball so soon after the misery of a 100-loss season in 2022.  Krall has done well in reloading the organization with premium prospect talent, and Bell’s work in helping some of this young talent adjust to the majors shouldn’t be overlooked.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Reds take that expected next step in 2025 if the team enjoys better health and the younger players fare better with more experience under their belts, and indeed a new voice in the dugout might be a key piece in helping Cincinnati turn the corner.

Benavides is a longtime member of the Reds organization, dating back to when the club selected him in the second round of the 1987 draft.  The first two of Benavides’ four Major League seasons were played in a Reds uniform, and after retirement, he spent close to a decade working in Cincinnati’s farm system before joining the big league coaching staff in 2016.  Benavides has been acting in the bench coach role since Bell was initially hired following the 2018 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

White Sox Add Edgar Quero To Taxi Squad

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The White Sox are promoting catching prospect Edgar Quero to the team’s taxi squad prior to their next game on Tuesday, according to reporter Francys Romero (via X).  While Quero is technically not part of the team’s active roster yet, the move would seem to imply that the Sox are planning to have the 21-year-old switch-hitter make his Major League debut before the season is over.

Quero left his native Cuba in 2019 and signed with the Angels in 2021, then immediately hit the ground running with some big numbers in his first pro seasons.  The Angels’ acquisition of Logan O’Hoppe in 2022 and then their desperation to reach the postseason in 2023 (Shohei Ohtani’s last year with the club) made Quero an expendable piece, and the young backstop was sent to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to Los Angeles.

The move to the White Sox organization didn’t slow Quero down, and he has a combined .281/.368/.467 slash line over 397 minor league plate appearances in 2024.  The last 105 of those trips to the plate took place at Triple-A Charlotte, though Quero only just returned this week from an IL stint.  Quero missed over five weeks of playing time dealing with a back problem, and if he had been healthy, it seems likely that he already would’ve been up in the big leagues earlier in September.

MLB Pipeline ranks Quero as the 59th-best prospect in baseball, and Baseball America has the catcher 79th on their top-100 list.  (The Athletic’s Keith Law also had Quero 67th on his preseason top-100 ranking.)  Quero has generally been more productive against left-handed pitching than against righties, but had good contact numbers from both sides of the plate.  His power dipped in 2023 but rebounded this year, moving to a .467 SLG and 16 homers after posting only a .351 slugging percentage and six homers in 455 PA in 2023.

Defensively, BA’s scouting report seems a bit more bullish than Pipeline about Quero’s future at catcher, as both sites note that the 5’10”, 210-point Quero will need to watch his conditioning to help his mobility.  Even if Quero tops out as an average defensive catcher at best, his offensive potential should still allow him to carve out at least a part-time role in the majors.

Korey Lee’s first full Major League season got off to a nice start, but he went into a deep slump as the season went on, and he has only a 60 wRC+ and a .207/.238/.341 slash line over 382 PA.  Known more for his glovework than his bat anyway, Lee has struggled in terms of blocking and framing, but he has thrown out 23 of 100 baserunners attempting to steal this season, giving him one of the better caught-stealing percentages of any catcher in baseball.

Even if Lee had done enough to take a firmer grasp of the everyday catching job going forward, the White Sox are naturally still going to look towards the future in the tail end of this disastrous season.  If Quero does indeed make his big league debut on Tuesday, he could share in some unfortunate history, as the 36-120 White Sox are one more defeat away from breaking the 1962 Mets’ modern record for losses in a season.

AL West Notes: Alvarez, Santos, Scherzer, Gamel

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Yordan Alvarez left today’s 9-8 Astros loss to the Angels due to a right knee contusion, and manager Joe Espada said after the game (to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome and other reporters) that the slugger is “pretty sore” and will undergo testing.  While sliding into second base during a third-inning double, Alvarez banged his knee on the ground and had to be replaced by pinch-runner Mauricio Dubon.

Knee problems have bothered Alvarez for much of his career, and he had arthroscopic surgeries on both of his knees back in 2020.  The Astros have primarily used Alvarez as a DH in a nod to these knee issues, and while there isn’t yet any indication that today’s injury is anything more than a bruise, it certainly isn’t a good sign to see one of Houston’s top hitters suddenly facing a health concern just a week away from the playoffs.  Alvarez is enjoying another tremendous season, with a 35 homers and a .305/.309/.564 slash line in a career-high 636 plate appearances entering today’s action.

More from around the AL West…

  • Gregory Santos could be activated off the Mariners’ 15-day injured list within the next couple of days, the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude reports (via X).  Between a season-opening lat strain and then a bout of biceps inflammation that has kept him sidelined since July 31, Santos has appeared in only six games for Seattle this year, delivering a 6.75 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work.  Santos has also tossed 5 1/3 innings during his six Triple-A rehab outings, with a 1.69 ERA but also with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six).  Acquired from the White Sox in a notable February trade, Santos hasn’t done much in his first season with the Mariners, but there’s a chance for some late heroics if he can return in time to help the M’s sneak into a playoff berth.
  • Speaking of injury-plagued seasons, Max Scherzer’s 2024 campaign officially ended when a hamstring strain sent him to the Rangers’ 15-day injured list yesterday.  Limited to a career-low 43 1/3 innings in 2024, Scherzer has already stated that he wants to return for an 18th big league season, and he told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry (X link) and other reporters today that he is open to returning to Texas.  Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford are all lined up as rotation locks or candidates for the Rangers next season, so on paper, there might not be room for a reunion with Scherzer even on a one-year deal.  That said, there’s also enough uncertainty within that projected depth chart that Texas might want still seek out more arms, and a pitcher with Scherzer’s track record still has plenty of upside even at age 40.
  • Ben Gamel was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to a fractured fibula, and in his weekly appearance on the Astros’ pregame radio show, GM Dana Brown confirmed that Gamel will “most likely” not be available for the postseason.  Between Gamel’s injury, Chas McCormick’s fractured hand, and the new uncertainty about Alvarez’s status, Houston’s outfield is suddenly facing depth issues as the playoffs approach.

Kodai Senga Shut Down For Remainder Of Regular Season

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Kodai Senga’s injury-plagued regular season has been officially ended by another setback, as the right-hander came away from a Triple-A rehab start Saturday with tightness in his right triceps.  Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) that Senga won’t be able to return before the end of the season, but since the injury isn’t considered overly serious, he might still be a candidate for a playoff roster should the Mets reach the playoffs.

This is the second triceps-related issue Senga has faced this year, as another triceps problem delayed his recovery from the capsule strain that sidelined the righty during Spring Training.  After overcoming those injuries and finally getting ready to make his season debut on July 26, Senga tossed 5 1/3 innings in his first start before suffering a left calf strain that led to another trip to the 60-day injured list.  Saturday’s outing was slated to be Senga’s only rehab start, as the Mets’ plan was to potentially have him return to the big league roster during New York’s season-ending series with the Brewers, with Senga working as either as an opener or as a reliever.

With that plan now scrapped, it seems entirely possible that we’ve seen the last of Senga for the 2024 campaign.  The Mets could still miss the postseason and make Senga’s status a moot point, or Senga might simply not be healthy enough to pitch unless the club makes a fairly deep run into October.  There is also the question of just how effective Senga might be after his long layoff, and whether or not the Mets want to risk putting a rusty pitcher into a critical postseason game.

Given how remarkable Senga was in his 2023 rookie season, it is a little remarkable that New York is in position to claim a wild card even while getting virtually nothing from the pitcher they viewed as their ace heading into Spring Training.  Senga signed a five-year, $75MM free agent deal with the Mets during the 2022-23 offseason, and immediately lived up to the hype created by his high-profile move from Nippon Professional Baseball to the majors.  Senga posted a 2.98 ERA over 166 1/3 innings in 2023, finished seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting, and was a runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Yankees Notes: Cousins, Trivino, LeMahieu

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The Yankees placed right-hander Jake Cousins on the 15-day injured list today, and called up righty Clayton Beeter from Triple-A to fill Cousins’ spot in the bullpen.  Cousins’ placement is retroactive to September 20, which is the day after Cousins last pitched, and was pulled after facing two batters due to what was eventually diagnosed as a right pec strain.

The IL trip ends Cousins’ regular season, but potentially not his 2024 campaign as a whole, depending on his recovery and how far the Yankees might advance in the playoffs.  As per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (X link), Cousins will visit with doctors tomorrow in New York and he could potentially start throwing within a week’s time.  Since the Yankees are on the verge of clinching the AL East and earning a first-round bye, that gives Cousins some extra time to heal up and get back to game fitness, provided that his strain isn’t too serious.

This is Cousins’ second IL stint of the season but his first on the Major League injured list, as he missed over two months of action when playing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barres earlier this year.  The Yankees recalled Cousins back to the Show shortly after he returned from the Triple-A IL, and the results have been largely tremendous.

Cousins has a 2.37 ERA and a 34.2% strikeout rate over 38 relief innings for New York.  While a .208 BABIP has helped paper over a subpar 12.9% walk rate, Cousins’ ability to miss bats and limit hard contact has made him a very useful member of the Yankees relief corps.

It has essentially been a return to the form Cousins showed with the Brewers in 2021-22, before a UCL injury and shoulder problems cut short his 2022 season and perhaps contributed to a 2023 season that saw him toss only 9 1/3 MLB innings.  After going to the Astros on a waiver claim last summer and then to the White Sox on a minor league deal during the offseason, Cousins was traded from Chicago to New York just after Opening Day, sparking Cousins’ career revival.

While Cousins had a successful return from an injury-plagued stretch of his career, the same unfortunately can’t be said of Lou Trivino, whose 2024 season now looks to be over.  Yankees manager Aaron Boone told Hoch (X link) and other reporters that Trivino is dealing with “shoulder stuff” and has been shut down.  Trivino will finish his season with 11 minor league innings pitched, in the form of five innings in as many appearances with Double-A Somerset and then six innings in six appearances at the Triple-A level.

Trivino hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022, as he missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023.  Some elbow inflammation delayed the start of his minor league rehab assignment until this past August, and now this shoulder issue has ended any chance Trivino had of getting any sort of MLB action under his belt before the regular season was over.

The Yankees chose to non-tender Trivino last November, but then re-signed him to a guaranteed Major League contract worth $1.5MM in 2024 with a $5MM club option for 2025.  That option seems like a lock to be declined, though it is possible New York again re-signs Trivino at a lower price tag.

In other injury news out of the Bronx, Boone told reporters yesterday that DJ LeMahieu has started to hit off a tee as he continues his recovery from a hip impingement.  LeMahieu isn’t expected to return before the regular season is over, but he could potentially be a roster option for the postseason depending on his health or New York’s roster needs.  LeMahieu has been out since the start of September with his hip injury and also missed the first two months of the season with a foot issue — in between, the veteran infielder struggled to a .204/.269/.259 slash line over 228 plate appearances.

White Sox Hire David Keller To Oversee International Scouting

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The White Sox have hired David Keller to run their international scouting department, according to a report by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The report was later elaborated on by James Fegan of SoxMachine, who noted that Keller’s title with Chicago will be special assistant to the GM. Francys Romero also chimed in to note that the club’s international scouting department is being restructured and that the club is expected to hire a director for the department in the coming months. Prior to joining the Sox, Keller had been a scout with the Mets since 2009.

While front office members and scouts changing organizations is a fairly common occurrence in the final months of the season and the first months of the offseason, Chicago’s decision to hire external for a high-level position is especially noteworthy as a potential sign that the club has begun to look for outside voices amid what appears likely to wind up as the worst season any organization has put together in the modern era by almost any metric.

The Sox tied the the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the most losses in AL history with a loss to the Padres last night, and the club would have to win each of their final seven games in order to avoid at least tying the 120-loss 1962 Mets for the most losses in the modern era. Meanwhile, the club’s current .232 winning percentage is already the worst of the modern era, and they’d need to win at least three of their remaining games to surpass the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, who went 36-117 for a winning percentage of .235. If they don’t win another game this year, Chicago’s 36 wins would tie the aforementioned 1916 Athletics club as well as the 1919 club for the fewest wins in a modern MLB season.

A disastrous season of this magnitude is bound to inspire reflection both inside and outside the organization, so it was no surprise when The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal published a lengthy article looking at the club’s failings. MLBTR readers are encouraged to read the report in full for a look at quotes from a wide-ranging group of sources regarding the state of the White Sox organization. In Ghiroli and Rosenthal’s findings, much of the blame for the South Siders’ struggles falls onto the shoulders of owner and chairperson Jerry Reinsdorf. The article notes that while Reinsdorf has a genuine passion for baseball and a desire to see the White Sox succeed, his old-school mentality and unwillingness to invest fully in advanced analytics and technology has held the team back in recent years.

Another concern the article points out regarding Reinsdorf’s ownership style is his extreme loyalty to his employees, which has helped to foster an insular culture within the organization that prevented the club from adapting to the current era’s norms and strategies in areas ranging from game planning for pitchers to defensive positioning. It’s also prompted Reinsdorf at times to go against what others in the organization think is best, such as when he promoted Chris Getz to run baseball operations rather than seek an outside hire or when he overrode then-GM Rick Hahn in the search for a manager to replace Rick Renteria following the 2020 season.

Hahn had his eye on former Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who had won a World Series championship with an organization that was widely-regarded as one of the league’s most forward-thinking, and according to Ghiroli and Rosenthal had begun looking into places to live in Chicago with an interview for the managerial gig scheduled. Instead, Reinsdorf stepped in and hired longtime Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed for the White Sox from 1979 to 1986 but had previously retired following the 2011 season, his final year in St. Louis. That left Hinch to sign with the Tigers, a club that was mired in mediocrity at the time but has emerged as a surprise contender for a playoff spot this year with a strong second half.

Considering the organization’s history under Reinsdorf, the hiring of Keller could be seen as the latest step towards accepting outside voices into the fold as they look to move past a brutal 2024 season. Previously, Chicago went outside the organization to hire then-Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol to replace La Russa after he vacated the managerial chair due to health issues, and Getz suggested when they fired Grifol earlier this year that they plan to hire another outside voice to replace Grifol headed into 2025, though Grady Sizemore has been acting as interim manager for the time being.

Padres Select Nick Ahmed

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The Padres announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of shortstop Nick Ahmed. To accommodate the addition of Ahmed to the club’s active and 40-man rosters, infielder Mason McCoy was placed on the 10-day injured list due to back inflammation while right-hander Jhony Brito was recalled to the majors before being placed on the 60-day IL due to a right elbow strain.

Ahmed, 34, was a second-round pick by the Braves back in 2011 but spent his entire big league career as a member of the Diamondbacks until this year. Ahmed spent parts of ten seasons in the desert, slashing a relatively lackluster .234/.288/.376 (73 wRC+) during that time. He still proved to be an incredibly valuable asset to the Snakes thanks to his elite glovework at shortstop, however, as evidenced by his +80 Defensive Runs Saved and +110 Outs Above Average at the position during his time with Arizona.

While he battled injuries throughout his time with the club that kept him from starting even 100 games more than four times, Ahmed nonetheless took home two Gold Glove awards and was among the better all-around shortstops in the game from 2018 to 2019 as he posted an 88 wRC+ and 7.4 fWAR in 311 games during that two-year stretch. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse starting in 2021, as he Ahmed would appear in just 218 games over the next three years while slashing a paltry .219/.272/.336 at the plate while his defense regressed in the field. Between Ahmed’s steady decline and the emergence of Geraldo Perdomo in Arizona, Ahmed headed into free agency following the 2023 season in search of a new home.

In doing so, he’s coincidentally begun something of a tour of the other clubs in the AL West. Ahmed started the 2024 campaign with the Giants after signing with the club on a minor league deal over the offseason. He appeared in 52 games with the club but slashed just .232/.278/.303 in that time before being released back in July when San Francisco decided to turn towards Tyler Fitzgerald at shortstop down the stretch. It wasn’t long before Ahmed found a new team, however, and he signed a big league deal with the Dodgers shortly before the trade deadline to offer the club some depth at shortstop amid injuries to Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas. Ahmed remained with the club for just under a month, hitting .229/.245/.292 in 17 games before eventually being designated for assignment and electing free agency.

After signing a minor league deal with the Padres just prior to the deadline for postseason eligibility on September 1, Ahmed is now set to join his third NL West club of the season and fourth of his career. With shortstop Ha-Seong Kim currently on the IL due inflammation in his right shoulder and no return in sight, Ahmed can provide the club with additional depth at shortstop behind Xander Bogaerts as the club gears up for the playoffs. Bogaerts was moved off shortstop over the offseason due to Kim’s status as a superior defender and struggled badly early in the year, but since returning from the injured list in mid-July has turned things around with a solid .296/.338/.436 slash line over his last 58 games.

While the club’s infield currently appears to be full with some combination of Luis Arraez, Donovan Solano, and Jake Cronenworth handling first base, second base, and DH on most days, Ahmed could push Bogaerts to second base on occasion against left-handed pitching to give Cronenworth or Arraez a day off in a tough match-up or late in games as a defensive replacement. Ahmed joins Tyler Wade, David Peralta, and Elias Diaz among the likely bench options for the club headed into the postseason.

As for Brito, the right-hander last appeared in a game at the major or minor league level over a month ago, so it’s hardly a surprise that he’s been nursing an injury. The righty’s first season with the Padres comes to a close with a 4.12 ERA and 3.72 FIP in 43 2/3 innings of work as an optionable multi-inning relief option for the club out of the bullpen, and the 26-year-old appears likely to enter 2025 poised to fill a similar role with the club going forward.

Orioles Activate Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias

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The Orioles announced this morning that they’ve activated infielders Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias from the 15-day Injured List. Outfielder Daniel Johnson and infielder Livan Soto were optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for the duo’s return on the active roster. Both Westburg and Urias are in the club’s starting lineup for today’s game against the Tigers, with Westburg batting second and playing second base while Urias bats eighth and plays third base.

The reinforcements are greatly appreciated for an Orioles club that that has posted a wRC+ of just 95 in September and ranks 17th in the majors since the start of August, when Westburg was first placed on the IL after suffering a hand fracture on July 31. The 25-year-old was a revelation for Baltimore in 101 games before hitting the shelf, building upon a solid but unspectacular rookie campaign in 2023 to slash .269/.317/.497 (131 wRC+) with 18 homers and 25 doubles in just 420 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between second and third base.

That strong performance quickly turned Westburg into an anchor for the Orioles lineup alongside superstar Gunnar Henderson and veteran slugger Anthony Santander and allowed him to pick up the slack for catcher Adley Rutschman, whose league average performance (104 wRC+) this year is the worst of his career to this point. Westburg’s emergence also made it easier for the club to take things slow with top prospect Jackson Holliday’s adjustment to the big leagues as he’s struggled through his first taste of big league action. With Westburg providing an above-average bat at both second and third base as needed, the Orioles were able to spend much of the early part of the season mixing and matching between Jorge Mateo at the keystone and Urias at the hot corner, with Westburg taking over whichever position was open on any given day.

Speaking of Urias, the 30-year-old has once again excelled in a part time role for the Orioles this year with a .252/.327/.427 slash line (117 wRC+) in 275 trips to the plate this year across 95 games, albeit with some questionable work at the hot corner that’s a far cry from the strong defensive performance that earned him a Gold Glove award back in 2022. Still, Urias’s return to the club’s infield should help further boost an offense that will now be able to rely less on Holliday, who has improved somewhat in his second stint at the big league level but is still hitting just .195/.253/.342 (69 wRC+) with a 30.9% strikeout rate in 49 games since rejoining the big league club at the end of July in place of Mateo, whose season ended due to elbow surgery. In particular, Urias’s return figures to help protect Holliday from left-handed pitching, against whom he’s struck out 36.6% of the time with a wRC+ of just 33 since returning to the big leagues two months ago.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Soto head to Triple-A. It was a brief return to big league action for Johnson, who went 0-for-1 in his lone game with Baltimore yesterday but had previously appeared in 35 games with Cleveland during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. The 29-year-old is now headed back to Triple-A, where he’s slashed a decent .259/.320/.448 in 500 trips to the plate this year. He’ll be joined in the minors by Soto, who was claimed off waivers from the Angels by the Reds this offseason but appeared in just one game with Cincinnati before being dealt to Baltimore at the trade deadline alongside outfielder Austin Slater. Since joining Baltimore, Soto has done well in a bench role with a .462 on-base percentage in 13 trips to the plate. While Soto sports an excellent .351/.400/.494 slash line in the majors for his career, that line comes from just 87 plate appearances across the past three seasons. The 24-year-old is a career .266/.362/.385 hitter at the Triple-A level, which is likely more representative of his true talent level.

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