Ramon Urias

Orioles Activate Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias

By Nick Deeds | September 22, 2024 at 11:13am CDT

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.

Orioles Recall Coby Mayo, Activate Zach Eflin

By Nick Deeds | September 1, 2024 at 11:48am CDT

11:48am: The Orioles have officially announced the return of both Eflin and Mayo, and have placed Urias on the 10-day IL with a right ankle sprain. Additionally, the club selected the contract of catcher David Banuelos from Triple-A and designated outfielder Forrest Wall for assignment to make room for him on the 40-man roster. Banuelos has spent most of the season at Triple-A after being outrighted to the minors back in April, while Wall was claimed off waivers from the Marlins just a few days ago but will now return to the waiver wire.

7:38am: Rosters expand from 26 to 28 today, meaning every team in baseball will get to call up an additional pitcher and an additional hitter as they begin play today. There’s little mystery about who those players will be for the Orioles, as manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Brandon Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that right-hander Zach Eflin will be activated from the 15-day Injured List to start today’s game against the Rockies this afternoon. Earlier in the day, Weyrich reported that top infield prospect Coby Mayo was poised to join the club as their additional hitter when rosters expanded today.

It will be the second taste of big league action for Mayo, 22. The youngster got his feet wet in the majors earlier this month with a brief cup of coffee that lasted only seven games and 20 at-bats, and he hit just .059 without an extra-base hit in that brief stint at the big league level before being optioned back to the minors. His sensational .293/.369/.574 slash line at the Triple-A level this season has left him with nothing more to prove in the minor leagues, however, so Mayo now figures to get a more extended opportunity to prove himself in the big leagues as fellow rookie Jackson Holliday has. Holliday struggled badly in his first ten games in the majors back in April but has looked better since returning to the majors the day after the trade deadline with a .218/.275/.426 slash line that’s good for a roughly league average 98 wRC+.

As for Eflin, the veteran right-hander came over to Baltimore in a trade with the Rays prior to the deadline. After posting strong enough numbers last year to finish sixth in the AL Cy Young award race, the right-hander took a step back with Tampa last year, posting a pedestrian 4.09 ERA in 19 starts despite a solid 3.68 FIP. Things changed when Eflin got to Baltimore, however, and in four starts after the swap the righty looked nothing short of excellent with a 2.13 ERA and a 24.5% strikeout rate in 25 2/3 innings of work. Eflin has been sidelined in recent weeks by a bout of shoulder inflammation, but it seems now he’s healthy enough to return to action. The Orioles are surely counting on the righty to help keep afloat a beleaguered rotation that also lost Grayson Rodriguez to the injured list in the month of August.

While Mayo and Eflin were both expected to be the club’s extra players following roster expansion, it’s possible after last night’s game that two more spots on the roster could open up today as both right-hander Dean Kremer and infielder Ramon Urias exited due to injuries yesterday. Kremer was struck by a comebacker in the fourth inning yesterday and exited with a right forearm contusion, with Manny Randhawa of MLB.com among those to relay the news that Kremer’s initial x-rays came back negative. As noted by Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner, both he and Urias, who who suffered a sprained ankle after also narrowly avoiding injury when struck in the face by a pitch earlier in the game, figure to be evaluated further today to see if either player will require a stint on the injured list.

The planned returns of Eflin and Mayo to the roster coincidentally figure to cover for the losses of Kremer in the rotation and Urias at third base in the short term, but if either player requires a stint on the injured list the team will likely need to deep into its depth in order to fill out the roster. Deadline addition Trevor Rogers is on the 40-man roster and could return to the rotation is Kremer misses time, though he was optioned after posting a disastrous 7.11 ERA in his first four starts as an Oriole. On the positional side, meanwhile, non-roster veterans like J.D. Davis or Jean Segura could provide infield depth for the club if Urias ends up going on the shelf.

Orioles Notes: Trade Market, Urias, Zimmermann, Akin, Hall

By Steve Adams | January 30, 2024 at 2:47pm CDT

Orioles fans have grown increasingly frustrated with a listless offseason on the heels of last year’s division title and quick playoff exit. The O’s entered the offseason with a wide-open payroll outlook and deep farm system, ostensibly setting the stage for either a major free-agent pickup and/or a splashy trade to address the starting pitching. Neither has transpired to this point, although general manager Mike Elias insists it’s not due to a lack of effort on his behalf. The Orioles are “probably being as aggressive as any team out there” on the trade market, Elias told reporters over the weekend (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner).

Options on the trade market this offseason have been few and far between — particularly if, as one would expect, the O’s are reluctant to part with their glut of top-ranked, near-MLB-ready infield and outfield prospects. Dylan Cease has long been connected to the O’s, but many have begun to express doubt that anyone will meet the White Sox’ asking price before the offseason is up. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has spoken openly about his aversion to trading young starters like Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo. The Marlins are at least listening on a handful of starters (Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera among them), but the ask figures to be similarly steep there, as each has at least three seasons of control remaining.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are rife with young big league-caliber talents. Gunnar Henderson is locked in on the left side of the infield — likely as the long-term third baseman. Jackson Holliday, the former No. 1 overall pick who’s currently ranked as baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect, could debut as the team’s long-term shortstop this year at just 20 years old. Middle infielders Jordan Westburg, Connor Norby and Joey Ortiz have all been ranked among the game’s 100 best prospects within the past year. Ditto corner infielder Coby Mayo, who could be pushed across the diamond to first base, where the Orioles also have Ryan Mountcastle and former No. 2 overall pick Heston Kjerstad as options. Kjerstad can also play the outfield corners, while still yet another top prospect, outfielder Colton Cowser, is a deft center fielder.

Baltimore’s veritable embarrassment of riches on the prospect front has yet to lead to a trade, however. Fans might quibble with whether Elias is truly being as aggressive as he indicates, based on that lack of a move, but the top-ranking O’s baseball ops exec also exercised caution on the trade front.

“You can look back and teams make aggressive trades, and it can really set the franchise back if the guy shows up and he gets hurt, or if you trade guys and you miss out on their long careers,” Elias said, noting that there are just such examples in Orioles history.

Elias didn’t mention any specific examples, though as with any franchise, they’ve had their share of “ones who got away” (my words, not his). Eduardo Rodriguez and Jake Arrieta come to mind as one such pair (under prior leadership, before Elias was hired), while the Orioles’ acquisition of Adam Jones in exchange for Erik Bedard (also under the former front office regime) is perhaps the prime example of Baltimore being on the more favorable side of that proverbial coin.

Of course, the enviable stock of position-player depth the Orioles have cultivated under Elias could also be a catalyst for smaller-scale trades. The team might balk at the notion of trading someone of Westburg’s ilk, but the sheer volume of MLB-ready infielders could make current bench options like Ramon Urias available. MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko suggested as much on Monday, noting that a roster including each of Urias, Ortiz and Holliday would have some redundancy and could lead to Urias being squeezed out — though that scenario is framed in mostly speculative fashion. There’s no indication the Orioles are shopping Urias, but it stands to reason that other infield-needy clubs would have interest.

The 29-year-old Urias, who’s earning $2.1MM in 2024 and is under club control through 2026, has given the Orioles above-average offense and solid defense for much of the past three seasons. He’s a career .264/.330/.404 hitter (107 wRC+) who can handle any of second base, shortstop or third base.

Urias had plus defensive grades at the hot corner, in 2022 in particular, but has broadly rated as a capable defender at any of the three spots. The O’s also gave him 63 innings at first base in 2023. Though he bats right-handed, Urias has far better career numbers against righties (.278/.342/.416) than lefties (.237/.306/.380). That’s not ideal for a team seeking a righty bat to pair with a lefty around the infield, but a club that’s just looking for general infield help overall could well see its interest piqued by an affordable and versatile option like Urias. He alone wouldn’t fetch the Orioles the rotation upgrade they seek, but he could either be dealt as part of a package or could perhaps simply net the O’s some modest help for the farm system to help replenish depth after surrendering some prospects in a larger-scale deal.

On the depth front, the O’s did get some good news in recent weeks. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he’s in Florida for early workouts and expects to be a “full go” when spring training opens. Zimmermann underwent core muscle surgery in mid-October. He pitched to a 4.42 ERA in 21 Triple-A starts last season and has a lifetime 4.15 ERA in 229 2/3 innings at that level. He’s struggled to a 5.57 mark in 158 1/3 big league frames, but Zimmermann has a minor league option remaining and gives the O’s some experienced depth if injuries create an opening in the rotation.

Similarly, reliever Keegan Akin told Melewski and others that he’s “right on track” for spring training after missing the better part of three months last summer due to back troubles. Akin attempted to come back multiple times but experienced continued back issues each time. He’s since had the time to rest and rehab his way to full strength. The southpaw clearly wasn’t right in ’23, pitching to a 6.85 ERA in 23 1/3 innings, but he was a key bullpen member in 2022 when he piled up 81 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 49.3% ground-ball rate.

Assuming he’s healthy, Akin will give the O’s yet another southpaw option in the ’pen. Danny Coulombe and Cionel Perez are locked into spots after each avoided arbitration over the past week, and 25-year-old DL Hall seems likely to join them — if the Orioles don’t give him another look in the rotation. That decision could hinge on any future acquisitions; Elias said on Friday that the Orioles still view Hall as a starter in the long-term but was less clear about the southpaw’s role in the shorter term (X link via Kostka). Hall, a 2017 first-rounder and former top prospect, pitched to a 3.26 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates in 19 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in 2023.

Where Could The Giants Turn For Middle Infield Help?

By Anthony Franco | July 13, 2023 at 4:20pm CDT

The Giants lost second baseman Thairo Estrada for over a month when he fractured his left hand on a hit-by-pitch two Sundays back. San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last week that Estrada’s injury could affect the team’s deadline outlook.

“We’ve got to at least evaluate what we have in the middle infield,” Zaid said on Friday. “Kind of just keep an eye on the market and see if there’s someone that can be impactful there and weigh that against continuing to give opportunities to Casey [Schmitt] and Brett [Wisely].”

With Zaidi and his staff examining things, let’s take a look at some potential options. The middle infield market is light on apparent trade candidates. Most of the available short-term solutions are having average or worse seasons. Perhaps a longer-shot name comes available (we’ll take a look at a few potential options at the back of the list), but the likely scenario is that San Francisco sifts through stopgap types.

Paul DeJong ($9MM salary, controllable through 2025 via club options)

A quality everyday shortstop early in his career, DeJong fell off at the plate by 2021. He combined to hit .182/.269/.352 between 2021-22. The Cards optioned him to Triple-A last summer. He’s rebounded somewhat in 2023, putting together a .231/.302/.434 line with 12 home runs in 245 trips to the plate. Paired with his customary above-average defense, he reclaimed the primary shortstop job in St. Louis.

DeJong’s profile isn’t without flaws. He’s striking out in more than 30% of his plate appearances. His production has been very platoon-dependent. The right-handed hitter is mashing southpaws at a .269/.381/.500 clip but reaching base at a meager .275 rate against righty pitching. He could step in as a short-term replacement for the righty-swinging Estrada at second base while potentially taking a few at-bats against lefty pitching from Brandon Crawford at shortstop later in the year.

Tim Anderson ($12.5MM salary, $14MM club option for 2024)

MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently explored the White Sox’s dilemma regarding Anderson. He’s an All-Star caliber shortstop at his best — a threat to hit over .300 with double-digit homers and steals. That player hasn’t shown up in 2023. Anderson has been among the worst regulars in the sport, hitting .223/.259/.263 without a single round-tripper.

Where does that leave Chicago? They’re 16 games under .500 and preparing to move short-term players. Trading Anderson now would be an obvious sell-low, but this could be their last chance to get a return at all. A $14MM club option that looked like a no-brainer a few months ago is now more borderline. If the Sox are leaning towards buying Anderson out next winter, then a trade would be advisable. He only has two MLB starts at a position other than shortstop but would presumably have to move to second base if San Francisco were interested in buying low.

Cavan Biggio ($2.8MM salary, arbitration-eligible through 2025) / Santiago Espinal ($2.1MM salary, arbitration-eligible through 2026)

Biggio and Espinal have been pushed out of the everyday lineup in Toronto. Whit Merrifield has taken over as the primary second baseman. Biggio is bouncing between right field and the keystone. Espinal is covering multiple infield spots off the bench.

Neither player is hitting well this season, though they’ve both shown better in the past. Biggio was an above-average bat from 2019-20 thanks to huge walk totals. Espinal was an All-Star a season ago and combines defensive versatility with plus contact skills. The Jays don’t have to move either but could find one of them expendable, particularly if they can bring back immediate pitching help in a trade.

Ramón Urías (pre-arbitration, controllable through 2026) / Adam Frazier ($8MM salary, impending free agent)

Like Toronto, Baltimore enters deadline season as a buyer. The O’s have plenty of infield depth, however, so they could consider ways to deal from that surplus to address the pitching staff. Urías, 29, established himself as a regular last year when he hit 16 home runs while playing Gold Glove defense at third base. He’s hitting .261/.328/.396 with only four homers in 229 trips to the plate this season. He can play either second or third base and will reach arbitration for the first time next winter.

Frazier’s only two years older than Urías but much further along in his career. The former All-Star is actually Baltimore’s highest-paid position player at $8MM. He’s a bottom-of-the-lineup second baseman hitting .232/.299/.397 with 10 homers over 297 trips to the plate. The recent promotion of top prospect Jordan Westburg to join Gunnar Henderson in the everyday infield leaves fewer at-bats for the likes of Urías, Frazier and Jorge Mateo.

Nicky Lopez ($3.7MM salary, arbitration-eligible through 2025)

Lopez is a light-hitting defensive specialist who can cover either middle infield spot. He’s a career .249/.312/.319 hitter in just more than 1800 plate appearances. Lopez is tough to strike out but has bottom-of-the-scale power and hasn’t homered since 2021. Public metrics consider him an above-average defender throughout the infield. He’s controllable for two additional seasons, but a last place Kansas City team could put him on the market this summer.

Tony Kemp ($3.725MM salary, impending free agent)

Kemp is a clear trade candidate as a rental on a terrible A’s team. If Oakland can find any interest this summer, they’ll move him. A left-handed hitter, Kemp has only hit .197/.286/.283 on the season. He’s played fairly well of late after a dreadful first couple months, though. Going back to the start of June, the veteran has a .272/.359/.407 line with eight walks and only six strikeouts in 94 plate appearances. It wouldn’t be the most exciting acquisition, but Kemp could be a short-term option if the Giants want a stopgap until Estrada returns without sacrificing any notable prospect talent.

Longer Shots

Gleyber Torres ($9.95MM salary, arbitration-eligible through 2024)

Torres is one of the few Yankees’ hitters with slightly above-average offensive numbers on the year. The right-handed hitting second baseman owns a .251/.325/.413 line with 13 homers over 375 trips to the dish. Torres has strong strikeout and walk numbers but modest batted ball marks. He has rated as an average defensive second baseman by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast.

New York is a game back in the AL Wild Card picture. They’re likely to look for ways to upgrade the offense in the next few weeks. A Torres trade isn’t especially likely, but it’s not inconceivable. Oswald Peraza is in Triple-A and could soon be an option to step in at second base on a regular basis. The Yankees have short-term questions at third base and in the corner outfield.

The organization is also right up against the fourth luxury tax line at $293MM. They were reportedly reluctant to cross that threshold over the offseason; owner Hal Steinbrenner suggested a few weeks ago it wasn’t a firm cap but implied the team would want an impactful acquisition to go over that mark. Reallocating a few million dollars in a Torres trade could clear some flexibility for a subsequent acquisition.

Nolan Gorman (pre-arbitration, controllable through 2028) / Brendan Donovan (pre-arbitration, controllable through 2028)

The Cardinals would have to be blown away to part with either Gorman or Donovan. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak conceded yesterday the club would probably part with short-term assets. Gorman and Donovan have the chance to be core players for years to come.

Trading DeJong is the more straightforward path for St. Louis. They have enough infield depth it’s theoretically possible another club could sway them on Gorman, Donovan or Tommy Edman — likely by dangling high-upside young pitching. That’s probably beyond what San Francisco has in mind.

Orioles Notes: Urias, Givens, Rodriguez

By Simon Hampton | May 13, 2023 at 8:34am CDT

The Orioles will be without infielder Ramon Urias for another 2-3 weeks, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASN). Urias was placed on the IL during the week with a hamstring strain, and it appears he’ll be out a little longer than the minimum stint.

Urias was enjoying a productive start to the season, compiling a .278/.375/.381 line with a single home run over 112 plate appearances. He’s spent the majority of his time manning third this season, and defensive metrics haven’t loved his work there, with Outs Above Average marking him at -5 and Defensive Runs Saved at -3. It’s been a better story at second, with Urias worth 3 DRS at that spot.

One player the Orioles should be able to call on soon is Mychal Givens, with Hyde saying (via Jake Rill of MLB.com) that he’s “pretty close” to a return. Givens has made five relief appearances on a rehab stint in Double-A, and there’s a chance he makes one more appearance in the minor league before being activated.

Givens returned to Baltimore on a one-year, $5MM deal in the winter, but exited a spring game with a knee injury and is yet to make his season debut. He last appeared for the Orioles in 2020 when he was a quality late-inning relief option. The numbers have dropped off a bit since, but he still turned in a solid season last year between time with the Cubs and Mets, working to a 3.38 ERA over 59 1/3 innings.

The backend of the Orioles bullpen has been a strength this season, with Felix Bautista, Yennier Cano and Bryan Baker all sporting ERAs south of 2. The hope will certainly be that Givens can provide important relief innings in the future, but the strength of that trio allows them a bit of flexibility to ease the veteran back into the bullpen as he gets up to speed.

Taking a look at the rotation, and Hyde adds (via Kubatko) that the team hasn’t put a hard cap on top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez’ innings this season. The 23-year-old has made seven big league starts so far, working to a 5.08 ERA. A lot of the damage done there was in his first three outings, and Rodriguez has been sporting a far healthier 3.72 ERA over his past four starts, which includes getting rocked for six earned runs in Kansas City, so he does appear to be settling in nicely at the highest level.

In any case, while there’s no hard innings limit, the Orioles would surely be keeping an eye on things. Rodriguez pitched 75 2/3 innings last year, and 103 innings in 2021 (his career high). He’s at 33 1/3 innings so far this season, but it makes sense that the Orioles might start get a little more cautious as he approaches his career highs. It’s a tricky situation for the Orioles to navigate with the team 25-13 and in the thick of a competitive AL East division race, particularly with Rodriguez pitching nicely in his last handful of starts, so it’ll be interesting to see how far the Orioles are willing to push Rodriguez as the season rolls on.

Orioles Designate Luis Torrens For Assignment, Recall Drew Rom

By Darragh McDonald and Steve Adams | May 9, 2023 at 12:55pm CDT

The Orioles announced a series of roster moves today, recalling left-hander Drew Rom, infielder/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and infielder Terrin Vavra from Triple-A Norfolk. In corresponding moves, infielder Ramón Urías was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, left-hander Keegan Akin was optioned to Norfolk and catcher Luis Torrens was designated for assignment.

Torrens, 27, was acquired from the Cubs less than a week ago and was a bit of a curious fit on Baltimore’s roster. They already had Adley Rutschman and James McCann forming their catching duo and Torrens was out of options, meaning he couldn’t be sent down to the minors. Now Torrens has been cut from the roster without even getting into a game as an Oriole, just a few days after Baltimore sent cash to Chicago in order to acquire him.

The Orioles are no strangers to acquiring veteran depth and almost immediately designating that player for assignment, in hopes of successfully passing him through waivers and retaining him in Triple-A. They’ve done this frequently over the past year, with the aforementioned O’Hearn a prime example. First baseman Lewin Diaz and catcher Anthony Bemboom have also fallen under this category, and the O’s tried to do the same with outfielder Jake Cave but lost him when the Phillies claimed him off waivers.

The 26-year-old Torrens is a career .227/.289/.352 hitter in 799 Major League plate appearances between the Padres, Mariners and Cubs. He’s connected on 19 home runs, fanned at a 26% clip and drawn a walk in 7.8% of those trips to the plate. He regularly made contact during his three-year run with Seattle, evidenced by a 91 mph average exit velocity and hefty 45.7% hard-hit rate, but that quality contact didn’t necessarily translate into production.

Defensively, Torrens has drawn below-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved and most pitch-framing metrics. He has a below-average 21.7% caught-stealing rate in his career but did throw out nine of 28 attempted thieves (32.1%) as recently as last season. The O’s will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through waivers, which seems like the more probable path they’ll tread, based on their history with this sort of move.

As for Rom, this is his first ascension to the Major League level. He’ll make his debut whenever he takes the mound for the first time. The 23-year-old southpaw, a fourth-round pick in 2018, has pitched exclusively out of the rotation so far in Norfolk, working 31 1/3 innings with a 2.87 ERA to go along with impressive strikeout (24.6%), walk (7.7%) and ground-ball (55.4%) rates on the year.

While Rom isn’t considered to be one of the Orioles’ top overall prospect, he is considered one of the best pitching prospects in a system that skews more toward position players than arms. MLB.com ranks Rom 19th among Baltimore prospects but sixth-best among the team’s minor league pitchers; it’s a similar story at Baseball America, where he’s 25th overall but ninth among their minor league hurlers. He doesn’t throw particularly hard, sitting in the low 90s with his heater, but has typically posted better-than-average strikeout and ground-ball rates. Rom has more than held his own against left-handed opponents in his minor league career but has been far more hittable when facing righties.

AL Notes: Urias, Ortiz, Romano, Red Sox, Springs

By Mark Polishuk | April 15, 2023 at 9:00pm CDT

Ramon Urias is in concussion protocol after a scary incident in the Orioles’ 7-6 loss to the White Sox today. Urias was hit in the head by a Kendall Graveman fastball in the seventh inning of the game, but fortunately the infielder was able to leave the field under his own power. At the very least, Urias certainly doesn’t look like he’ll be playing in Sunday’ game, and it remains to be seen if a stint on the seven-day concussion-related injury list is necessary. Urias had a single and two walks prior to his HBP today, boosting the Gold Glover’s slash line to a productive .250./.388/.400 over his first 49 plate appearances of the season.

Infielder Joey Ortiz would be the roster replacement if Urias is sidelined, as MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko was among the reporters who noted that Ortiz was removed from the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk tonight. Since the Orioles don’t play on Monday, it’s possible the club might not make a roster move prior to Sunday’s game, in order to give Urias more time to recover and undergo further examination in the hopes that an IL stint could be avoided. Ortiz has yet to make his MLB debut, and is yet another talented youngster from Baltimore’s farm system — both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America included Ortiz near the end of their preseason top-100 prospect lists.

MLB Announces 2022 Gold Glove Winners

By Anthony Franco | November 1, 2022 at 6:47pm CDT

Major League Baseball announced the 2022 Gold Glove award winners this evening. This season was the first in which the league added a “utility” award to honor multi-positional players, in addition to the standard nine positions in each league. There are 20 winners overall, 14 of whom received a Gold Glove for the first time. Only two players who won last year claimed the award yet again.

Five teams had multiple winners, with the AL Central-winning Guardians leading the pack with four honorees. Cleveland ranked fourth in the majors (third in the American League) in turning balls in play into outs, with opponents managing a .274 batting average on balls in play against them. That excellent defensive group was an underrated part of the quality run prevention unit that helped Cleveland to a surprising playoff berth.

Here are the full list of winners:

American League

Pitcher: Shane Bieber (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: José Berríos (Blue Jays), Jameson Taillon (Yankees)

Catcher: Jose Trevino (Yankees), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Sean Murphy (Athletics), Cal Raleigh (Mariners)

First Base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Luis Arraez (Twins), Anthony Rizzo (Yankees)

Second Base: Andrés Giménez (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jonathan Schoop (Tigers), Marcus Semien (Rangers)

Third Base: Ramón Urías (Orioles), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Matt Chapman (Blue Jays), José Ramírez (Guardians)

Shortstop: Jeremy Peña (Astros), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox), Carlos Correa (Twins)

Left Field: Steven Kwan (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Andrew Benintendi (Royals/Yankees), Brandon Marsh (Angels/Phillies)

Center Field: Myles Straw (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Cedric Mullins (Orioles), Michael A. Taylor (Royals)

Right Field: Kyle Tucker (Astros), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jackie Bradley Jr. (Red Sox/Blue Jays), Max Kepler (Twins)

Utility: DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), 4th career selection

Other finalists: Whit Merrifield (Royals/Blue Jays), Luis Rengifo (Angels)

National League

Pitcher: Max Fried (Braves), 3rd career selection/3rd consecutive win

Other finalists: Tyler Anderson (Dodgers), Corbin Burnes (Brewers)

Catcher: J.T. Realmuto (Phillies), 2nd career selection

Other finalists: Travis d’Arnaud (Braves), Tomás Nido (Mets)

First Base: Christian Walker (Diamondbacks), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals), Matt Olson (Braves)

Second Base: Brendan Rodgers (Rockies), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jake Cronenworth (Padres), Tommy Edman (Cardinals)

Third Base: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals), 10th career selection/10th consecutive win

Other finalists: Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pirates), Ryan McMahon (Rockies)

Shortstop: Dansby Swanson (Braves), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Ha-Seong Kim (Padres), Miguel Rojas (Marlins)

Left Field: Ian Happ (Cubs), 1st career selection

Other finalists: David Peralta (Diamondbacks/Rays), Christian Yelich (Brewers)

Center Field: Trent Grisham (Padres), 2nd career selection

Other finalists: Víctor Robles (Nationals), Alek Thomas (Diamondbacks)

Right Field: Mookie Betts (Dodgers), 6th career selection

Other finalists: Juan Soto (Nationals/Padres), Daulton Varsho (Diamondbacks)

Utility: Brendan Donovan (Cardinals), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Tommy Edman (Cardinals), Daulton Varsho (Diamondbacks)

The Opener: World Series, Pujols, Orioles

By Nick Deeds | November 1, 2022 at 7:59am CDT

Welcome to The Opener, our new weekday morning series here at MLBTR! Nick Deeds will take you through three things to watch around MLB, with our typical hot stove leaning.

As the calendar flips to November, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world:

1. World Series Game 3 Rained Out, Improving Philadelphia’s Pitching Matchups

Yesterday’s opener mentioned the availability of Phillies aces Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler among the biggest obstacles facing Philadelphia headed into their three game homestand, and that obstacle has been partially removed due to the postponement of last night’s game: Aaron Nola is now in line to start Game 4 tomorrow on regular rest, while Houston is opting to maintain their rotation order, leaving ace Justin Verlander to start Game 5 with an extra day of rest, the same decision the Phillies have made for Wheeler in Game 6, with Noah Syndergaard likely set to take Nola’s place starting Game 5, potentially allowing him to pitch deeper into the game than he would have if he had pitched last night, as previously planned. Tonight’s game will see lefty Ranger Suarez toe the rubber for Philadelphia opposite Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr.

2. Albert Pujols Officially Retires

The retirement of Albert Pujols sees one of baseball’s all-time legends step away from the game, but it also poses a question that, as recently as this spring, would’ve been unexpected: How is St. Louis going to replace his production? Pujols slashed a phenomenal .270/.345/.550 in his final season, good for a 154 OPS+ that registers as his best mark since 2010, his age 30 season. Nolan Arenado declining to opt-out of his contract taking one major offseason question for the Cardinals off the table, but Pujols’s retirement combined with the impending retirement of longtime catcher Yadier Molina are going to leave St. Louis with plenty of work to do this offseason. After all, only Aaron Judge posted a better offensive season than Pujols in 2022 among pending free agents (min. 300 PA), and no catcher in baseball has the sort of illustrious reputation as a defensive catcher and game-caller that Molina has. Speculation has swirled early on in this this offseason connecting the Cardinals to the longtime catcher of their division rival Cubs, Willson Contreras. Contreras represents a particularly intriguing option for St. Louis, as he could help cover for the loss of both Pujols and Molina, giving the Cardinals a quality right-handed bat to slot into the DH slot on occasion while also shoring up a catching corps that includes Andrew Knizner and Ivan Herrera.

3. Orioles Have Infield Surplus Headed Into 2023

BaltimoreBaseball’s Rich Dubroff this morning discussed a coming logjam in the Orioles infield this offseason, suggesting that if no trades are made, Ramon Urias may be pushed into a utility role by the impending arrival of Jordan Westburg in addition to the presence of Gunnar Henderson and Jorge Mateo. Dubroff notes that this ignores players such as Terrin Vavra and Joey Ortiz, who could be squeezed out of playing time if no changes are made to the infield mix. The Orioles stepping into the infield market as a seller hoping to acquire win-now pieces would be an interesting development, with pitching being the clearest need for a team that lost John Means to Tommy John surgery early this year and had just one starter who made at least 20 starts with an ERA+ over 100. The Marlins stand out as a possible trade partner with their surplus of pitching, offensive woes, and tight budget, but there’s no doubt a variety of teams would be interested in adding a player like Urias should he hit the trade market.

Orioles Place Ramón Urías On IL With Knee Sprain

By Darragh McDonald | September 28, 2022 at 4:18pm CDT

The Orioles announced a series of roster moves prior to tonight’s game, recalling left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Beau Sulser and infielder Tyler Nevin. In corresponding moves, righties Joey Krehbiel and Jake Reed were both optioned to Triple-A while infielder Ramón Urías was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain.

Urías, 28, was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals in 2020 prior to making his MLB debut with O’s that year. He only got into ten games but had a nice showing in that small sample, hitting .360/.407/.560. He followed that up with 85 games in 2021 with a .279/.361/.412 line. That production was 15% better than league average, according to wRC+, helping Urías produce 1.1 wins above replacement, in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Here in 2022, he’s had a bit of a mercurial season which began with a dismal April. By the end of that month, he was hitting just .194/.239/.224, wRC+ of 33. He then got into a good groove, hitting .245/.293/.491 for a wRC+ of 119 from the start of May until he landed on the IL on June 10 due to an oblique strain. He returned in early July and tore the cover off the ball that month, producing a line of .329/.380/.575, wRC+ of 170. He hit a skid in August to the tune of .221/.262/.368 but then bounced back with a .258/.370/.371 showing in September.

Since there’s only one week left, Urías won’t be able to return in the regular season, meaning he will finish the campaign with a batting line of .248/.305/.414. The resulting 104 wRC+ is a downturn from 2021, but still above average despite multiple injuries. On the other side of the ball, Urías took notable steps forward. He produced eight Outs Above Average in 769 1/3 innings at third base and one OAA at second base in 147 innings. The work at the keystone is especially encouraging since he was below-average prior to this year. Thanks to the improved glovework, he’s amassed 2.7 fWAR in 118 games this year.

Urías will finish the season just beyond two years of MLB service time, meaning he still won’t be arbitration eligible and isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2026 season. Rougned Odor is heading into free agency, which could potentially open the door for Urías to become a more regular second baseman, with Jorge Mateo at shortstop, Gunnar Henderson at third and Ryan Mountcastle at first, though it’s also possible the club brings in reinforcements and bumps Urías back into a utility role.

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