The Orioles announced that catcher Anthony Bemboom, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll stay in the organization and provide them with some non-roster depth behind the plate.
The O’s have Adley Rutschman firmly entrenched as their primary catcher and have had James McCann in the backup role for much of the year. Bemboom has been selected to the club’s roster twice this year, with each of those stints in the big leagues corresponding with McCann’s two trips to the injured list. He got into two games in April before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment. The same process has now taken place again over the past few weeks, with Bemboom getting into another four contests this time, bringing his tally for the year to six.
Bemboom has now appeared in 82 games dating back to the 2019 season with a line of just .161/.236/.260 to show for it. He’s generally fared much better in the minors, including this year. He’s walked more than he’s struck out in 89 plate appearances down on the farm this year while hitting .273/.371/.377 overall. Defensively, he has +3 Defensive Runs Saved in his big league career and positive grades from the framing metrics at FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.
He’s clearly comfortable with the organization, as this is the fourth time he’s chosen to accept an outright assignment since first joining the club on a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season. The O’s, meanwhile, clearly value experienced catching depth, as they have had players like Meibrys Viloria, José Godoy and Mark Kolozsvary in the organization at various points this year, along with Bemboom. With both sides seemingly content with the relationship, Bemboom will stick in Triple-A and await the next time he’s needed at the big league level.