BALTIMORE–The Orioles placed left-hander Keegan Akin on the 15-day injured list because of lower-back discomfort. The move is retroactive to Thursday. Akin will be eligible to return when the Orioles resume play after the All-Star break on July 14th.
Manager Brandon Hyde said that Akin would be undergoing tests in Baltimore next week.
Akin, who is 2-2 with a 6.85 earned-run average in 24 games, allowed four runs, two unearned, on three hits and a walk while recording two outs in Wednesday’s 11-7 loss to Cincinnati.
“It was obviously bothering him enough to report it after the game,” Hyde said. “It was something that was lingering a little bit, but he felt fine going in and didn’t feel good after.”
On June 23rd, Akin gave up seven runs, six earned, in 2/3rds of an inning in a 13-1 loss to Seattle.
“I’m waiting to see how long he’s out,” Hyde said. “Hopefully this is not too long and we go from there.”
The Orioles recalled left-hander Nick Vespi from Triple-A Norfolk for the third time this season. Vespi, who is 3-0 with seven saves and a 1.71 ERA in 23 games for the Tides, wasn’t used in his two brief callups earlier this season. He was 5-0 with a 4.10 ERA and a save in 25 games last season.
“He really pitches well at Triple-A,” Hyde said. “He gives us a different look out of the bullpen…There’s an improvement in the sinker this year, which I’m happy about. A guy that takes the ball, wants the ball, went three innings in his last appearance at Triple-A. He’s not just a one-inning guy that can help us out. His number in Triple-A have been really good the last couple of years.”
Updates on Tate, Givens, McCann, Voth: Hyde said that reliever Dillon Tate would get a second opinion on his elbow. Tate, who’s on the 60-day injured list, has yet to pitch this season.
“We’re hoping that everything is clear and that he’s able to start a rehab assignment following that,” Hyde said. “It’s hard to tell. We’re waiting for the second opinion and we’ll go from there…We’d love to have him with us, but we want to make sure he’s right before he is.”
Reliever Mychal Givens, who’s on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation will go to Sarasota next week with rehab games after the All-Star break.
Catcher James McCann, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle sprain will catch complete games, probably at Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday and Sunday.
“We’re in a good spot. A few more boxes to check today,” McCann said. “Actually I’ve already done everything so it’s go back through it again one more time, run the bases, catch another bullpen, maintenance stuff.”
He hopes to play early next week.
Austin Voth, who has right elbow discomfort, and is on the 15-day IL, was supposed to thrown on Friday and have a side session on Sunday.
“We’ll see how he’s feeling after that,” Hyde said.
Ryan Mountcastle, who’s on the 10-day IL with vertigo continues his rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk on Friday and Saturday.
Hyde on All-Star voting: Hyde hoped that Adley Rutschman was voted as the American League’s All-Star catcher.
“I was hoping that Adley would get in and was disappointed that he didn’t,” Hyde said. “I’m very hopeful that he’ll be in the game.”
Running on Rutschman: The Reds stole five bases with Rutschman behind the plate on Wednesday. He’s thrown nine of 51 runners attempting to steal.
“That was a case of a really aggressive team with big time speed on the bases and weird situations where we had back-end leverage guys that can be slow at times,” Hyde said. “They picked the right pitch to go on. There’s a lot of first-and-thirds. It was an unusual game, and he had to hurry on all five. No concern there for me.”
New broadcasters: MASN is adding former Orioles Brad Brach and Mike Devereaux to its broadcast team. Brach and Devereaux will work as second analysts with Ben McDonald and Jim Palmer. Jason La Canfora will contribute to pre and post-game shows