The Orioles placed first baseman Ryan Mountcastle on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 23, this evening. Baltimore brought up utility infielder Livan Soto from Triple-A Norfolk in a corresponding move. The O’s also released right-hander Nick Avila, whom they’d designated for assignment last week.
Mountcastle departed last Thursday’s game with soreness in his left wrist. He sat out the final three games of Baltimore’s weekend series with the Astros. The O’s announced the injury as a sprain. Baltimore had a scheduled off day tonight. While it’s rare for a team to make an IL placement on an off day, there’s a three-day maximum for a retroactive IL stint. If the O’s had waited until tomorrow to put Mountcastle on the shelf, that would’ve delayed the retroactive start date to August 24.
That seems like an indication that it’s a minor issue. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s back when first eligible a week from now. Baltimore will likely turn to Ryan O’Hearn at first base with Eloy Jiménez at designated hitter in the interim. O’Hearn is having a strong season as the primary DH. Baltimore nevertheless brought in Jiménez in a surprising deadline swap. He has hit .304 in 18 games since the trade, yet it’s a fairly empty average. The former White Sox slugger has yet to hit a home run and drawn only a single walk in 57 plate appearances in an O’s uniform.
Mountcastle has been a good but not elite presence in the Baltimore lineup for the last four-plus years. He hit 33 homers in his first full season back in 2021. Since then, he has settled in as a 20-homer type bat. Mountcastle hits for good averages without taking many walks, generally resulting in slightly lower than average on-base marks. It has been more of the same in 2024. He’s hitting .265/.305/.425 with 13 longballs in 485 trips to the plate. Despite the decent overall production, he has been in a major slump of late. Mountcastle hit .225 with a .257 OBP and no homers this month.
Avila, 27, lost his spot on the 40-man roster when the Orioles called Cole Irvin back to the majors. Baltimore had claimed the 6’4″ reliever off release waivers from the Giants in June. Avila debuted with San Francisco earlier in the season, allowing 12 runs across 11 2/3 innings. He didn’t reach the big leagues with the Orioles. Avila was battling a shoulder injury at the time he was released by San Francisco. He didn’t return from the minor league injured list until the middle of August. He has not yet found his pre-injury form, giving up a staggering 10 runs while recording just four outs over three appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. Avila allowed just three earned runs per nine in 72 Triple-A frames last season.