BALTIMORE—The Orioles are handing out Grayson Rodriguez “Welcome to the Show” T-shirts on Tuesday night, and it’s looking as if Rodriguez will make his second major league start and first at home then.
“That is possible. I would say probable,” manager Brandon Hyde said with a laugh. “I hope we have 47,000 people for that.”
The first 10,000 fans 15-and-over will receive the shirts, which read “Gas ‘Em Up” on the back.
Ryan Mountcastle laughed as he recalled waiting a little longer in his career for his T-shirt. Mountcastle fans can get his bobblehead on May 27th.
“They’ll give me a bunch afterwards. They’ll give me a big box with like 20 bobbleheads, so that I can hand them out to my family,” he said.
He’s not expecting the bobblehead to resemble him; they rarely do.
“Bobbleheads are usually pretty brutal when it comes to looks,” he said. “They just say, ‘Here it is,’ and ‘we’re handing it out.’”
If he had a dream giveaway, it would be a Mountcastle golf cap or a Hawaiian shirt with a golfing theme.
Injury updates: Backup catcher James McCann, who’s on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left oblique muscle, is scheduled to catch seven innings on Saturday night for High-A Aberdeen. Hyde said the Orioles would “take it day-to-day and see how he feels after, see what else he needs.” Hyde didn’t rule out McCann returning on Sunday. “We’ll see what happens.”
Shortstop Jorge Mateo is out of the lineup for Saturday night’s game against the Yankees because of ankle soreness. “He’s been getting treatment on it the last few days. It’s nothing to worry about,” Hyde said. Mateo is available off the bench.
Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann, who’s at Triple-A Norfolk, suffered a cut on his right thumb that required sutures. He’ll miss his next start. He was scheduled to pitch on Friday night for the Tides, but the game was rained out.
Minor league update: Second baseman César Prieto had three hits and designated hitter John Rhodes hit a two-run home run as Double-A Bowie lost to Hartford, 6-5, in 10 innings. Left-hander Cade Povich started and allowed two runs on four hits in three innings, walking three and striking out three.