The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of catcher David Bañuelos from Triple-A Norfolk. He was already with the club on their taxi squad, Jake Rill of MLB.com points out, making him a natural fit to temporarily fill the roster spot vacated by this morning’s trade of reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays. Baltimore also appointed lefty Grant Wolfram as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader, so they’ll still have a full stock of relievers.
Bañuelos, 28, appeared in one big league game with Baltimore last year but flew out in his only plate appearance. That’s the only major league at-bat of his career. Assuming this is a short-term selection to avoid playing a man down in today’s doubleheader, Bañuelos might not get another opportunity. He’ll be serving as a third catcher alongside Jacob Stallings and Alex Jackson on an injury-ravaged Orioles roster.
Bañuelos has missed a fair bit of time on the injured list himself so far in 2025. He’s tallied only 64 plate appearances with Norfolk, going just 5-for-57 with a homer, seven walks and 21 strikeouts. The resulting .088/.188/.193 batting line is an eyesore, but Bañuelos posted a more solid .225/.360/.352 line in 22 Triple-A games for the O’s last year. He’s a career .197/.276/.362 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
Offense has never been a big part of Bañuelos’ game. He’s been touted as a glove-first catcher even dating back to his amateur days at Long Beach State. The Mariners selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, but he’s spent the bulk of his career in the Twins system. The O’s signed him to a minor league deal following the 2023 season, and he’s now in his second year within their system.