The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tucker Davidson from Triple-A Norfolk. Righty Bryan Baker was optioned to the team’s Spring Training complex in the corresponding move.
Davidson has a 5.98 ERA over 125 career MLB innings with the Braves, Angels, and Royals from 2020-23, and he came to Baltimore via a waiver claim off Kansas City’s roster last October. Davidson has spent the entire season at Triple-A, posting a 3.89 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.1% walk rate in 115 2/3 innings of work.
Pitching mostly as a reliever in the first part of the year, Davidson has started his last 11 Triple-A with Norfolk, returning to the rotation role he enjoyed for most of his three big league campaigns before he was almost entirely utilized out of the bullpen with L.A. and K.C. in 2023. It seems possible that the Orioles will have Davidson start tomorrow’s regular-season finale against the Twins, or at least chew up a lot of innings in order to save other pitchers’ arms for the playoffs. Baltimore is locked into the top AL wild card seed, so the Orioles’ last two games will be all about staying healthy in advance of their first postseason game on Tuesday.
Baker’s option means that he won’t be eligible to be part of the roster for the Wild Card Series or Division Series, should the O’s advance. With a 5.01 ERA in 23 1/3 relief innings this season, it didn’t seem like Baker was going to be part of a playoff roster anyways, even if his ERA was skewed by a very low 57% strand rate.