It’s Cade Povich day as the Orioles’ top-ranked pitching prospect makes his MLB debut.
Another day, another highly touted prospect making his MLB debut for the Orioles. So what else is new?
Three days after Connor Norby arrived in the bigs for the first time, it’s Cade Povich’s turn this afternoon. The 24-year-old lefty checks in as the Orioles’ #9 prospect and their highest-ranked pitcher on that list, and he brings with him an intriguing arm with plenty of potential. Andrea SK detailed everything you need to know about the Birds’ newest arrival, the former Jorge López trade acquisition who has mowed down Triple-A hitters all season. While Povich isn’t viewed as a Grayson Rodriguez-level future ace, he certainly has the upside to be a back end of the rotation type of pitcher, and he fills an immediate need right now for an O’s pitching staff that’s been racked with injuries.
Speaking of which, there’s been no further update on Kyle Bradish, who would have been on turn to start today, but has been pushed back to an undetermined date. The good news, I suppose, is that the O’s didn’t put Bradish on the IL today when calling up Povich (instead optioning reliever Nick Vespi), which indicates they’re confident that he’ll be back on the mound sooner rather than later. Let’s hope so, because a rotation that has already suffered the losses of Dean Kremer, John Means, and Tyler Wells — the latter two for the entire season — can scarcely afford to lose one of its best arms for a while. When the season began, I didn’t imagine we’d one day be seeing a rotation that included Cole Irvin, Albert Suárez, and Cade Povich all at once, yet here we are.
Let’s see what the youngster can do against a veteran Blue Jays lineup. Toronto manager John Schneider has stacked his batting order with right-handers against the southpaw, with Daulton Varsho the only lefty swinger in the bunch, even though Povich has reverse splits for Norfolk this season (righties are .180/.263/.317, lefties are .250/.307/.427). Can Povich keep his good vibes at Triple-A rolling into the bigs?
Orioles lineup:
3B Jordan Westburg
DH Adley Rutschman
1B Ryan Mountcastle
SS Gunnar Henderson
RF Anthony Santander
LF Austin Hays
2B Connor Norby
C James McCann
CF Colton Cowser
LHP Cade Povich
Blue Jays lineup:
LF Davis Schneider
C Danny Jansen
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
SS Bo Bichette
RF George Springer
DH Justin Turner
CF Daulton Varsho
2B Isiah Kiner-Falefa
3B Ernie Clement
LHP Yusei Kikuchi