BALTIMORE—The Orioles added two players to the taxi squad for Tuesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers — utility player Terrin Vavra, who’s here in case infielder Jordan Westburg goes on the 10-day injured list, and right-handed pitcher Brandon Young.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said Westburg, who sprained his left index finger sliding into second base on Saturday, is improving.
“I do think Westy is doing really good,” Mansolino said. “We had to make a decision on him given the lineup tonight earlier. He’s closer than we thought. I think all indications are we’ll probably see him tomorrow, and if we don’t see him tomorrow, we will see him Friday.”
Vavra was added to the Orioles’ 26-man roster on May 24th but was designated for assignment the next day without appearing in a game.
Young, who was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in two starts earlier this year, missed a month with Triple-A Norfolk with a shoulder injury. The Orioles have not announced a starter for Wednesday night’s game against the Rangers.
“He’ll pitch. You’re going to probably see him tomorrow,” Mansolino said. “We can do it a couple of different ways. We can start him. We can do an opener, so we’re still kind of talking through all that. More than likely, we’ll see him tomorrow.”
It’s possible that if Keegan Akin isn’t needed in relief on Tuesday that he could open, as he’s done twice before, and Young could follow.
Sugano will wait: Mansolino said that Tomoyuki Sugano, who hasn’t completed five innings in his last three starts, isn’t going to start on four days’ rest on Wednesday.
In Japan, Sugano generally pitched once a week, on five days’ rest. He’s pitched on four days’ rest four times this season, five days’ rest eight times and on six days’ rest twice.
Sugano pitched seven innings at Seattle on June 3rd and has thrown 4 1/3, 4 2/3 and 3 2/3 innings in his most recent starts.
Mansolino dismissed talk that Sugano has been struggling.
“Not necessarily struggling. I don’t think that’s the right reason,” he said. “I think we’re just trying to give him as much extra rest as we can, kind of mirror the schedule he’s pitched on the last 15 years he’s pitched in Japan. It is something to be mindful of when a guy comes over.
“They’re on that schedule, and you push them over to that every fifth-day major league schedule. It does take a little bit of a toll. The pitching staff, the medical staff, they’re on top of it, and they’re doing everything they can to try to help him on with that.”
Mountcastle improving: First baseman Ryan Mountcastle was moved from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list on Monday to make room for backup catcher Chadwick Tromp.
Mountcastle is eligible to return on July 30th from his strained right hamstring. Mansolino estimated Mountcastle would be out eight-to-12 weeks when his injury was announced on June 7th.
“I’ll say this. Just talking to him in there and seeing what he’s doing, it’s probably going to be on the shorter end of that,” Mansolino said. “I think it would probably be closer to that, given everything goes well. There’s no setbacks.
“It’s always a 50-50 for me on whether a guy has a clean rehab and no setbacks. All goes well, my guess is we’ll probably see him closer to the minimum to what we were expecting as opposed to the longer stint.”
Orioles sign Stallings for catching depth: With catchers Adley Rutschman and Maverick Handley on the 10-day injured list, the Orioles signed Jacob Stallings to a minor league contract. ‘
Stallings, who was released by the Colorado Rockies on June 6th, is a .234 lifetime hitter in 10 big league seasons with Pittsburgh, Miami and Colorado.
The 35-year-old Stallings hit .143 in 28 games with the Rockies this season. He’s also pitched nine times, seven for the Marlins in 2023 when he had a 4.50 ERA.
Rubenstein checks in: Orioles control owner David Rubenstein, who attended the Friday night and Saturday games at Yankee Stadium, has checked in with Mansolino, who took over from Brandon Hyde on May 17th.
“Mr. Rubenstein? He’s awesome. He’s been here a few times,” Mansolino said. “He was on the road in New York. I would assume he’s probably up there [in the owner’s box]. I have no idea.
“He’s been in Baltimore a couple of times. He pops in all the time and checks on us to see how we’re doing. ‘What do you need?’ The good stuff, very supportive, very energetic. Really easy to talk to for the profile that guy has. He’s great to have around when he’s around.”
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