The Orioles reinstated reliever Félix Bautista from the 60-day injured list today and optioned Cade Povich, who started last night.

Bautista appeared in nine injury rehab games, the last eight with Triple-A Norfolk. He threw at Camden Yards yesterday and got the news this morning that he’d return to the active roster.

Bautista hasn’t pitched in a major league game since July 20, 2025. He underwent surgery the following month to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

This was the second major surgery for Bautista, who had an elbow-reconstructive procedure in October 2023 that kept him out of the playoffs.

“He is close to full-go as he could be,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “I think first and foremost, just couldn’t be more excited to have Félix back. It’s been a long road for him, such a tough journey, and a lot of people have helped him along the way. Obviously, Félix doing a lot of heavy lifting and dealing with it. So it was a great moment to tell him. We had a bunch of people in the office that was helping along the way on his journey back. The long road back.

“So we’re pumped to have Félix back. But yeah, we’re gonna try to be as smart as we can with using Félix, but also, the game is chaotic and unpredictable, so you don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

Albernaz can’t predict whether Félix could close this afternoon.

“Depends how it shake out,” he said.

Trey Gibson is a candidate to fill the opening in the rotation after starting last night at Norfolk and allowing one run and two hits with nine strikeouts in five innings.

Tyler O’Neill was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for Bautista on the 40-man roster.

Reliever Ryan Helsley is shut down after appearing in only 17 games and twice going on the IL with right elbow inflammation.

Helsley recorded eight saves and posted a 4.11 ERA. His $28 million contract includes a $14 million player option for 2027.

The club ran out of runway for Helsley. The regular season ends Sept. 27.

The decision also came down to how Helsley was feeling and responding. He appeared in his only rehab game last Saturday.

“It’s setting him up for the best offseason he can, so he can come back the best version of himself for next year,” Albernaz said. “All those factors came into play, just, he was trying to get back and he just wasn’t responding the way he wanted to.”

“Helsley was doing pretty well in his rehab,” said president of baseball operations Mike Elias. “With the calendar where we’re at, we got to the point where we had to kind of decide whether to push the envelope a little bit and compress his time between outings and ramp him up and get ready for the big league level.

“Taking a look at that, just taking everything into account, we decided that might not be the wisest play. So, we’re going to shut him down basically and conclude his season. He’s healthy. We want to gear him towards 2027 at this point.”

Elias met with the media for about 19 minutes earlier today and provided more injury updates, including how second baseman Jackson Holliday’s return from a sore left wrist is uncertain and could depend whether the Orioles hang in the Wild Card chase.

Blaze Alexander should be back “pretty quickly” after going on the IL with lower back discomfort and returning to Arizona for the birth of his first child.

Jeremiah Jackson is leading off today for the first time this season. Christian Franklin, reinstated today from the IL, is in left field and Rece Hinds is in right. Leody Taveras is in center.

Samuel Basallo is catching and batting eighth.

For the Orioles
Jeremiah Jackson 2B
Pete Alonso 1B
Coby Mayo DH
Christian Encarnacion-Strand 1B
Gunnar Henderson SS
Rece Hinds RF
Christian Franklin LF
Samuel Basallo C
Leody Taveras CF

Trevor Rogers LHP

For the Brewers
Jackson Chourio LF
Garrett Mitchell CF
William Contreras DH
Andrew Vaughn 1B
Joey Ortiz 3B
Gary Sánchez C
Cooper Pratt SS
Luis Lara RF
David Hamilton 2B

Robert Gasser LHP