Orioles designate Julio Borbon for assignment

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  Roch Kubatko

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  July 26, 2016 6:09 pm

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The Orioles designated outfielder Julio Borbon for assignment this afternoon and will go with a 13-man pitching staff.
Hyun Soo Kim was activated from the disabled list and Ubaldo Jimenez was reinstated from the paternity leave list. The club optioned outfielder Dariel Alvarez last night.
Borbon was 2-for-9 with a run scored in five games with the Orioles. He’s valued for his speed and defense at all three outfield positions, but manager Buck Showalter wanted to keep 13 pitchers, including…

The Orioles designated outfielder Julio Borbon for assignment this afternoon and will go with a 13-man pitching staff.

Hyun Soo Kim was activated from the disabled list and Ubaldo Jimenez was reinstated from the paternity leave list. The club optioned outfielder Dariel Alvarez last night.

Borbon was 2-for-9 with a run scored in five games with the Orioles. He’s valued for his speed and defense at all three outfield positions, but manager Buck Showalter wanted to keep 13 pitchers, including right-hander Tyler Wilson.

The Orioles re-signed Borbon to a minor league deal on March 13. He was batting .289/.353/.373 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 20 RBIs in 83 games with Bowie.

Jimenez remains a candidate to start Thursday night in Minnesota. As I wrote yesterday, he held the Twins to one earned run (two total) over seven innings in his first start on April 7, walking none and striking out nine. He’s 5-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts) versus the Twins and is 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA in six starts at Target Field.

Jimenez left the team over the weekend to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter, Jimevi.

“It was a wonderful experience for me to be part of,” he said. “It’s something that you only get your first daughter once. But it’s good to be back. Those three days took a long time.”

The Orioles are going with a three-man bench tonight of catcher Caleb Joseph, outfielder Nolan Reimold and utility player Ryan Flaherty.

Kim is batting .329/.410/.454 (50-for-152) with 10 doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs over 46 games with the Orioles.

“We’re just happy that he’s healthy and we got him back,” said manager Buck Showalter. “I’m glad we waited on him. I’m glad we put him on the DL. We’ll see how it goes.”