The Orioles went with convenience Wednesday after placing outfielder Dylan Beavers on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain.

Maverick Handley was at his locker at Camden Yards as the taxi squad catcher. The Orioles didn’t want to play shorthanded. They “recalled” Handley from Double-A Chesapeake and he watched a 7-0 win over the Yankees.

Much of the chatter that day centered on the team’s rotten injury luck, as if four-leave clovers in Baltimore are poisonous, and which outfielder would replace Beavers tonight.

Carrying a third catcher makes sense for a team that often puts Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo in the same lineup, and president of baseball operations Mike Elias didn’t shoot down the idea for later in the season, but it thins the outfield and the Orioles have managed just fine with two.  

We’ll list Handley among the possibilities. But who else?

It would be easier if we knew whether the Orioles wanted a left-handed bat to replicate Beavers. And whether a pure outfielder is desired, rather than viewing Blaze Alexander and Weston Wilson as coverage.

The 40-man roster is full, but space is easy to create. Nonetheless, let’s start there.

Reed Trimble

Trimble, 25, is a switch-hitter who was added to the 40-man in November to protect him in the Rule 5 draft. He’s a second-round pick in 2021 out of Southern Mississippi who returned to Triple-A Norfolk after a stint on the injured list with a hamstring strain and hit two homers in his first three games.

Trimble is 62-for-62 in stolen base attempts in the minors and had a .344 on-base percentage in 949 plate appearances before last night. He slashed .335/.401/.604 in 70 college games.

Also appealing is that Trimble can play all three outfield positions.

Johnathan Rodríguez

A right-handed hitter and different skill set.

Rodriguez went 0-for-7 with three walks and four strikeouts in five games with the Orioles. He was hitting .319/.425/.403 with three doubles, a home run and 14 walks in 21 games with Norfolk.

Rodriguez can’t back up in center but he can cover the corners.

Heston Kjerstad

Under more normal circumstances, this would be the obvious swap. The left-handed hitting outfielder replacing the left-handed hitting outfielder. The most likely path back to the majors for Kjerstad was going to involve an injury.

This is it, except that Kjerstad strained his hamstring late in spring training and is on a rehab assignment that’s lasted only five games.

Kjerstad was expected to be reinstated from the IL and optioned to get more at-bats and hopefully heat up. He hit .192/.240/.327 in 54 games with the Orioles last season and .149/.225/.248 in 27 with Norfolk before they shut him down for undisclosed reasons. He was scalding the ball early in spring training but slumped and went 8-for-41 (.195).

Having Kjerstad healthy again might not get him back to Baltimore this quickly.

Jud Fabian

Fabian, a second-round pick in 2022 out of the University of Florida, isn’t on the 40-man and he’s a right-handed hitter. He’s also a primary center fielder who can play anywhere in the outfield.

Fabian hasn’t hit much, slashing .217/.337/.407 in 422 games before last night and .219/.367/.391 in 40 games this season, and going 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts in spring training. He’s got some pop.

Ryan Noda

Noda isn’t on the 40-man but he’s a left-handed hitter who can play the corner outfield and first base.

The Orioles used him in seven games last season. He was batting .305/.414/.542 with two doubles and four homers in 19 games with Norfolk before last night.

Jhonkensy Noel

Also non-roster and a right-handed bat. A corner infielder and outfielder who isn’t hitting.

Noel began last night slashing .128/.211/.267 in 23 games. Probably not the time to unwrap “Big Christmas.”

Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Will Robertson are on the injured list and out of the immediate picture.

If non-roster non-outfielders are in the running, there’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand and José Barrero. Encarnacion-Strand is on the 40-man.

If my track record holds up, there’s going to be a player that I didn’t mention.

Last night’s Norfolk lineup didn’t include Trimble, Kjerstad, Rodríguez, Barrero or Jackson Holliday, who’s on his injury rehab assignment. It did include Fabian, Noda, Encarnacion-Strand and Noel.

*Pitching matchups for the Nationals series in D.C.:

Friday: RHP Shane Baz vs. RHP Zack Littell
Saturday: RHP Chris Bassitt vs. RHP Cade Cavalli
Sunday: RHP Brandon Young vs. RHP Miles Mikolas