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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Orioles roster had a shakeup this afternoon, but it wasn’t the one that most had expected.
Jordan Westburg has been tearing the cover off the ball in six games in Triple-A Norfolk, but his return will most likely wait until after this road trip.
“You’ll see Westy play these next couple days most likely,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I think he’s probably the most likely one to be there Tuesday.”
Baltimore won’t rush him.
Instead, the honor of reinstated Oriole goes to Ramón Laureano this time around, who is back with the club after playing just two rehab games for the Tides. Ironically, he’s returning to Sutter Health Park, where he has appeared on rehab assignment before.
“I usually don’t like to do rehab, but I guess because of the injury, I had to,” the long-time Athletic Laureano said.
“Oakland Coliseum meant a lot to me, but like you said, we’re here in Sacramento. At the end of the day, I love playing anywhere, whatever field I play. For me, it’s just another day on a baseball field.”
Laureano’s return comes at a great time, facing Athletics lefty JP Sears. The O’s have notably struggled against southpaws this year, to the tune of a .545 OPS. While it hasn’t been a great start to the season against left-handers for Laureano, his career OPS against lefties is close to .800.
Plus, in May, it didn’t matter who he was facing. The veteran outfielder mashed in the month, with a .348/.423/.630 slash line, good for a 1.054 OPS.
Joining the recently reinstated Colton Cowser, the O’s suddenly have options in the outfield, even without Cedric Mullins and Tyler O’Neill.
“Once they all come back, I think you’ll have probably two standout lefties and two standout righties. I think you’ll mix and match them a little bit,” Mansolino said of the outfield potentially being more matchup-based.
“I think there’s going to be days where guys are tired or guys are banged up, or a guy’s hot or a guy’s cold and we’ll try to take that into consideration as well.”
There are, of course, plenty of considerations outside of the metrics, as Mansolino notes.
“I don’t think we’ll just want to 100 percent go off what’s on the paper all the time. I think we understand that there is a human element involved in this, and anybody who disagrees with that, I probably don’t agree with, personally.”
One right-hander that Mansolino won’t be able to mix and match with in the lineup is first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who is out for eight to 12 weeks with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, according to the skipper.
“We love Mounty,” Mansolino said. “He’s a huge piece of this for us … It’s incredibly disappointing. I feel for him, the group feels for him. But we’ve got to move forward, and we’ve got some good players here that will step up and pick up the slack.”
One of those players could be the recently promoted Coby Mayo.
“He’s getting an opportunity, and, you know, there’s a lot that goes into play there. We ultimately have to write the lineup to win the game that night,” Mansolino said.
If Mayo finds some rhythm at the plate, the role seems to be there for the taking. The 23-year-old has looked a bit more comfortable at the dish as of late, with hits in three of his last five games and some hard contact along the way. He’s in the lineup tonight, batting seventh and playing first base.
One middle-of-the-order righty returns and one goes. The injured list giveth and the injured list taketh away.
Breadcrumbs from the skipper
This weekend’s series is an interesting circumstance to say the least, with three games against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park, the Triple-A Home of the Sacramento River Cats, the San Francisco Giants’ affiliate.
“Seems like there’s a lot of people that are working here that are happy, you know? Looks like that’s a pretty good gauge,” Mansolino said. “Talk to some of the A’s staff that are here, and you know, they did a really good job considering the circumstances.”
Gunnar Henderson isn’t in the lineup tonight, but it’s just a day off for the shortstop. With a lefty on the mound, it’s a chance for Jorge Mateo to get a chance at shortstop.
“Just trying not to run guys into the ground,” Mansolino said. “I know these six games are bracketed by two off-days, but I do think it’s important. We’ve got this next set of 16 where, you know, we’ve got to give some of these young kids a day every once in a while.”
