masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles’ decision to outright left-hander Paul Fry yesterday and open up a spot on their 40-man roster naturally led to speculation that they’re going to select the contract of someone at Triple-A Norfolk with an opt-out clause.
Pitcher Edwin Jackson remains the most logical choice based on need and the lesser degree of difficulty. The Orioles can remove a reliever without any hassle and bring up a fresh arm that can assist at any stage of a game.
Jackson has started in the past and is…

The Orioles’ decision to outright left-hander Paul Fry yesterday and open up a spot on their 40-man roster naturally led to speculation that they’re going to select the contract of someone at Triple-A Norfolk with an opt-out clause.

Pitcher Edwin Jackson remains the most logical choice based on need and the lesser degree of difficulty. The Orioles can remove a reliever without any hassle and bring up a fresh arm that can assist at any stage of a game.

Jackson has started in the past and is able to provide length. He’s thrown three innings for the Tides on two occasions, which qualifies as long relief in the majors. His mid-90s fastball and a slider could make him a weapon later in the game.

The lack of a minor league option has no bearing on the Orioles’ decision. If Jackson is good, they’re going to hold onto him. If he can’t get anyone out, he’ll be thanked and shown the door.

The team is off today and may wait until Tuesday to adjust the roster. Of course, it may do nothing, but the timing of Fry’s outright is at least curious.

“We felt the timing was good to get him through waivers,” said executive vice president Dan Duquette. “The reason we did it was the timing.”

Maybe it’s not curious. I’m not going to keep guessing.

Wright-Delivers-White-Sidebar.jpgMike Wright has options and threw 32 pitches yesterday in his third appearance in five days. Being an off-day provides some relief, so to speak, but he’d be a candidate to hop back on the shuttle.

Richard Bleier pitched in back-to-back games, but he’s the second left-hander in the bullpen. The Orioles may want to hold onto him, especially as he’s gotten better against right-handers. More on that later.

(And this is more of me guessing)

Wright made back-to-back appearances on Wednesday and Thursday, entering in the ninth and eighth innings. He replaced Tillman yesterday to begin the seventh and gave up Andrew Benintendi’s home run.

Wright also was charged with a run in the ninth after Bleier inherited his runner.

Meanwhile, the debate continues whether he should remain a starter in the minors or transition to the bullpen, where his upper-90s fastball might be a weapon later in games. He also could work in long relief, of course, with his starter’s background.

“That’s always been in everybody’s mind, including mine, that if it didn’t work out, that is where we felt like he could fall, but because of the premium and the need, we ask everybody to go down the starting role first,” said manager Buck Showalter.

“It’s kind of like the guy…you want to see if (Ryan) Mountcastle can play shortstop before you do something else. You take him at the premium position and then take it from there. I think the possibility’s always what everybody’s talked about, but not…The first topic when you’re talking about him as a pitcher, you want him to see if he can handle starting.”

I wrote yesterday that the Orioles signed left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge to a minor league contract and assigned him to Norfolk. They view him as a specialist and with good reason.

Left-handers are hitting .209 against Luetge in parts of four major league seasons with the Mariners. Right-handers are hitting .299.

Luetge was holding left-handers to a .225 average at Triple-A Louisville before the Reds released him on June 1. Right-handers were hitting .347.

Luetge made 63 appearances with the Mariners in 2012 and posted a 3.98 ERA in 40 2/3 innings. Left-handers hit .193 and right-handers hit .318.

So, you get the idea. He’s a specialist and the Orioles might be able to use him this summer.

I also wrote yesterday that left-hander Donnie Hart has registered a 4.41 ERA in 22 appearances this season. In the same amount of games last summer, he carried a 0.49 ERA and pretty much already had a job secured as he arrived in spring training.

The Orioles seem confident that Hart will improve his fastball command and get back into his previous form, when left-handers were 5-for-38 (.132) against him. They’re 9-for-29 (.310) with two doubles and a home run this season, though there have been some cheap hits along the way.

Meanwhile, Bleier’s importance grows as the other left-hander in the bullpen. He tossed two scoreless innings Saturday night before turning over the game to Ubaldo Jiménez in the eighth inning and recorded two outs in the ninth yesterday.

Bleier has allowed four earned runs (eight total) in 15 1/3 innings, with only one home run surrendered. Right-handers were batting .216 against him, a noticeable improvement over the .265 career average.

Xander Bogaerts struck out yesterday, another success for Bleier versus a right-handed hitter.

“Now he’s got a way to defend himself against right-handed hitters,” Showalter said. “Not getting into some repertoire changes he’s had in the last year or so. One of the reasons why we were intrigued by him to take him was because of that. And he’s always done well against left-handed hitters for the most part.

“He’s got his feet on the ground that he can kind of show us what he can do and he’s not looking over his shoulder after every outing like, ‘Am I out of here?’ And that’s tough, but that’s the way it is. He’s got a left-hander’s mentality. I like him.”

Bleier was one of those under-the-radar acquisitions in spring training, obtained from the Yankees on Feb. 21 for a player to be named later or cash – the fourth consecutive day that they made a move.

The Orioles added to their infield depth last night by acquiring Rubén Tejada from the Yankees for cash considerations and assigning him to Norfolk. It’s a minor league deal and he isn’t added to the 40-man roster.

Steve Melewski wrote about him last night while I was attending Manny Machado’s BaseBOWL event at Mustang Alley to benefit the Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Play Ball baseball program.

Tejada was batting .269/.345/.462 with seven doubles, six home runs and 21 RBIs in 37 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He had an opt-out and the Yankees traded him.

Tejada, 27, is a career .252/.327/.320 hitter in 616 major league games.

“He’s versatile. He can play shortstop, second base and third base, he’s got a good arm and he can hit,” Duquette said.

“He can be an asset.”

I was impressed by the turnout for BaseBOWL, the list of Orioles including Chris Davis, Kevin Gausman, Chris Tillman, Brad Brach, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley, Joey Rickard, Jonathan Schoop, Ubaldo Jiménez, Mychal Givens, J.J. Hardy, Hyun Soo Kim, Darren O’Day, Welington Castillo, Caleb Joseph, Trey Mancini, Francisco Peña, Alec Asher and coaches Wayne Kirby and Scott Coolbaugh.

“It’s always tough, especially after a game, to come out here and chat a little bit with some fans, but all my teammates always support me and they always come out here and they do their best to have fun and enjoy themselves out there,” Machado said. “I couldn’t ask for any better teammates than that.

“It’s for the kids. It’s always good to do what we can and give them something to support. We’ve been raising a lot of money and helping kids get out there to the ballpark and getting them back into sports. I know it’s been dying down a little bit. Anything we can say or do, that’s going to help these kids out a lot.”

Early estimates had the event raising around $80,000.

Machado wants to make an impact on the city, similar to what Adam Jones has done.

“I’m going to continue to do it,” he said. “It’s one of the things we have as baseball players. We have the opportunity to do these types of things. Anytime you can help kids out, just by a single word or a simple donation, it goes a long way and they remember it forever. We’re just trying to do our best to give back to the community, something that I never had growing up. Whenever you can do that, it’s unbelievable.

“That’s what we’re grateful for. We’re blessed to be in this situation to help out others. So, we’re going to do everything possible to try to do that and hopefully one of these little kids will be playing against me one day.”

Machado listed Kirby and Bundy as the top two bowlers. Where does he rank?

“I’m down low,” he said. “I suck. I still can’t get it. I’m an average bowler. I’m not going to throw myself down there. I’m average, probably better than Schoop.”