BOSTON - Interim manager Tony Mansolino sat down in the dugout this afternoon for his daily media scrum and said, “Whatever you guys have got, I’m ready to go.”
Orioles injuries tend to be the main topic. Notepads are recommended. Memories can't be trusted.
Infielder Jordan Westburg exited last night’s game in the first inning with discomfort in his right ankle and he’s out of tonight’s lineup. He’s avoided a second trip to the injured list and the Orioles will reevaluate his status after Wednesday’s break in the schedule.
“Came in sore today but not quite as sore as we thought he might be, which was a positive sign,” Mansolino said. “It’s hard to be overly optimistic until probably after the off-day, so I think we get to Thursday we’ll have a pretty good idea if we’re gonna kind of keep him day-to-day and keep him off the IL and what that kind of looks like. Doesn’t mean he’s gonna play Thursday, but if we’re able to just kind of suck it up four or five days and then play him.
“If Thursday he comes in and there’s not a lot of improvement, then we’re gonna have to consider the IL.”
Westburg hasn’t received X-rays on the ankle.
Catcher Adley Rutschman was removed from tonight’s lineup with discomfort in his right side. He missed about five weeks earlier in the summer with soreness in his left oblique, his first career stop on the injured list.
“It sounds like yesterday he had some general soreness in the opposite side that he injured earlier,” Mansolino said. “He came in today, he started his cage routine, he didn’t feel good, wisely stopped. So we’ll get him checked out tomorrow and see the severity of it and go from there.”
Rutschman didn’t play last night but the Orioles planned on resting him.
“It was all be design,” Mansolino said.
The season hasn’t gone by design. Health issues crop up randomly and games become much harder to win. A team can’t get on a roll when key pieces keep falling off.
“It’s not been fun,” Mansolino said. “The injury situation, the injury bug that we’ve had, it’s been pretty wild. At some point you feel like the baseball gods are gonna take their foot off our necks in some way. But nonetheless, we’ve still got a game to go play.
“I like the nine guys we’ve got out there. They might not be some of the regular names that we’ve seen here over the years, but I like what’s out there. I like what we have on the mound and I feel like we’ve got a chance to go play a good game.”
Jorge Mateo begins his injury rehab assignment Wednesday with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s expected to get most of his innings in the outfield.
Mateo is on the 60-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. He hasn’t played since June 6 and is batting .180 with a .509 OPS in 31 games.
The Orioles might have an update on closer Félix Bautista’s right shoulder injury on Friday.
Mansolino told the media in Houston that Samuel Basallo would serve as designated hitter Sunday, catch last night and DH tonight. However, Basallo is absent from the lineup after his second straight two-RBI game.
“I think having a day to just kind of review the day yesterday for him catching I think lended itself to maybe sitting today,” Mansolino said. “Just with these guys, with (Dylan) Beavers, with Basallo, we’re gonna play them probably a lot more than Coby (Mayo) did here initially when Coby got here, but I do think there is validation in these guys not getting thrown to the wolves completely here from the get-go. You’ve got to kind of see the big picture, be smart, not kill them right away. Just kind of weave them into it the right way.”
Catcher Ethan Anderson and right-hander Carter Baumler reported to Double-A Chesapeake today from High-A Aberdeen. Outfielder Reed Trimble moved down from Norfolk to Chesapeake.
The Orioles haven’t listed their four starters for the Astros series at Camden Yards.