Trades and injuries have torn apart the Orioles’ outfield, leading to a different kind of rebuild.
Cedric Mullins, Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn departed at the deadline. Colton Cowser went on the seven-day concussion list today, retroactive to yesterday, and Tyler O’Neill went on the 10-day IL with right wrist inflammation, retroactive to Wednesday.
In response, the Orioles signed Greg Allen to a one-year major league contract and he’s starting in center field tonight against the Athletics at Camden Yards. Ryan Noda is in right field and Dylan Carlson is in left.
Noda is making his third major league start in right. Carlson has much more experience but he’s in 0-for-28 and 2-for-35 slumps.
“We’ll figure it out as we go,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “We’ll play the hot hand. We’ll see what we’ve got. There will be a little platooning. We’re doing it today with Noda in right field.
“We’re just gonna mix and match and do the best we can with what we’ve got.”
Cowser suffered the concussion on a line drive to the wall in the sixth inning Wednesday in Philadelphia. He missed two months after fracturing his left thumb on March 30.
“It was a nice play. He had a lot of nice plays on that road trip,” Mansolino said.
“During the game, felt OK,” Mansolino said. “After the game, some symptoms started to show up. Medical staff got a hold of him. Very mild in nature is the hope right now. No timeline on him, but I would probably hope, speculate, it won’t be any more than the minimum.”
O’Neill underwent on MRI and the Orioles are “still sorting through opinions on that,” Mansolino said. This is his third stop on the IL.
“Not quite sure what to think about it yet," Mansolino said. "Hoping, cautiously optimistic that it’s not significant. Cautiously optimistic that it’s more of a minimum thing for us. We will see where that goes in the next few days.”
Mansolino managed Allen with Triple-A Columbus in 2019. Allen hasn’t played in the majors since 2023 with the Yankees.
“Long time ago. It was a really good player back then,” Mansolino said.
“Versatile. Can play center field, can bunt, can run, it looks like he can still do it. It looks like played pretty good in Iowa with the Cubs. Had an opt-out, opted out, this opportunity popped up for him. No connection to me. That’s not how he got here. They just called and said, ‘Greg Allen’ and I said ‘All right, I like Greg.’
“We’re looking for outfielders. We need to throw outfielders in the outfield. It’s the major leagues, so we’re trying to avoid having infielders out there.”
The Orioles passed on selecting Dylan Beavers’ contract. He remains with Triple-A Norfolk while batting .309/.423/.538 with 14 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 50 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts over 87 games.
Mansolino couldn’t comment on whether Beavers was under consideration.
“I’m not involved in any of that,” he said. “I know Mike (Elias) and the front office, they have a very specific plan in place for that and they’re gonna execute that regardless of the circumstances here.”
Ryan Mountcastle is in the lineup for the first time since May 30. He was reinstated today from the 60-day injured list.
“Feel good,” he said. "Rehab went well. The staff and all them, they were great. Just happy to be back.
"Just to see all the guys, catch up. Excited to be back."
To a team that looks a lot different.
"I saw some of these guys down there when I was rehabbing," he said. "A couple new faces, but I feel like I've played against or with a lot of these guys."
Mountcastle is the designated hitter, which gives Coby Mayo another start at first base.
“I’ve got to talk to Mounty about it,” Mansolino said. “I’m gonna try to play Coby as much as I can at first base. Listen, Mounty’s a two-time Gold Glove finalist. We know this guy can really play defense. We’re balancing a lot of stuff right now, but I don’t think Mounty minds DHing. I do want to get him out there and keep him in shape and keep him sharp, but without a doubt, the lion’s share at first base will go to Coby just because we’re trying to develop the kid. It’s a real thing right now.
“If he needs a break, we’ll throw Mounty out there. Or if Mounty just needs to get out there, he will. I think with T.O. going on the IL right now for a little bit, hopefully not too long, it does free up the DH for a while to just kind of let Mounty sit in there if he so chooses. But that will be a conversation with Mounty. I’ll let him kind of have a say in how he wants to navigate this right now.”
Kyle Bradish is making his fourth injury rehab start tonight and his second with Norfolk. There will be more, with the Orioles wanting Bradish to “go through the full load,” Mansolino said.
“Think about what a guy does in spring training in terms of how many starts they get in spring training. That would probably be the starting point right there.
“He’s not there yet. They get more than four in spring training. With as good as Kyle Bradish is, we’ve got to be smart.”
For the Orioles
Jackson Holliday 2B
Jordan Westburg 3B
Gunnar Henderson SS
Adley Rutschman C
Ryan Mountcastle DH
Ryan Noda RF
Coby Mayo 1B
Greg Allen CF
Dylan Carlson LF
Tomoyuki Sugano RHP