This, that and the other

One offseason addition to the roster returned to the Orioles yesterday while another trended backward.

Gary Sánchez was reinstated from the injured list and grounded into a double play, struck out, homered for the first time since Sept. 27 and was hit by a pitch. He’s 4-for-33 this season.

Maverick Handley went 3-for-40 before the Orioles optioned him yesterday, so offense isn’t flowing from backup catcher, but Sánchez brings some pop and he showed it yesterday.

“It's a presence when he steps in the box,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “He walks in there, he's got that big ol’ leg kick and he gets that thing cranking and he swings through a pitch, it does not feel good if you’re on the other side, I promise that.”

Tyler O’Neill is the concern. He signed a three-year, $49.5 million contract with an opt-out after the first season that doesn’t figure to be exercised unless he has a long, healthy and productive stretch of games.

O’Neill has appeared in only 24 due to neck inflammation and a left shoulder impingement, and he’s batting .188 (15-for-80) with a .605 OPS. The Orioles returned O’Neill from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk and he received an injection in his AC joint, which isn’t OK for a player hoping to return later this month.

The Orioles will keep O’Neill inactive for about a week and try again. He had 17 plate appearances with Norfolk and went 6-for-16, but the shutdown could push him back to the starting point of his progression.

Heston Kjerstad didn’t take advantage of a vacated right field. The Orioles optioned him on Tuesday after he batted .192/.240/.327 in 54 games, and he hasn’t played for the Tides. He wasn’t in yesterday’s lineup before the rainout.

Kjerstad reported to the Tides and is working with the hitting staff. He’s expected to be in the lineup soon, perhaps this afternoon.

* Jorge Mateo is eligible to return from the injured list on Tuesday, but he probably won’t be ready.

Mateo is experiencing left elbow inflammation after his collision with Kjerstad in right-center field on May 31. Luis Vázquez is serving as an extra infielder and made his Orioles debut yesterday as a pinch-runner.

The Orioles had Mateo in the lineup three times this month before shutting him down. He went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.

“The initial thing was that it wasn’t super serious, that it was more of taking care of him,” Mansolino said. “There was some soreness from the collision, and it was getting to the point where we probably needed to just kind of step on the brakes a little bit for him and give him a chance to be himself.

“We need Jorge to be Jorge Mateo and not a guy that’s banged up, and kind of what we were getting out of him and how he was feeling. So I think we thought the best way to do it was to give him a chance to kind of rest and let things heal.”

* Tyler Wells is experiencing his first Father’s Day this morning as a dad.

Daughter Ava Faye was born three months ago. He had a glove made in her honor, light blue with pink laces and her name stitched on it.

“It’s definitely going to be different,” Wells said, “but I think it’s always cool because it’s kind of the same sense of duty every day. The same thing that you bring to a ballfield. You’ve got a job to do when you wake up and you’ve got a job to do here. So it helps me keep my mind consistent.”

Wells hasn’t given up on the Orioles making a playoff run this summer.

“I know that the first part of the season was definitely rough and then you come back and you start to see all the guys and you start to see the attitudes change,” he said. “That’s the one unique thing about this rehab. The schedule is, they’re gone for a week, we’re here for a week, and then they come back and you kind of see the differences, whether that’s attitude, the way that they’re playing.

“I’m still watching every game every night while they’re gone. You definitely start to see a little bit of an attitude change and you’re starting to kind of see guys loosen up. I think that the best is still in front of us. I definitely think that we’re headed in the right direction.”

* Going into yesterday’s game, shortstop Gunnar Henderson registered a 1.217 career OPS against the Angels that ranked as the second-highest by a player with a minimum 70 plate appearances, according to STATS. He had a run-scoring single in the 6-5 win.

Too bad they’re not in the division.

Former Oriole Todd Zeile was first with a 1.356 OPS. Brent Rooker was third at 1.165, followed by Isaac Paredes at 1.134 and Bubba Trammell at 1.129.

Henderson’s six home runs and 16 RBIs are the most against a non-division opponent.

More Henderson: He’s gone 6-for-14 (.429) against left-handed pitching since June 7. He had six hits in his previous 39 at-bats (.154) off southpaws before this stretch.

* Jackson Holliday is experiencing one of the biggest jumps in batting average since 2000 in club history among players with at least 200 plate appearances, per STATS.

Holliday hit .189 last season as a rookie and finished yesterday with a .259 average. He ranks second to Melvin Mora’s plus-.084 after his increase from 2002-03.

Behind Holliday are Jonathan Schoop (plus-.070 from 2014-15), Chris Davis (plus-.066 from 2014-15), and Manny Machado (plus-.056 from 2017-18).

* Tomoyuki Sugano lasted only 4 2/3 innings yesterday and allowed three runs and six hits with two walks and two hit batters. However, he’s surrendered four runs or fewer in each of his first 14 starts, which is the fourth-longest career-opening streak by an Oriole starter in club history behind Jim Hardin (19 games in 1967-68), Wells (18 games in 2022) and Storm Davis (15 games in 1982-83).

Sugano has issued two walks or fewer in each of his first 14 starts, the second-longest career-opening run by an Orioles starter behind Josh Towers (23 games in  2001-02).