Pregame Orioles notes on Sánchez wrist injury, Handley promotion, Mountcastle slump and more

Gary Sánchez had a soft brace covering his right wrist and hand this afternoon and no clue when he’d be able to ditch it and start playing again.

The Orioles put Sánchez on the 10-day injured list yesterday with inflammation in the wrist caused by a stress reaction.

“It’s been bothering me a little bit for a few weeks now,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Some days it’s doing good and then some days it’s not as well, so I thought it was the best decision to put a stop to it right now and get some rest and recover rather than continue to push through it. I think as I was trying to push through, I wasn’t helping the team as it was, so I think it’s better to get some rest right now, recover and come back ready to go.”

Sánchez is 3-for-30 with four RBIs and 12 strikeouts with the Orioles after signing for $8.5 million. The injury was impacting his at-bats.

“I think at the point of contact in my swing is when I started to feel the discomfort,” he said. “Not necessarily throwing or anything like that, but just with my swing. I really do think that was affecting me.”

Sánchez is eligible to return on May 8.

“It could be more, it could be less,” he said. “Right now, we’re just waiting and seeing. They gave me something to put on my hand to not move it as much right now, and I think after a week or so we’ll see how I’m feeling and go from there. See what the trainers think, and we’ll make a decision.”

The Orioles selected Maverick Handley’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk and he’s backing up Adley Rutschman while on the verge of his major league debut. He was hitting .346/.433/.558 with six doubles, a triple and a home run in 15 games.

“I’m waiting for those stats to start on the back of the baseball card for sure,” he said. “Awesome to be here and still waiting for the opportunity.”

Major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins informed Handley that he’d move from taxi squad to active roster.

“Yesterday was a whirlwind,” Handley said. “I think hearing those words, they definitely hit something that’s been waiting for a while. It’s been an awesome 2019 draft class. Me and Kade Strowd, coming up together, been with that guy how many years now? Brandon Young, I’ve known that guy for how many years now? It’s really cool to see those guys coming up with you. You feel like you’ve been there with them, and coming up all together, it’s awesome.”

Handley, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford University, got the official word after taking batting practice. It wasn’t the usual meeting in the Triple-A manager’s office. But the Orioles brought him to Baltimore knowing that Sánchez might need to go on the IL.

“It was 45 minutes before the game and like, ‘Here you go,’” he said.

“Tim Cossins came to my locker and was like, ‘Hey man, you’re here. Put on the cleats. Suit it up.’”

Manager Brandon Hyde saw Handley on the phone with a big smile on his face.

“Those are the special moments,” Hyde said. “Mav’s such a great guy and he’s having a good year in Triple-A and he can really catch. Had a good spring training for us. But we really like the person. So for him to get this opportunity, we’re happy for him.”

Being on the taxi squad numerous times is calming to Handley.

“I’ve heard the O during the national anthem,” he said, smiling, “so not so shellshocked by any means.”

Handley watched on television last year when backup James McCann took a 94.6 mph fastball off his face in the first game of a July 29 doubleheader. His nose was busted and he bled all over his uniform shirt, but he insisted on playing to keep Adley Rutschman from having to catch both ends of the doubleheader.

“The guy stays off the injured list,” Handley said. “I was like, ‘Hey, maybe then.’ So I always felt like I was right there. Credit to these guys, how Rutschman’s able to stay healthy. I mean, that is hard to do. I don’t think people give enough credit to how often that man is available.”

* Emmanuel Rivera is playing first base tonight in his first game with the Orioles since re-signing at $1 million to avoid arbitration, being designated for assignment and outrighted, and having his contract selected yesterday.

“I just thank God that I have the opportunity to be here and have a job to look forward to,” Rivera said via Quinones. “I knew it was only a matter of time sooner or later that I’d get another opportunity.”

Rivera apparently didn’t dwell much on a strange offseason with the new contract and losing his spot on the 40-man roster. He missed a large portion of spring training with a shoulder injury, ruining any chance of making the club, and went 20-for-65 (.308) with a .708 OPS with the Tides to earn the promotion.

“I wasn’t too conscious of that. At the time I wasn’t worried about it or concerned about that stuff,” he said. “Them having a conversation with my agent and knowing that I would potentially have an opportunity to play, that was all that mattered to me.”

* Ryan Mountcastle is serving as designated hitter tonight. He’s in an 0-for-15 skid and 2-for-31 in his last 10 games.

Mountcastle’s only home run was hit April 13. He’s hit two since July 7, 2024. Moving in the left field wall hasn’t sparked a power binge.

Hyde doesn’t think Mountcastle is trying too hard to clear it and falling into bad habits.

“I just think he’s really going through it,” Hyde said. “I thought he was hitting the ball hard early, not having success, and it looks like a guy who’s just trying way too hard and we’re trying to relax him, slow the game down a little bit. He’s not taking it to his defense. He’s playing excellent defense for us at first base. I consider it Gold Glove defense the way he’s been playing, so I give him credit for that. But we know the ability that Mounty has.

“He’s not chasing as much, too, as he had in the past. It’s just not really happening right now. It’s going to because he’s too good of a hitter for this to go on much longer.”

* The Orioles have transferred Trevor Rogers’ rehab assignment from High-A Aberdeen to Norfolk.