The Orioles are including a well-known face to their bullpen.
Baltimore is reuniting with right-hander Jorge López, the All-Star nearer it traded final season, after claiming him on waivers from the Miami Marlins, the staff introduced Saturday afternoon.
López, who has struggled this season with the Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins, shouldn’t be postseason eligible as a result of he was not within the group earlier than Sept. 1. The Orioles designated right-hander Logan Gillaspie for task to make room for López on the 40-man roster. A transfer so as to add López, who hasn’t reported to the staff in Arizona, to the 28-man roster has but to be made.
Manager Brandon Hyde mentioned he hopes López can “feel at home” when he joins the Orioles and “pitch well for us” over the ultimate month of the common season.
“Lópey is somebody that a lot of us in that clubhouse are close with,” Hyde mentioned. “He had some really good moments in the first half last year. For me, he was the best closer in baseball with what he did, making the All-Star team. Great to see him a couple months ago in Minnesota, and we’re hoping he can help us down the stretch.”
López, an eight-year veteran who has pitched for 5 MLB groups, was an ineffective beginning pitcher for the Orioles in 2020 and 2021. He went 5-16 for the rebuilding membership and posted a 6.07 ERA in 121 2/3 innings in 2021.
But he transitioned right into a short-relief function in 2022 and had the most effective season of his massive league profession. He was the most effective relievers within the American League, incomes a visit to the All-Star Game because the lone participant to signify the Orioles. Through July, he saved 19 video games and posted a 1.68 ERA earlier than Baltimore traded him on the deadline to the Twins.
“He was a huge part. I think that first half, we wouldn’t have won as many games as we did without him,” outfielder Ryan McKenna mentioned. “He was a very solid presence coming in late in games and kind of found his niche there. Yeah, you can never not use any good bullpen guy. Just a quality pitcher, and we’re looking forward to having him.”
The commerce was controversial on the time given the Orioles had been in a wild-card chase, however López has since struggled, posting a 4.37 ERA down the stretch with Minnesota, a 5.09 ERA with the Twins within the first half of 2023 and a 9.26 ERA with the Marlins after they traded for him in July.
Reliever Cionel Pérez, a setup man for López final yr, mentioned he was “excited” when he discovered his good friend can be becoming a member of the Orioles.
“To see him get to that level last year, I think that was great for him personally,” Pérez mentioned by means of staff interpreter Brandon Quinones. “We saw once he got traded the results weren’t there the same way, so hopefully now as he comes back he can start to find some of that same success he did last year.”
Meanwhile, the haul Baltimore acquired for López, 30, seems to be even higher now that he’s again with the group. Left-hander Cade Povich, the most effective of three pitching prospects the Orioles bought again for López, is in Triple-A and ranked by Baseball America as Baltimore’s prime pitching prospect nonetheless within the minors. And Yennier Cano, an ignored a part of the commerce on the time, has blossomed this season into the most effective reduction pitchers within the sport with a 1.56 ERA.
While López can’t pitch within the postseason, he may bolster the bullpen down the stretch if he returns to kind. The Orioles are in want of relievers able to pitching in high-leverage conditions, particularly since nearer Félix Bautista was positioned on the 15-day injured checklist with an unspecified harm to his ulnar collateral ligament.
López is out of minor league choices and has yet another yr of membership management with 2024 as his third and last yr of arbitration.
Around the horn
- Hyde didn’t present any updates on Bautista. The right-hander is with the staff in Phoenix and joined the pitching employees for pregame stretching within the outfield. He has not been made out there to the media since he injured his UCL on Aug. 25.
- Hyde mentioned Ryan Mountcastle is feeling “a little bit better.” The first baseman was scratched from Friday’s lineup and absent from Saturday’s as a result of he’s “under the weather.” Hyde mentioned he hopes Mountcastle is on the market off the bench in Saturday’s contest towards the Arizona Diamondbacks. When requested if what Mountcastle is coping with is expounded to the vertigo he missed a month with earlier this season, Hyde didn’t reply and repeated that Mountcastle may very well be out there off the bench Saturday.
- Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Tyler Wells hasn’t pitched since Aug. 25 as a result of he’s coping with “a little bit of arm fatigue,” Hyde mentioned. Wells, the Orioles’ greatest beginning pitcher within the season’s first half, was optioned to the minor leagues after struggling mightily to start the second half. He was transitioned to a short-relief function in August and has pitched simply 4 innings up to now two weeks. “He didn’t quite bounce back like we were hoping, and hopefully he’s going to be out there soon,” Hyde mentioned.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com