Whenever Ryan Mountcastle’s coronary heart charge went up, he started to really feel light-headed, dizzy and nauseated. The emotions elevated every time the primary baseman stepped within the batter’s field for the Orioles. Hitting, already a troublesome process, felt unattainable.
Having missed a month after experiencing vertigo, Mountcastle rejoined the Orioles on Sunday for the ultimate sport earlier than the All-Star break, activated off the injured listing with left-hander Bruce Zimmermann optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle, 26, final performed for Baltimore on June 8, however he believes he was already coping with signs then. In his ultimate two video games, each in Milwaukee, Mountcastle went hitless in eight at-bats with 5 strikeouts.
“After the last game, I was like, ‘I think there’s something wrong,’” he stated Sunday within the guests’ clubhouse at Minnesota’s Target Field. “This feels like the longest I’ve ever gone without playing, and it wasn’t fun at all. Just happy to be back and to feel like a normal human again.”
Mountcastle had maybe the perfect first day again at work after an extended layoff, pinch-hitting within the fifth inning, delivering an RBI single and exiting for a pinch-runner. The knock gave Baltimore a 4-1 lead in a sport it will definitely gained 15-2, ending the primary half on a five-game successful streak.
“That was awesome: one swing, base hit, gets an RBI,” supervisor Brandon Hyde stated. “Happy to see he was ready to go. … That was a big hit for us at the time, a huge hit. Kind of kept the momentum going in that inning and led to some more runs.”
After his difficulties in Milwaukee, Mountcastle remained on the Orioles’ roster for the subsequent three video games however didn’t seem in a sport earlier than touchdown on the IL. He stated he had no historical past of vertigo earlier than this expertise, and he’s “praying” he gained’t face it once more.
“I felt like the ball was a pea size, and it was just blowing by me for a couple games there,” he stated, “and I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’”
To deal with the signs, he took remedy and did epley maneuvers, a collection of head actions designed to alleviate signs of vertigo. Mountcastle spent per week on the injured listing earlier than becoming a member of Triple-A Norfolk for a rehabilitation task, acknowledging he “still felt a little weird” throughout his first week with the Tides, during which he went 0-for-14 with three walks and 6 strikeouts. But he started to have a way of normalcy “a week or so ago,” and it confirmed in his play. Mountcastle recorded hits in seven of his ultimate eight rehab video games, batting .300 with a house run and a .717 OPS, although he nonetheless struck out in additional than 1 / 4 of his plate appearances.
During Mountcastle’s rehab, Hyde was incessantly coy about his potential return. Before Saturday’s sport, Hyde echoed his earlier feedback, saying the group was taking a “day-to-day” method with Mountcastle. Sunday, he acknowledged the uncertainty of Mountcastle’s scenario made it troublesome to forecast.
“I felt terrible for him,” Hyde stated. “The whole team did, and I thought our guys did a great job of kind of rallying around him and giving him some space and some time that he needed. He was down in Norfolk for a while and trying to get back into the swing of things a little bit. I know he’s been feeling better here as of late, and he feels great today.”
The Orioles activated Mountcastle on the penultimate day of his 20-day rehab task, although he was out of the lineup for Sunday’s collection finale in opposition to the Minnesota Twins. At the time he went on the IL, Mountcastle led the Orioles with 11 dwelling runs. But he had slumped even earlier than his struggles in Milwaukee, batting .180/.241/.310 in his earlier 27 video games. In his ultimate 65 plate appearances earlier than occurring the IL, Mountcastle struck out 20 instances, batting .158 with one dwelling run and a .459 OPS.
In his absence, Ryan O’Hearn secured the Orioles’ first base place. Since adjusting his hand place and posture in late May, O’Hearn is batting .327 and slugging .551, with the left-handed hitter sometimes serving as Baltimore’s cleanup hitter in opposition to right-handed starters however sitting in opposition to lefties.
Before occurring the IL, Mountcastle, a right-hander hitter, posted a 1.017 OPS off lefties, in contrast with a .539 mark off right-handers, suggesting the potential for a platoon scenario; that confirmed within the fifth inning when Mountcastle pinch-hit for O’Hearn in opposition to a left-handed reliever. Asked what Mountcastle’s return means for O’Hearn, Hyde replied, “Not much.”
“Ryan [O’Hearn] has been swinging the bat extremely well,” Hyde stated. “He’s made a start against almost every right-handed starter so far, and Ryan’s swung the bat outstanding here the last month, month and a half. Done a great job. So adding Mounty just gives us another player, another good player, a guy that’s hit some homers, done some things in this league. But yeah, a good problem to have, a bunch of good players. But O’Hearn keeps doing what he’s doing, I’m not going to take him out.”
Hyde has stated not too long ago he has 13 place gamers he desires to present at-bats, and with Mountcastle changing Zimmermann, a Baltimore-area native who had been offering size out of the bullpen, Hyde has 14 for now.
“It was definitely frustrating, and obviously, I want to be on the team,” Mountcastle stated. “We’re playing really well and wanted to contribute. It just is what it is. I’m just happy to be back now.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com