The Orioles’ bullpen health picture keeps getting murkier, and three injured relievers are all heading toward additional medical checks.
Left-hander Keegan Akin is set to meet with Dr. Keith Meister next week for an evaluation of his elbow, according to the MLB.com injury tracker.
Closer Ryan Helsley will undergo more testing on his own elbow issue this week, while right-hander Colin Selby is scheduled to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the end of the month about his shoulder, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
Akin and Helsley both recently went on the injured list for the second time this season. Akin’s first IL stint came because of a groin strain that cost him the first month.
The 31-year-old has had a rough season overall, posting a 5.68 ERA with a 15% strikeout rate over 25 1/3 innings. That marks a clear drop from the combined 3.36 ERA and 27% strikeout rate he put up over the previous two seasons.
He’s in the final year of arbitration and is making $2.975MM, and his struggles plus the injury make him look unlikely to draw trade interest even if the 42-50 Orioles decide to sell at next month’s deadline.
Helsley’s first season in Baltimore has also been interrupted. The right-hander is dealing with an elbow problem for the second time this year, and his two-year, $28MM free agent deal has not started well.
He has thrown only 15 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs, while striking out 21 of 68 hitters faced, walking nine and uncorking three wild pitches. Helsley has a $14MM player option for next season, and that now appears headed toward being exercised, though a strong and speedy finish could still alter that outlook.
With Helsley out, Tyler Wells has gotten the first shot at the ninth inning. Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia have also been effective and could enter the mix if Wells isn’t available.
If Baltimore doesn’t rebound, any of the three could become trade possibilities. All three are under team control beyond this season, though each is in his 30s.
The Orioles were in a similar position with Bryan Baker around this time last year and moved him to the division-rival Rays for a competitive balance draft pick.
Selby has spent the entire season on the 60-day injured list. General manager Mike Elias said a couple weeks ago that the shoulder trouble was still lingering and that a return anytime soon was unlikely.
The club still won’t have a formal timeline until he’s reexamined by ElAttrache, but the situation doesn’t sound promising for Selby’s chances of contributing this year. He’s in his second full season with Baltimore after coming over from Kansas City in a July 2024 DFA trade.
The Orioles also made a move off the field, hiring former big leaguer Ross Detwiler as a roving pitching instructor in the upper minors, according to Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Detwiler takes over for Thomas Eshelman, who accepted the pitching coach job at TCU over the weekend.
The 40-year-old Detwiler pitched in parts of 14 big league seasons from 2007-22, spending the bulk of that time with the Nationals and finishing with a 4.56 ERA over 752 innings. The Orioles were not one of the 10 MLB teams he played for.
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What makes the situation trickier is the timing. Rogers would come with no long-term control, so any deal has to be judged against the price of the return, not just the name value on the other side. The Dodgers are still shopping for pitching help and have bigger targets they could chase, which only adds to the sense that Baltimore could be asked to part with a useful arm without getting the kind of package that makes a move easy to justify. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question is what happens once he is ready. Baltimore has enough uncertainty around the roster that Mountcastles next step is not just about health, but about opportunity, and there is already a sense that the Orioles could listen if the right trade angle emerges before the Aug. 3 deadline. For now, the club is still waiting on the same thing everyone else is - a clearer picture of when he is back, and what role he would actually have when he gets there. [Read more 🡒]