The Orioles got Dylan Beavers back in the lineup Friday night, and they’re still sorting through a pile of injury questions as they open their series against the Brewers at Camden Yards.
Beavers, who left Wednesday night’s game with neck stiffness, is back in the leadoff spot. Baltimore also has Coby Mayo at third base, Christian Encarnacion-Strand as the designated hitter, Jeremiah Jackson holding down second and Leody Taveras in right field.
The rest of the Orioles’ lineup has Pete Alonso at first, Gunnar Henderson at short, Samuel Basallo behind the plate and Colton Cowser in center. Cade Povich gets the start on the mound.
For Milwaukee, Jackson Chourio leads off in left field, followed by Brice Turang at second and William Contreras at catcher. Andrew Vaughn is at first, Christian Yelich is the DH, Joey Ortiz plays third, Garrett Mitchell is in center, Luis Lara is in right and Cooper Pratt is at short. Dustin May starts for the Brewers.
There was also some notable bullpen movement behind the scenes. Félix Bautista threw on the field at Camden Yards on Friday afternoon, and manager Craig Albernaz said the goal was to let the medical staff and team “get some hands on him, see where he’s at and try to evaluate the next steps for him.”
Bautista has already made nine injury rehab appearances, with the last eight coming at Triple-A Norfolk. Albernaz said, “He’s been pitching well and recovering well.”
Ryan Helsley is a little earlier in the process. He has one rehab appearance under his belt with Norfolk, where he threw a scoreless inning Saturday. Albernaz said it “went well.”
“We’re taking it day-to-day with Hels,” Albernaz said. “We’re just trying to figure out the next steps and what that looks like for him and for us.”
The Orioles’ place in the Wild Card race could matter when the club decides whether to bring either reliever back, though Albernaz downplayed that part of the equation.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into play, that’s one of them,” Albernaz said. “We try to factor in everything when we make a decision, but more importantly, it’s where the player’s at and how they are feeling. We don’t want to force them into anything that they’re not comfortable with or physically comfortable with.”
He called the race a “small factor.”
Jackson Holliday is also headed for more evaluation. He’s meeting with a doctor Saturday to have his sore left wrist examined.
The doctor was unavailable during the week, so the appointment was pushed to tomorrow, and Albernaz said, “The inflammation’s still there. He still feels it, so we’ll get something tomorrow.”
Kyle Bradish is still working through opinions on his sports hernia and whether surgery is needed. He even played catch Friday, according to Albernaz.
“He actually went out to play catch today,” Albernaz said. “Keeping his arm going.
But the same thing. He’s gathering all the opinions to see what the next steps are.”
Blaze Alexander’s status is another one to watch. His baby was born Thursday in Arizona, and he’s flying back to Baltimore on Saturday. Alexander is on the injured list with lower back discomfort, but Albernaz didn’t shut the door on a return before the final game of the series.
“It depends on how he’s feeling,” Albernaz said. “He only had one day of work before he left, so anyone that has kids, when that baby’s born, when you sleep in the hospital room, it’s not the comfiest of sleeps.
Usually, it’s like a makeshift one-seater couch thing. I think that didn’t really help his back.
That’s why when he gets back here we’ll get hands on him and kind of reevaluate him. But I would not rule out him him playing.
I know Blaze wants to play. I know where he’s at.”
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