ST. LOUIS - The Orioles will spend Tuesday night without Tyler O’Neill, and the next step on his sore right shoulder is an MRI.
O’Neill is sitting out for a second straight day after hurting the shoulder while laying out for Richie Palacios’ sinking line drive to end Saturday night’s ninth inning. Manager Craig Albernaz said the club had hoped O’Neill would be ready by now, but the soreness has lingered.
“We were hoping that he’d be fine for today,” Albernaz said. “It’s still not turning the corner so we want to make sure that we get an idea of what’s going on in there, how to better attack it.”
The Orioles are also moving Luis Vázquez up from Triple-A Norfolk for the taxi squad.
O’Neill’s latest setback adds another note to a long injury history. He has landed on the injured list 18 times in nine seasons.
Baltimore also got an update on Félix Bautista, whose rehab work has now been shifted from Double-A Chesapeake to Triple-A Norfolk. Bautista made his first appearance for the Baysox on Sunday, throwing 22 pitches with 10 strikes. He allowed three runs on one hit and three walks while retiring one batter, and his fastball was sitting 95-97 mph.
“The biggest thing to me was that the velo was back,” Albernaz said. “That’s the first box you want to check with overall health is how hard he’s throwing the baseball and it’s matched up with what he’s doing previously, which it has, and the walks.
“We wanted him to throw more strikes, but also I can only imagine the nerves he had going out there the first time in the game setting going against another team.
“So it’s a lot there for him so I’m just happy he got out of it healthy. He got his work in, and I anticipate as he progresses through his rehab outings, his strike quality will get better just because of the nature of getting ack into the rhythm of throwing real games.”
Blaze Alexander is beginning his rehab assignment Tuesday at Norfolk as well. The utility player has been on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left hand.
Tuesday’s matchup also brought a heavy St. Louis connection on both sides.
Ryan Helsley, now on the 60-day injured list with right elbow discomfort, spent seven seasons with the Cardinals and was twice an NL All-Star there. He called the organization a special place and said he spent 11 years there, arriving as a 20-year-old and leaving at 31.
“It’s a special place,” Helsley said. “I spent 11 years with his organization.
I grew up here, got here in this organization as a 20-year-old and left at 31. I spent a third of my life here and a lot of great memories here.”
Helsley has started throwing bullpens, including one already in Baltimore, and says the plan is to keep building carefully.
“I don’t know how many I’m going to throw, but probably have two or three days down in between early on and hopefully keep progressing and go from there,” Helsley said.
He has been on the injured list twice with right elbow issues and has appeared in just 17 games this season. For him, the goal is simple: get back on the field before the year ends.
“I really want to,” he said. “I really want to.
I’m trying to take it day-by-day right now. When you have an injury twice in the same part of your body, it’s like, ‘All right, what did I do wrong?’
“Almost check the same box twice. Obviously want to be back and help us win. You’ve got to listen to your body and if you can’t go, you can’t go, but feeling better, just taking it day-by day and trying to build that platform and be able to come back.”
Jackson Holliday has his own St. Louis roots. He lived there for eight years while his father, Matt Holliday, played for the Cardinals from 2009-2016, and the off day gave him a chance to revisit old memories.
“I’m excited. It was good to have an off day here,” Holliday said. “Parents are here, grandparents, grew up here, got to come to a lot of really cool baseball games here.”
He spent part of the day driving around the area.
“Got to see the house I grew up in,” he said. “Just being able to drive around and remember everything.”
The Cardinals ties run deeper than just O’Neill, Helsley and Holliday. Andrew Kittredge pitched in 74 games for St. Louis last season and posted a 2.80 ERA, while catcher Yohel Pozo played 85 games for the Cardinals over the past two seasons before Baltimore claimed him off waivers on July 23.
There were a few other roster notes as well. Infielder Jaiden Lo Re, the Orioles’ No. 18 prospect, has been promoted from Single-A Delmarva to High-A Frederick.
Double-A Chesapeake catcher Ethan Anderson is back with the Baysox after a rehab stint at Frederick. Frederick utility player RJ Austin is on the 7-day injured list with right wrist discomfort.
And right-hander Zach Eflin, whose season ended with Tommy John surgery, reached 10 years of major league service time on Tuesday.
The Orioles’ lineup against St. Louis featured Jackson Holliday at second, Pete Alonso at first, Gunnar Henderson at shortstop and Chris Bassitt on the mound. The Cardinals countered with JJ Wetherholt at short, Iván Herrera behind the plate and Matthew Liberatore starting left-handed.
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