The Orioles’ annual team photo came with the usual exercise in roster archaeology: who’s still here, who’s gone, and who made the picture by the narrowest of margins.
Wednesday’s session in home whites offered a clean look at the Opening Day group, even if the season has already chewed through plenty of it. Some names are still attached to the club in the most literal sense.
Zach Eflin, for example, is back from right elbow ligament-reconstructive surgery after one start and still has his locker. Chris Bassitt was in the shot, too, and he made his second start Wednesday night since being reinstated from the injured list.
Dean Kremer would have been part of the frame if not for the trade to the Twins after he was optioned at the end of camp. Brandon Young, who didn’t break camp with the Orioles, has been with the team since April 24 after Kremer landed on the injured list with a strained quadriceps.
Left-hander Cade Povich was optioned last week.
The bullpen picture changed just as much. Ryan Helsley is on the injured list for the second time, but he’s still around while he waits for clearance to move further along in his progression.
Tyler Wells was sent to the Rays in a surprising trade and will be back at Camden Yards this weekend after giving up two home runs against the Orioles Monday night at Tropicana Field. Dietrich Enns, who signed a $2.625 million contract in November with a $3.5 million club option, was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk on May 31 and has not had the season he expected.
After posting a 3.14 ERA in 17 games last year, he has a 6.75 ERA in 23 appearances for the Tides, which makes a late-season return to the roster a longer shot. Anthony Nunez, who opened the year on the Opening Day roster after Keegan Akin went on the injured list, is back with Norfolk after being optioned twice.
Yaramil Hiraldo has had a rough run of timing: he made the club out of spring training, went on the injured list after three appearances, was recalled Aug. 1 and then optioned Friday.
Akin himself is gone after elbow-reconstructive surgery, while Andrew Kittedge started another Orioles season on the IL but made it back in time. Félix Bautista showed up at the ballpark yesterday to throw and get checked out before a rehab assignment, though he was not in the photo.
At catcher, the Orioles had the look of a group built on instability and attrition. Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo were listed for the picture, and the source material itself captures the absurdity of the moment: “Oops.”
Rutschman was traded to the Red Sox at the deadline and hit his first home run Tuesday. Basallo was at Double-A Chesapeake Tuesday night on an injury rehab assignment, then came to Camden Yards the next day, took some swings, joined the team on the field and was reinstated from the IL.
Carlos Narváez and Yohel Pozo also made the photo. The Orioles have matched the franchise record of seven catchers, set last year, with Sam Huff, Chadwick Tromp and Jake Rogers also having been on the roster at various points.
The infield told a similar story of churn. Pete Alonso, Ryan Mountcastle, Blaze Alexander, Gunnar Henderson, Coby Mayo and Jeremiah Jackson were the names tied to the picture.
Jackson was the unlucky omission, optioned Wednesday for the second time this season. The move was announced long after the photo session.
Alexander is on the injured list with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand and is expected to start a rehab assignment by next week, but he’s still around and clearly enjoying himself in the clubhouse. Jackson Holliday started the season on the injured list after surgery in spring training to remove a broken hamate bone, then was reinstated on May 18.
Mountcastle’s path has been messier: a fractured left foot, a planned first rehab game at Norfolk, then an oblique strain that pushed his rehab to Sarasota. He spent a brief stretch with the club and later visited teammates during the trip to St.
Petersburg.
In the outfield, the reshuffling kept going. Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill, Leody Taveras and Taylor Ward were the listed names, but Ward was traded to the Mariners after the Orioles acquired him from the Angels for Grayson Rodriguez.
Christian Franklin, picked up from the Nationals at the deadline, steps into left field and into the photo in Ward’s place. The Orioles also added relievers Alex Hoppe, part of the return for Ward, and Cam Sanders, acquired from the Pirates for cash considerations, along with infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand, also obtained from the Reds for cash considerations.
Albert Suárez and Josh Walker were on the right shuttle at the right time and made the picture, too.
And then there were the faces left out entirely: Weston Wilson, Johnathan Rodríguez, Michael Siani, Maverick Handley, Trey Gibson, Nick Raquet, Cameron Foster, Cameron Weston, Jose Espada and Lou Trevino III.
The bigger roster puzzle is still hanging over the club. Keeping three catchers cost Jackson his spot, and it also left Holliday as the only second baseman until Alexander returns.
That creates the kind of thin margin that forces clubs to get inventive fast. Can the Orioles get through this stretch without another move, or without reaching too far for a solution?
In the press box, the ideas started to drift. If Taveras can play third base, why not?
Henderson did make three starts at second in 2022 and six more in the minors, though shifting him there would leave shortstop uncovered. Franklin came up as another possibility, even though he’s never played the infield, because he’s such a good athlete.
And the simplest answer of all may be the one that keeps this whole thing from getting stranger: Holliday has to stay healthy.
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