The Orioles have turned to the waiver wire for catching help, claiming Yohel Pozo from the Cardinals and sending him to Triple-A Norfolk. To make room on the 40-man roster, Baltimore designated outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez for assignment.
Pozo, 29, had been serving as catching depth for St. Louis and spent over 300 innings behind the plate for the Cardinals last year, with a few more added this season.
The defense has been viewed as a strength, but the bat has lagged behind. In his time with the Cardinals, he hit .233/.259/.358.
His minor league track record has been better - a .316/.340/.521 line at Triple-A from 2022 to 2025 - though this year’s .229/.256/.386 mark has been much quieter.
St. Louis had enough catching depth to squeeze Pozo off its roster, but Baltimore is dealing with the opposite problem.
Adley Rutschman landed on the injured list three days ago with left wrist inflammation, and Samuel Basallo followed yesterday with right shoulder inflammation. Rutschman and Basallo had handled most of the catching duties for the Orioles this season, so the club was forced to call up Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp.
For the moment, Huff and Tromp remain on the major league roster, while Pozo heads to Norfolk with a full slate of options still intact. That gives Baltimore another emergency layer behind the plate if one of the current catchers goes down, or if the team simply decides to make another move.
Huff and Tromp are both out of options, so once Rutschman and Basallo are healthy, either one could be the next player pushed off the roster and onto waivers. If Baltimore loses either catcher to another club, Pozo could end up sticking in that depth role.
The move comes at the expense of Rodríguez, a 26-year-old outfielder acquired from the Guardians in March. Since then, he has bounced between Baltimore and Norfolk, never quite locking down a steady big league spot. He’s hit .182/.333/.273 this season and carries a .177/.288/.301 line in his major league career.
The minors have told a different story. Rodríguez owns a .295/.386/.508 line in his Triple-A career, and Baseball America scouting reports have pointed to a familiar split: he can hammer fastballs, but spin has given him trouble. If pitchers know that, they can lean on breaking balls and let the at-bats unravel.
Rodríguez is expected to be on waivers in the coming days, and another team could take a chance on him and keep him in the minors for now. He is in his final option season and will be out of options in 2027.
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Strzeleckis path has been a winding one since 2022, when he began piling up major league appearances with Milwaukee, St. Louis and Cleveland, while also spending time at Triple-A with multiple organizations. For the Cardinals, the appeal is straightforward: add another arm to the system, keep the depth chart flexible and see whether a familiar name can give the relief group another option down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]