Orioles right-hander Albert Suárez is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow after struggling a season-ending elbow harm, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. That ought to decide whether or not the 35-year-old is at risk of any sort of surgical procedure.
This was a misplaced yr for Suárez, who’d been a surprisingly helpful a part of the 2024 pitching workers. The journeyman began 24 of 32 appearances a season in the past, working to a 3.70 ERA throughout 133 2/3 innings. Suárez started this yr in lengthy aid. He harm his shoulder after one look and was recognized with a rotator cuff pressure that value him the subsequent 4 months.
By the point Suárez returned in September, the Orioles had been properly out of competition. He made 4 appearances, working 9 innings of two-run ball. Then got here the elbow irritation that knocked him out for the yr and raises questions on his future. Suárez is eligible for arbitration for the primary time in his profession. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz tasks him for a $900K wage. That’s greater than cheap if the Orioles count on him to be wholesome subsequent season, however any sort of severe harm might make them drop him from the 40-man roster.
Suárez is certainly one of 14 Baltimore gamers who’ll be eligible for arbitration. Ryan Mountcastle has the best projected wage of the group at $7.8MM. It’d be a shock if the O’s deliver him again for that quantity after an injury-plagued season. Mountcastle suffered a Grade 2 hamstring pressure on the finish of Might. That saved him on the injured record past the commerce deadline. He was wholesome for the ultimate six weeks and slashed .255/.293/.393 throughout 157 plate appearances. He struck out in almost one third of his journeys to the plate.
The 28-year-old had additionally struggled early within the season. He completed the yr with a .250/.286/.367 line whereas hitting seven homers in 89 video games. The Orioles used him as a part-time participant down the stretch, giving on a regular basis first base work to 23-year-old Coby Mayo. Even when neither Mayo nor rookie catcher/designated hitter Samuel Basallo had a great season, the O’s will in all probability search for a less expensive veteran bench bat to work behind these youthful hitters.
Mountcastle acknowledged uncertainty about his future throughout the last weekend of the common season (hyperlink through Wealthy Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball). The 2015 third-round choose famous that he “can’t management issues that occur” with the staff’s resolution however praised the coaches and teammates with whom he’s labored over his decade within the group. Baltimore will in all probability store him in commerce, however they might have a tough time discovering curiosity at that arbitration wage. A non-tender appears likelier. That might ship him to free company and make him an attention-grabbing rebound candidate for golf equipment on a less expensive one-year deal.
Elsewhere within the lineup, the O’s have a query mark in middle discipline. After Cedric Mullins was traded on the deadline, the Orioles performed Colton Cowser up the center. Whereas his small-sample defensive grades had been tolerable, his common velocity makes him a greater slot in proper discipline over a full season. Cowser had a horrible second half on the plate, hitting .178/.263/.340 after the All-Star Break. He missed time with a concussion and performed by means of damaged ribs that he suffered in June.
The O’s don’t have a ton of in-house options. Dylan Beavers performed solely within the nook outfield as a rookie. He’s an above-average runner who has some middle discipline expertise within the minors, but he performed extra proper discipline arising by means of the system. Former first-rounder Enrique Bradfield is a no-doubt middle fielder who hit properly in Double-A, however he batted .179 in 15 video games after a late-season promotion to Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll in all probability start the yr within the minors.
Jake Rill of MLB.com steered this morning that the O’s ought to search for an exterior improve, ideally one who hits from the proper facet. Cowser, Beavers, and Bradfield every hit left-handed. Harrison Bader suits that invoice in free company, however he ought to signal someplace that gives on a regular basis taking part in time on at the very least a powerful two-year contract. They might add a fourth/fifth outfielder like Jose Siri on an affordable one-year deal or search for a glove-first complementary sort on the commerce market. Tyrone Taylor (Mets), Jacob Younger (Nationals), Blake Perkins (Brewers) and Dane Myers (Marlins) are a number of speculative glove-first potentialities who shouldn’t require an enormous prospect return if the O’s go that route.
