The Orioles made the first moves to expand their September roster. They retain the right to implement other changes, but they satisfied the curiosity of many by making a waiver claim, bringing back Heston Kjerstad after a lengthy absence from the majors and promoting one of their top prospects.<\/p>\n
Sorry, Albert Su\u00e1rez, but you\u2019re old news.<\/p>\n
Great to have him back again, but there are fewer Friends reruns than Su\u00e1rez arrivals and departures.<\/p>\n
Kjerstad injects more interest into a month that\u2019s already brimming with it. The Orioles are playing meaningful baseball. That\u2019s where most of the attention falls. But Kjerstad is a curiosity because he was the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft, has a lengthy history of injuries and illnesses, and will be out of options in 2027.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also turning 28 in February. The Orioles need to decide whether he\u2019s still a piece for them or would benefit from a trade.<\/p>\n
A market could build for Kjerstad based on his strong second half with Triple-A Norfolk and whatever he does after his promotion. Left-handed hitters with big-time power tend to draw interest.<\/p>\n
Manager Craig Albernaz will need to find ways to get Kjerstad in the lineup against right-handers but also keep playing Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo. Switch-hitting Leody Taveras is the better defender but could get bumped more often. And we don\u2019t know whether Luis Robert Jr., the waiver claim from the Mets, is destined for a platoon-type role or more regular duty.<\/p>\n
The team is much deeper even with just one extra position player. Blaze Alexander\u2019s reinstatement from the injured list, the emergence of Coby Mayo as a feared presence against left-handers and Christian Encarnacion-Strand\u2019s overall play at third base and in the heart of the order give Albernaz a wealth of options.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t the expectation after the trade deadline, but here we are.<\/p>\n
The Orioles might have strengthened their lineup against left-handers with Robert and right-handers with Kjerstad, but the former needs to build on a hot August and be much closer to his 2023 All-Star and Silver Slugger form, and the latter must hit as he\u2019s done in the minors.<\/p>\n
Kjerstad slashed .291\/.333\/.519 in 22 games in July and .311\/.400\/.527 in 21 games in August, but that was against Triple-A pitching.<\/p>\n
The futures of both players are murky. Besides Kjerstad being out of options next year, Robert has a $20 million option on his contract with a $2 million buyout.<\/p>\n
President of baseball operations Mike Elias appeared yesterday on MLB Now and talked about his past interest in Robert, whom he described as \u201cnot just any waiver claim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think this is a really potentially impactful player and we saw it as an opportunity when he was on waivers,\u201d Elias said. \u201cHe\u2019s somebody that we\u2019ve talked about acquiring the last couple of years when he was with the White Sox. Ultimately the Mets traded for him. But you talk about tooled out. Robert\u2019s had superstar tools since he\u2019s been on the scene. It\u2019s a plus defender in the outfield. Enormous raw power.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brings a right-handed presence that will be useful with our roster, and especially we\u2019ve got Tyler O\u2019Neill on the IL right now, so he helps bolster us from that side of the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elias also thanked ownership for the financial commitment and sending a \u201cbig signal\u201d that it believes in this team.<\/p>\n
(Imagine if the farm system is restocked, with the Adley Rutschman trade alone netting three players among MLB Pipeline\u2019s top 12 Orioles prospects and four in the top 25, and they earn the last Wild Card.)<\/p>\n
The Orioles will have to figure out how to make room for O\u2019Neill if he\u2019s able to return from a shoulder injury. That\u2019s a task that can be put aside until later in the month.<\/p>\n
Robert is the fourth Orioles player to wear No. 88 and the first since Albert Belle in 1999-2000. Rene Gonzalez was first from 1987-90, followed by Paul Carey in 1993.<\/p>\n
Luis De Le\u00f3n is a third lefty for the bullpen to go with Grant Wolfram and Josh Walker. The Opening Day roster had Wolfram and Dietrich Enns while Keegan Akin was on the injured list for the first time.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t imagine that many people back in March anticipated De Le\u00f3n\u2019s presence in the \u2018pen. First, he\u2019s a starter changing roles for the playoff push. That wasn\u2019t even a thought earlier this year. And second, De Le\u00f3n is working to improve his control after averaging 4.7 walks per nine innings this year with Double-A Chesapeake, 5.5 with Norfolk and 4.7 in five minor league seasons.<\/p>\n
The arm is electric, capable of unleashing 95-98 mph sinkers that generate weak contact. He\u2019s also got an impressive four-seamer and plus slider, along with a splitter and changeup. Sounds a lot like a starter, which he should become again after the season.<\/p>\n
Inconsistent mechanics lead to command issues, and that can be a particular problem for a team fighting for a Wild Card. A lot of trust is being placed on this young man. Can\u2019t stick your toe in the fire.<\/p>\n
De Le\u00f3n didn\u2019t have to wait long to make his major league debut, and in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the seventh. Jackson Holliday committed an error after hitting a game-tying homer in the top half of the inning, ending the Orioles\u2019 streak at 10 games without a miscue, and TJ Rumfield walloped a two-run shot on a slider. <\/p>\n
Welcome to The Show, kid. <\/p>\n
Don\u2019t ever count out Su\u00e1rez, who keeps losing his job with the Orioles and finding his way back to them.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never personal. It isn\u2019t like some sort of toxic relationship. It isn\u2019t worthy of a three-part Netflix documentary.<\/p>\n
Su\u00e1rez knows how the organization feels about him and how being out of options leaves them no choice but to designated him for assignment. He usually declines the outright so he can sign a new contract that likely compensates him for the trouble.<\/p>\n
In honor of Dolly Parton, the Orioles should play \u201cHere You Come Again\u201d as his entrance music. Make it happen.<\/p>\n
A nine-man bullpen would lack a long man without Su\u00e1rez, which does seem a tad strange. De Le\u00f3n\u2019s starter pedigree doesn\u2019t seem to matter. He was groomed for short relief. Su\u00e1rez is extremely important for this reason alone.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had fans asking whether there\u2019s room for outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. to make his major league debut. He could come up later but a spot would have to open for him. He has to be protected in the Rule 5 draft that\u2019s probably not happening due to the pending lockout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orioles made the first moves to expand their September roster. They retain the right to implement other…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,60,179883,305730,14557,462,7669,305731,82],"class_list":["post-881209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-featured","tag-heston-kjerstad","tag-luis-de-leon","tag-luis-robert-jr","tag-mlb","tag-orioles","tag-roch-kubatko","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}