NEW YORK — The Orioles on Wednesday selected the contract of left-hander Cole Irvin from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned right-hander Dillon Tate. They also designated righty Nick Avila for assignment to create room on their 40-man roster. Irvin will start against the New York Mets in their series finale.
A spot in the rotation opened up Tuesday when Zach Eflin couldn’t shake off a nagging pain in his shoulder he had experienced since his previous start. The Orioles called up pitching prospect Cade Povich but he wasn’t on normal rest, requiring Irvin’s services for the first time since designating him for assignment after the trade deadline.
“We were going through our options last night and yesterday afternoon, and Irvin makes the most sense,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Fully stretched out, on turn. So, hopefully he can have a good game for us today.”
Irvin, 30, has a 4.66 ERA over 172 innings for the Orioles across the past two seasons. The six-year MLB veteran got off to a strong start to this season but struggled after being shifted back and forth between the rotation and bullpen.
Hyde didn’t rule out the possibility of going to a six-man rotation, saying Wednesday, “We’re trying to get through today’s game. We’ll see how we go.” Baltimore listed Corbin Burnes, Povich and Albert Suárez as their probable starters against the Houston Astros on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively. Trevor Rogers would be on turn to start Sunday, but the team has not yet announced its plans past Saturday.
Tate returns to Norfolk one day after being called up to replace left-hander Keegan Akin, who went on the paternity list Tuesday. Avila, selected off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in June, had yet to appear in the majors for Baltimore and had allowed 10 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings with Norfolk.