The reinforcements are coming.
Injured infielders Jordan Westburg and Ramón Urías will begin their minor league rehabilitation assignments with Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, the Orioles announced Wednesday afternoon.
It’s unclear how many games they’ll both need to be ready to return to major league action, but beginning a rehab assignment Thursday puts them in line to rejoin the Orioles by the end of the regular season.
Their returns could serve as a boost for an Orioles team scuffling in September. Twelve days ago, Baltimore held a half-game lead over New York in the American League East, but the Orioles have gone 3-8 since to fall four games behind the Yankees. During that stretch, they’ve scored two or fewer runs seven times and been shut out thrice while putting up a paltry .577 OPS.
“I hope it goes well,” manager Brandon Hyde said before the Orioles’ game against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. “I’m excited that they’re going back. They’re going to play tomorrow. … But like I said, they haven’t — Westy hasn’t played in a while. Ramón less amount of time. So it’s going to be about at-bats for those guys. But I’m encouraged that they’re going out.”
Of all the Orioles’ injured players, Westburg is perhaps the most important to get back. The All-Star suffered a fractured right hand on a hit-by-pitch July 31, and the offense hasn’t seemed the same since. The 25-year-old sophomore was hitting .269 with an .815 OPS before his injury.
“We can’t wait to have him back, and we are expecting him back before the end of the regular season,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. “We’re not totally there yet, but it’s going really well.”
Urías, who suffered a sprained right ankle Aug. 31, was perhaps the club’s best hitter in August, preventing an even worse slide with Westburg sidelined. The offense has slumped with a .219 batting average and .661 OPS since.
Westburg and Urías will join reliever Danny Coulombe (bone chip removal elbow surgery) in Norfolk. The left-hander has pitched twice on his rehab assignment and is expected to appear in relief Wednesday. While no timelines have been given for any of the players, it’s possible all three return before the Orioles’ pivotal series against the Yankees next week. Norfolk’s season ends Sunday.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (sprained left wrist) and Grayson Rodriguez (teres major muscle strain) are on the injured list and have yet to begin a rehab assignment. Hyde said Mountcastle, who has been out since late August, is “not that far away” from joining Westburg and Urías in Norfolk.
Rodriguez is progressing as expected, Elias said Tuesday, and is planning to throw a live bullpen session soon. But Elias didn’t rule out the possibility of moving the hard-throwing right-hander to the bullpen to potentially shorten his time spent building up once he’s cleared.
“Time and the calendar is not exactly our friend here,” Elias said.
The Orioles know a significant factor in their struggles the past few months are the injuries they’ve suffered, but Hyde said “that’s not an excuse.”
“There’s other teams are missing people, too,” Hyde said. “You got to try to step up the best you possibly can. I think at times, we’re probably trying to step up too much, and that’s been part of the issue, and it kind of rolls a little bit. So hopefully we can just relax these last 10-plus games and and play good baseball.”