Orioles news: Grant Wolfram to the IL, Tyler Wells returns to the majors, Dylan Beavers scratched last minute

The Baltimore Orioles poor injury luck continues, as today they announced that left-handed reliever Grant Wolfram has become the latest Orioles pitcher to hit the IL with a lower back strain. Wolfram had been the Orioles' primary left-handed specialist out of the bullpen this season and had been performing well in that role, considering that he came into the season with just 26 career innings under his belt.

The Orioles move some bullpen pieces around to make up for an unexpected injury

In anticipation of this, the Orioles selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Josh Walker and optioned top pitching prospect Trey Gibson yesterday, and then used Wolfram's going on the IL to get Tyler Wells back to the big leagues a few days before he otherwise would have been available to be called up.

The Orioles back-dated Wolfram's injury to May 9th, and to make room for Walker on the 40-man, they moved Heston Kjerstad to the 60-day IL. As a result of these moves, the earliest Kjersatd and Wolfram can return to the majors is May 24th.

The other lefties in the Orioles bullpen have reverse splits and aren't especially effective against left-handed hitters, so expect to see a fair amount of Walker while he's with the team. He'll be asked to take on the best lefties in the opponents.

It will be nice for the Orioles to get Wells back after he was a casualty of the bullpen getting overworked following a doubleheader. In his absence, the Orioles have not had a real multi-inning reliever and have been forced to try Yennier Cano and Trey Gibson in those roles to varying degrees of success.

Dylan Beavers injury worth keeping an eye on

Dylan Beavers was scratched just before the Orioles game on Tuesday night after originally being in the lineup batting 7th and playing centerfield. The designation on the injury was oblique soreness. Orioles fans have good reason to be nervous about a sore oblique after what they went through last year with Adley Rutschman.

The Orioles did a similar late-inning scratch in the previous game, removing Samuel Basallo from the lineup less than an hour before first pitch with left knee soreness, which is also a troubling place for an injury. They said it was just precautionary, and Basallo rejoined the Orioles the next day and hit a double in his first plate appearance. Hopefully, the Orioles were just exercising the same precaution with Beavers, and he'll be able to return to the lineup soon.

If this injury continues to be a problem, Colton Cowser would stand to gain a fair amount of playing time, and it's possible Jud Fabian could get called up to make his major league debut.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow