5 Orioles you forgot played for them in 2023

5 Orioles you might have forgotten played for them in 2023

Eduard Bazardo, RP

If you remember that Eduard Bazardo pitched on the 2023 Orioles, you probably wish you could forget him. Bazardo was signed to a minor league contract in the offseason and didn't get called up until early July.

He made his season debut on July 6 against the New York Yankees, allowing a run in one inning. He pitched a scoreless inning on July 9 and then didn't pitch for another week. When he did finally pitch again, it didn't go well.

Against the Miami Marlins on July 16, Bazardo was only able to get one out in a 5-4 win, allowing three runs on three hits. He was optioned to Triple A the next day, where he remained until being DFA'd on July 30. On the August 1 trade deadline, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners.

Bazardo went on to pitch 13 2/3 innings for the Mariners, allowing four runs on nine hits and four walks in nine appearances.

5 Orioles you might have forgotten played for them in 2023

Josh Lester, INF

Josh Lester was another minor league addition made by the Orioles in the offseason. Starting to see a trend? Lester was promoted to the majors in June and played in 11 games for the Orioles. All 11 of those came in June.

While in the majors, Lester didn't do anything spectacular. He had just four hits and drew one walk in 23 plate appearances. He spent most of the time playing first base, but did get in a game at third base and even played 2/3 of an inning in right field.

Lester also made an appearance in a different fashion. In a 13-1 blowout loss to the Seattle Mariners, Lester made an appearance on the mound as a pitcher, throwing one scoreless inning

5 Orioles you might have forgotten played for them in 2023

Terrin Vavra, UTIL

You could be forgiven if you thought that Terrin Vavra had fallen off the face of the earth, because he kind of did. After making the initial opening day roster, Vavra had struggled to gain any sort of consistent playing time.

Vavra was optioned to Norfolk at the end of April to get consistent playing time, only to be recalled in early May. He appeared in 12 games in May with the Orioles before getting sent down again, which is when Vavra seemed to disappear for a while.

In reality, Vavra sustained a right shoulder injury that got him placed on the 7 Day minor league IL. After he went on a rehab assignment in Delmarva in the end of August, he was pulled off when the injury didn't seem to get better.

When September rolled around, the Orioles made a change to the big league roster and called up Heston Kjerstad. Needing a 40 man roster spot, they simultaneously called up Vavra and placed him on the 60 Day IL in order to do some 40 man roster juggling, with Vavra's season basically over.

So don't worry, Vavra is still in the organization. How much playing time he could get in Baltimore is unclear, as the Orioles have a lot of spots settled in terms of their position player depth. But Vavra is still here.

5 Orioles you might have forgotten played for them in 2023

Kyle Stowers, OF

Ok, I'm sure you probably still remember Kyle Stowers. Once a highly regarded prospect in the farm system, 2023 seemed like a bit of a lost year for Stowers. He made the opening day roster after a strong end to the 2022 season, but it was a dogfight for Stowers to get on the field, even as a defensive replacement.

He ended up seeing action in 14 games between opening day and May 14, his last game in the majors in 2023. He was optioned to Norfolk on May 15, where he spent the rest of the season as the Tides ended up winning the Triple A championship.

I had raised the possibility of Stowers potentially being a trade chip at the trade deadline, but the Orioles still held on to him, and he spent the rest of 2023 with the Tides. Across 75 games in between a few stints on the 7 Day minor league IL, Stowers had a .275/.388/.566 slash line, hitting 21 home runs with 10 doubles and 58 RBI's.

At this point, it seems clear that Stowers is a big league player, he doesn't need to spend any more time toiling in Triple A. Unfortunately for him, he's seemingly been passed in the outfield depth chart by Kjerstad and Colton Cowser, so there's no real path to major league playing time for him.