Jacob Webb's impending return is trouble for one of these 2 Orioles relievers

In early August, Orioles' reliever Jacob Webb went down with the dreaded elbow inflammation and while early reports were positive, it's tough to hear that type of news and think anything but the worst. Thankfully Webb's injury seems to have been mild and the inflammation subsided enough for him to head out on a rehab stint just a month after getting his initial diagnosis.

Webb pitched well in his first rehab appearance at Norfolk but was shifted to Bowie prior to Wednesday's matchup. He pitched poorly for the Baysox on Wednesday night but there were no indications that the issues stemmed from the injury, but rather that he just had an off night.

Brandon Hyde commented on Webb's situation earlier in the week, stating that Webb would likely require at least one more minor league appearance before rejoining the team in Baltimore. There hasn't been any word otherwise but it's possible that Webb joins the team ahead of this weekend's series against the Rays, or potentially for next week's series against the Red Sox if he needs another couple days.

With Jacob Webb returning, which Orioles reliever's job is most at risk?

If Webb had been cleared to return just a week earlier, the Orioles would have been able to take advantage of the expanded September rosters rather than demote or DFA a current reliever. However, that's not the case.

With the way Craig Kimbrel has been pitching of late, many fans seem to be clamoring for Mike Elias to DFA the veteran closer and cut their losses. This is an unlikely path for a variety of reasons, one of which being that Kimbrel is one of the only proven arms in the bullpen and despite a horrific 2023 postseason with the Phillies has typically been a good pitcher in October.

The most obvious candidate to get bounced is righty Burch Smith. The Orioles signed Smith after he was DFA'd by the Marlins earlier this year and he hasn't been particularly successful, pitching to a 4.70 ERA. He's been tremendous in terms of limiting walks but outside of that - he's gotten quite unlucky with homers on contact and balls in play, he's posted a below average strikeout rate, and at 34 years old there's limited upside left in the tank.

The downside is that because Smith has surpassed 5 years of service time, he'd be able to reject an outright assignment to the minors, which is how the Orioles came to acquire him in the first place. He's not adding much at the moment but if he's the pick, he'll likely leave the organization rather than head to the minors.

Aside from Smith, the other likely option is righty Matt Bowman. Signed in the middle of August, Bowman has pitched admirably for the Orioles, posting a 1.23 ERA in 6 outings. The primary flaw with Bowman is that he doesn't have big strikeout stuff, which we know is a factor for this front office, and he's been too wild with a near 14% walk rate.

With Danny Coulombe set to return later this month, it feels unlikely that the O's will jettison a lefty for Webb especially considering that Cole Irvin has been better in his return to Baltimore.

Whether the Orioles choose to dump Smith or someone else, they're going to have to make a number of decisions like this over the next few weeks with so many important players due to return from the IL.