Orioles turn to recent minor league signing for bullpen help ahead of vital Yankees series

On Thursday afternoon, the Orioles optioned righty Dillon Tate down to Triple-A Norfolk. Tate had struggled in his previous three outings, allowing a combined 6 runs in 4 innings. With just three games remaining before the All Star break, it makes sense to give Tate a little extra rest over the next two weeks.

As a result of Tate's demotion, the Orioles are turning to the recently signed Burch Smith, a right hander picked up a couple weeks back after he was designated for assignment by the Marlins.

The Orioles signed Smith to a minor league contract shortly thereafter and he's spent the past two weeks down in Norfolk with the Triple-A club. To this point, Smith has thrown 2 scoreless innings with the Tides and has enough experience in the majors that the O's felt comfortable bringing him up to Baltimore.

Smith was fine in Miami, probably not worth being DFA'd. He'd pitched to a 4.25 ERA but with a much more encouraging 3.07 FIP. He's never been a big strikeout guy and hasn't had a ton of success at the major league level, but the Orioles have to start thinking about making changes heading into the trade deadline, and especially with an extremely important series with the Yankees starting tonight.

Burch Smith called up to Orioles' bullpen ahead of vital series against Yankees

Craig Kimbrel has been sharp at the back of the Orioles bullpen and overall, the group has been strong. But O's fans everywhere are begging Mike Elias to make at least a couple adjustments to the pitching staff before the end of July.

Elias did just add righty Colin Selby from the Royals but he'll likely be a secondary piece at best down the stretch. Burch Smith probably won't be a lock down reliever either, but keeping the arms in the 'pen fresh and rotating through the dog days of summer will be important for the Orioles.

Injuries to the trio of John Means, Kyle Bradish, and Tyler Wells have placed a heavy weight on the O's young starters, and consequently the bullpen as well.

If Smith can prove to be a solid low-leverage option, it'll go a long way toward stabilizing the bullpen in Baltimore. O's fans will certainly want more in the long run, but we'll take what we can get for the time being.