Who could be the Orioles closer with Félix Bautista injured?

Who could become the closer for the Orioles with Félix Bautista injured?

Jacob Webb

Claimed off waivers in early August, Jacob Webb has quickly turned into a dependable reliever in the Orioles bullpen, having gone his first nine appearances without allowing a run, totaling 8 2/3 innings. He's averaged 12.5 strikeouts per nine in an Orioles uniform and has a notably nasty changeup.

It's unlikely Webb gets any save situations for the Orioles. He does have four saves in his career, including one with the Angels this season, but Webb isn't far removed from becoming so unpitchable that he was DFA'd by the Angels, who are notoriously bad at pitching. Regardless, the turnaround from Webb has been impressive to see.

DL Hall

Called up from Triple A as the corresponding move for Bautista hitting the IL, the Orioles sent DL Hall to Sarasota mid-season to give him a breather, as it was clear he was hitting a wall in terms of workload and velocity.

In Sarasota, they focused on building Hall up in shorter bursts to get his velocity back, and then sent him back to Norfolk to work out of the bullpen. He came up in the tail end of 2022 as a reliever, working in high leverage situations as the Orioles were surprisingly pushing for the playoffs. He even recorded a save last year.

Just getting back into the swing of things as a reliever, it would be shocking to see Hall in the ninth inning, but leverage opportunities and a possible setup role would not be surprising, as he could be the shot in the arm this bullpen needs with Bautista down for the foreseeable future.