Orioles claim Jhonkensy Noel off waivers from Cleveland

Sep 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Jhonkensy Noel (43) celebrates after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Orioles claimed outfielder Jhonkensy Noel off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. Noel, who hit a home run in his first major league at-bat at Oriole Park on June 28^th, 2024, hit .162 with six home runs and 13 RBIs in 69 games for Cleveland in 2025.

New Orioles manager Craig Albernaz is familiar with Noel. Albernaz was a coach for the Guardians during Noel’s two major league seasons.

Known as “Big Christmas,” the 24-year-old is listed as 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, and hit 13 homers and drove in 28 runs in 67 games in 2024.

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A right-handed hitter, Noel has a .471 slugging percentage and .713 OPS against left-handed pitching in his career.

Noel is 2-for-24 (.083) with a home run in 10 postseason games over the past two years.

To make room for Noel on the 40-man roster, the Orioles designated pitcher George Soriano for assignment. Soriano was claimed off waivers from Miami on November 5th.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.

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Rich Dubroff

Rich Dubroff grew up in Brooklyn as a fan of New York teams, but after he moved to Baltimore, quickly adopted the Orioles and Colts. After nearly two decades as a freelancer assisting on Orioles coverage for several outlets, principally The Capital in Annapolis and The Carroll County Times, Dubroff began covering the team fulltime in 2011. He spent five years at Comcast SportsNet’s website and for the last two seasons, wrote for PressBoxonline.com, Dubroff lives in Baltimore with his wife of more than 30 years, Susan.