Mark Trumbo, who has been dealing with a sore right quad, won’t be activated as quickly as the Orioles had hoped.
The veteran designated hitter/outfielder was in the Orioles’ clubhouse Wednesday after playing his first injury rehab game with Double-A Bowie on Tuesday night.
As the Baysox DH, Trumbo was hitless in three at-bats with a walk and two strikeouts. The plan was for him to play again on Thursday at Bowie and then either join the Orioles in Boston or get a few more rehab games with Bowie.
But Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Trumbo didn’t feel comfortable going full speed during the game and informed the Orioles medical staff. Consequently, the club has decided to temporarily halt Trumbo’s rehab clock at Bowie.
Instead, Trumbo will work out with the Orioles in Boston and be treated by the club’s athletic trainers. He’ll eventually go back to the minors to continue the rehab assignment, but there is no set timetable for that.
“Not a setback so to speak,” Showalter said. “He just felt like last night he just didn’t feel like pushing it. He still wasn’t quite comfortable with that. I’m proud that he felt comfortable telling us, because you don’t want that setback that pushes it way back.”
While Trumbo remains out, Pedro Alvarez and Danny Valencia, among others, will continue to get at-bats at designated hitter.
The Orioles also added an extra bench player Wednesday when they recalled utility infielder Engelb Vielma from Triple-A Norfolk and sent top pitching prospect Hunter Harvey back to Bowie.
Harvey, 23, was recalled for two games as insurance for a depleted bullpen, but he did not pitch. His major league debut will have to wait. He’ll start Saturday for the Baysox at Double-A Harrisburg and likely will throw only two innings, maybe three.
Vielma will give the Orioles their first true utility infielder of the season as well as return Showalter’s bench to four options.
It likely will remain that way when the club activates right-handed starter Alex Cobb to make his Orioles’ debut Saturday at Fenway Park. The club likely will send out an extra reliever – presumably recently recalled Yefry Ramirez – when Cobb is placed on the 25-man roster.
Cobb had his workday in Bowie on Wednesday under the watchful eye of pitching coach Roger McDowell. Showalter said it went well and Cobb is ready to pitch.
One other injury note: The MRI on Colby Rasmus’ left hip came back, “like what we thought” and “should manage well,” Showalter said. Rasmus has been on the DL since Saturday with a left hip flexor strain – the same hip he previously had surgically repaired.
Showalter said it was good news, but there’s no direct timetable on Rasmus’ return.
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Booo on sending Harvey back to Bowie! Booooooooooooooo!
"Trumbo didn’t feel comfortable going full speed during the game" he's a DH for Pete's sake how full speed does a DH need to be...maybe he was actually uncomfortable with two strikeouts against a AA pitcher...
I was hoping Harvey would replace Tillman and then maybe Bleier or Hess replace Wright...it's gonna be a long year so they might as well experiment
Vielma's 0.316 OBP in the minors makes for a great fit with the current O's MLB squad. Why Caleb Joseph's brother Corban? He has a 0.354 OBP in the minors and has played 1B, 2B, 3B and the OF...
While I disagree with keeping Harvey in the bigs before he has even pitched a professional inning this year, I'm open to him taking a poke at the rotation later down the road. Screw it, toss him into the fire, let's see the goods already. That being said, what the hell was the point of bringing him up? We didn't want him to pitch, we just wanted to see how he responded to sitting in a cold bullpen and staring out at the field?
Also, could someone tell Harvey that, while the effort is appreciated, his moustache game is straight trash.
Cobb will replace wright. Harvey is limited to 3 innings stints. He’s not replacing any major league SP. The guy hasn’t even faced AA talent in the regular season yet. I’d like to see Hess at some point if Tilly doesn’t start throwing strikes but Harvey in the rotation is a 2019 thought. I’m surprised he got a call up even with the bullpen decimated.
Joseph Probably doesn’t grade out very well at any of those positions. Vielma is a glove first player. More concerning or nice to see depending on your viewpoint is how well Ryan Flaherty is playing right now. I don’t expect him to keep it up but he’s really playing some good baseball.
Lots to digest in this thread. But basically JBig is right. The guy is coming back from TJ surgery and barely threw last year. They’ll take it easy with him. A later season callup is possible if he pitches well and stays healthy. And 2019 is definitely a target for a rotation stay. (Maybe earlier depending on need, too). As for why they brought him up to sit, it was tactical. He is on the 40-man roster and it was an emergency spot. Whoever took it was going back down soon and they didn’t want to lose a guy without options for a day or two of sitting. And it gave Harvey a taste of the show with no pressure. Plus, they were still holding out hope Cortes could fit in. After Tuesday’s performance the dye was cast with him. And that opened a 40-man spot.
Thinking Harvey's quick visit was to whet his appetite/desire for making the majors. A little incentive shall I say? Starters pitching well blew any chance of him coming in. If either starter got knocked out early he may have made an appearance. All for the good.
As always, reasoned thinking O.
good