Orioles send Yusniel Diaz, DL Hall to minor leagues; Bradish, Alexander Wells also optioned

SARASOTA, Florida—The Orioles continued to trim their roster by sending right-handed pitcher Kyle Bradish, outfielder Yusniel Diaz and left-hander Alexander Wells to Triple-A Norfolk. They also optioned left-hander DL Hall to Double-A Bowie.

Diaz, whose Orioles’ minor league career has been hampered by injuries, has had an excellent spring, hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a home run and four RBIs.

Bradish threw four scoreless innings, including two in Monday’s 7-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Florida.

Wells, whose locker was empty when reporters were allowed into the Orioles’ clubhouse on Monday morning, gave up three runs on five hits in two innings in his only appearance on March 23^rd against the New York Yankees in Tampa.

Hall, the Orioles’ top pick in the 2017 draft, made his Grapefruit League debut and threw a spotless inning, striking out two in Monday’s game.

The Orioles’ training camp roster is at 44 players. They must cut 16 additional players to reach the 28-player limit before the April 8^th opener at Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Diaz was the centerpiece of the July 2018 trade that sent third baseman Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“He had basically a totally lost year last year between injuries and the stats he put up,” Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said in a Zoom call. “It just was not a step forward for him in any regard. We were really looking forward to what he did in Triple-A. Between those two things combined and the starts and stops, he didn’t get on a roll …I t’s important that you demonstrate some success in Triple-A, hopefully, before coming up.

“Whether it’s a couple of weeks or a couple of months, we just want to see him get pointed in a nice direction, play with some consistency, demonstrate some health and get last year behind him, and then let him get up to the major leagues and let him do his thing because I think  you watch him in spring training, you can see the talent and he looks the part.”

Hall, who pitched in a game on Monday for the first time in more than nine months because of a left elbow injury, may stay in Sarasota after the beginning of the minor league season, Elias said.

“It’s very likely that given he’s coming off of an injury, given that he only threw one inning in major league camp and the carefulness with which we want to get him back up into that four- or five-inning neighborhood, get him off and running that we’ll keep him down here for a longer spring training just because we can, and also because we’re going to have to be watching his innings. We don’t want him to have some crazy short season just because he threw 40 innings last year. We want him to have a nice, long 10- inning type seaon.”

Hall was satisfied with his first outing.

“Just getting in my first game since June, it was an unbelievable experience,” Hall said after his appearance. “Just felt great to be out there. I had maybe a little too much adrenaline the first couple of pitches, but I was able to settle in, and just reminded myself I’ve been doing that for a long time.”

Elias predicted that these players and other top prospects would make their major league debuts this season.

“We’re looking forward to having these guys back,” Elias said.