Orioles place Akin, Santander on restricted list; Garcia, Stowers added to roster

Left-handed pitcher Keegan Akin and outfielder Anthony Santander were placed on the restricted list for the four-game series the Orioles are playing in Toronto. Players who are not vaccinated for Covid-19 can not play in Canada.

Akin and Santander were placed on the Covid-19 injured list last July. Santander also had the Covid-19 virus in July 2020 during Summer Camp.

The two players are removed temporarily from the 40-man roster, aren’t paid for the games missed and won’t accrue service time.

The Orioles selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia and outfielder Kyle Stowers from Triple-A Norfolk to replace Akin and Santander. Garcia and Stowers are considered substitute players and can be returned to Norfolk without either passing through waivers or being optioned.

Stowers, who shared organizational honors for top minor league player last year with Adley Rutschman, is hitting .253 with 12 home runs and 34 RBIs for Norfolk. He has a .356 on-base percentage and a .901 OPS. He was taken as the 71^st pick in the competitive-balance round in 2019.

Stowers will bat eighth and play left field in Monday night’s game against the Blue Jays.

Garcia, who had Tommy John surgery in March 2021, was 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA in 14 games with Colorado and San Francisco in 2019 and 2020. He’s 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA and two saves in 10 games with Norfolk, Double-A Bowie and High-A Aberdeen this season. He signed with the Orioles as a minor league free agent last November 12^th.

The Orioles released infielder Chris Owings. He had been put on waivers on Sunday.