Orioles place Mountcastle on injured list, recall McKenna

HOUSTON—After waiting a week for Ryan Mountcastle’s sore left shoulder to improve, the Orioles finally decided to put the first baseman on the 10-day injured list. The move is retroactive to Sunday, and Mountcastle will be eligible to return on September 27th.

“He tried to swing today; it didn’t go as well as we were hoping,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “It’s not a setback. It was going really well with his progression, and he’s feeling better. He tried to swing the other day, was a little sore. We were hoping this session today was going to be an improvement from that last one.

“Hopefully, he’s going to be ready as soon as his IL date’s up.”

Mountcastle, who missed a month with vertigo earlier this season, was batting .269 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs.

The Orioles have recalled outfielder Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk. McKenna is hitting .254 with two home runs and 18 RBIs in 86 games for the Orioles.

Hyde kept saying that Mountcastle wasn’t a candidate for the injured list, and by waiting the Orioles wer a player short for six games.

“He’s really down about it,” Hyde said. “It’s disappointing for him. He was hoping he’d be back in a few days. The treatment and everything he’s getting and how hard he’s working to get back — just disappointed that it wasn’t feeling really good in his batting practice today in the cage.”

Ryan O’Hearn has started each of the six games Mountcastle has missed, and O’Hearn is in the lineup again Wednesday afternoon against the Houston Astros as the Orioles go for a three-game sweep..

“We’ve had ‘[Anthony] Santander take some ground balls over there the last couple days,” Hyde said. “He played really well at first base for us when we needed him there the middle part of the year. So he’s back taking ground balls over there. Ramón [Urías has] been over there a few times this year. [James] McCann’s a late-inning option, so we have some guys who can get over there.”

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