Midday Mailbag: Will the Orioles give Cade Povich a start?

Every weekday, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.

Question: Do you think Cade Povich will get a spot start? From: Bill Connor

Answer: Bill, Cade Povich is doing very well at Norfolk. He’s 3-1 with a 1.11 earned-run average. He has struck out 45 in 32 1/3 innings, but walked 14, and he’s allowed just one home run.

The only issue with the 24-year-old Povich is his control. For now, the Orioles seem to have enough starting pitchers, especially with Albert Suárez moving to the bullpen. They also don’t think that Grayson Rodriguez’s shoulder inflammation is serious after putting him on the 15-day injury list as a precautionary measure.

If the Orioles do need another pitcher from Norfolk, Povich could certainly get a call.

Question: Who is the Orioles’ emergency catcher in case both Adley Rutschman and James McCann get hurt? From: Edward Tattersall

Answer: Edward, that’s always a favorite question of fans and writers, too. Brandon Hyde doesn’t have a designated emergency catcher, but the guess here is that it would be either Ryan McKenna or Ramón Urías.

The Orioles keep a third catcher on their taxi squad and have twice used David Bañuelos when they were a player short for a game.

Fans are also fond of recalling the time in 1983 when second baseman Lenn Sakata was forced to play catcher, and Tippy Martinez bailed him out by picking off three runners at first against the Blue Jays. I don’t remember another time since when they needed a non-catcher to go behind the plate.