Should Orioles be concerned about Félix Bautista? | MAILBAG

Question: What do you think about Félix Bautista so far?  I know it’s still early in his recovery, but do you think his stuff is nearly as good as before? From: DHeath

Answer: I’ve seen 12 of Bautista’s 15 appearances in person this season. I didn’t see the two in Milwaukee, and like a lot of people, I’m not seeing the same pitcher I did in 2023.

Tommy John surgery is a serious procedure, and perhaps he needs most or even all of this season to be the dominant pitcher we saw then, but watching him, I don’t get the same feeling I did two years ago.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino mentioned in his postgame scrum with other Oriole reporters that the plan is for Bautista to pitch more regularly, and perhaps that will help. I hope it does.

Question: What moves might the Orioles have made — given revenue and tradeable prospect constraints — last offseason versus the moves they made?  And, where would we be now if we had made those moves? From: Tom Paullin

Answer: Tom, I have written several times that I think the team should have retained James McCann instead of signing Gary Sánchez as the backup catcher. I think that would have been a good move to shore up the clubhouse.

As I’ve also written, I don’t think Corbin Burnes had any interest in signing with the Orioles, but I wish they would have signed Nathan Eovaldi, who had substantial American League East experience. Eovaldi, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract with Texas, is 4-2 with a 1.61 ERA in 10 starts.

Of course, the Tyler O’Neill signing hasn’t worked out so far, but looking at his statistics against left-handers last season, I thought it could be a good one, and it hasn’t been.

If they had signed Eovaldi, I think they’d be closer to .500, but the injuries to Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez have been too much for them to overcome.

Most weekdays, 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.