Orioles place Bautista on 15-day injured list with right shoulder discomfort as the hits keep coming

CLEVELAND—During the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game, interim manager Tony Mansolino heard the dugout phone ring, and he shuddered.

“Right when I heard that thing ring, I told whosever next to me, ‘that’s not good news,’” Mansolino said. “I didn’t know who it was or what it was. I heard it get slammed, and I knew it wasn’t going to be good. It turned out to be really horrendous.”

The news was that Orioles closer Félix Bautista, who had Tommy John surgery in October 2023 and was having a fine comeback season, couldn’t pitch in a game that was tied, 2-2, and that the Orioles eventually lost, 3-2.

Bautista was placed on the 15-day injured list on Thursday, retroactive to Monday with right shoulder discomfort.

He’ll undergo an MRI in Baltimore on Friday.

“It’s tough. Félix is a guy who is one of the leaders, a catalyst for us,” Mansolino said. “He’s a guy that shortens the game. He helps you win major league games every night. We just hope that it’s not too severe. He’ll get an MRI tomorrow. He’ll meet with our doctors and we’ll have a better idea of the severity of the injury.”

Bautista was 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA and 19 saves in 20 attempts. He’s struck out 50 batters, with 23 walks, in 34 2/3 innings.

“We feel great about his usage over the course of the year,” Mansolino said. “Something that’s new. It’s hard to explain some of these things as it’s hard to explain a lot of the injuries for a lot of the other guys this year.”

Without Bautista, the Orioles have four experienced arms in the bullpen — right-handers Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge and left-hander Gregory Soto.

Mansolino isn’t sure who the closer will be.

“Figure it out,” he said. “I don’t think we have a specific closer, so to speak. I think you probably are going to try to get your best matchups throughout the game.”

The Orioles have four inexperienced arms — right-handers Corbin Martin, Colin Selby and Kade Strowd, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, and left-hander Grant Wolfram. Mansolino will have to use some of those arms in higher-leverage situations.

“What we have, how we’re currently constructed we don’t have a choice,” he said. “I think guys are going to bump up, as we saw with Selby last night. They’re going to have to bump up their roles, step up, so to speak, pitch in different spots. As currently constructed, we’ll make use with what we have.”

There were immediate fears that when Mansolino said Bautista was unavailable after the game, it could be pain in his elbow, but it’s his shoulder instead.

“I don’t think there’s a consolation to losing Félix,” Mansolino said. “I think anytime you avoid a catastrophic injury, whether it’s the elbow or the shoulder, that’s good.”

Bautista was getting ready in case he was needed.

“He has a routine that he’ll start as early as the seventh inning when he’s throwing heavy balls and weighted balls,” Mansolino said. “Just trying to get himself going, knowing that it’s a tied game, and it stays tied, it’s 100 percent likely he’s going to throw the ninth inning one way or the other. He starts his process a couple of innings early, and in that process of trying to get loose, is when it flared up.”

The Orioles would like to get a more experienced arm back in the coming days. Left-handed Keegan Akin, who’s on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation, will pitch again for Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday. He threw 1 1/3 innings on Wednesday night. He should be ready to rejoin the Orioles after his next rehab outing. “My guess he’d be an option,” Mansolino said.

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