Orioles’ Albernaz hasn’t decided on a closer; Hoppe arrives; O’s-Angels lineups

BALTIMORE—With Ryan Helsley still on the 60-day injured list and Tyler Wells traded to Tampa Bay on Monday, the Orioles are again left without an obvious closer.

Wells had four saves in July. Without him, manager Craig Albernaz turned to Yennier Cano on Monday night. Cano, who signed a two-year extension last week, pitched a scoreless inning for his second save.

“That was a matter of how things lined up with Wells being platoon-neutral and good against left-handed [hitting],” Albernaz said. “Right now, it’s going to be a similar path of how the game goes and how it lands. Yesterday, it landed with Yenni.”

Albernaz also has used Rico Garcia (5 saves), Andrew Kittredge (4) and Grant Wolfram (1) as closers. Anthony Nunez, who had three saves, was sent to Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday to make room for Alex Hoppe.

“We’re extremely confident with Yenni closing in the ninth. We’re confident with other guys closing in the ninth, but it’s tough to say he’s going to take the ball every time there’s a save. I think it depends how the game goes.”

Hoppe in, Nunez to Norfolk

The 27-year-old Hoppe was one of the three right-handers acquired by the Orioles from Seattle in exchange for outfielder Taylor Ward.

“They’re a good young team, good young squad,” Hoppe said about the Orioles. “I came here with Seattle and faced this exact lineup, and I know they’re really good hitters and a really good organization.”

Hoppe said that he wasn’t surprised to be traded.

“There’s always a possibility. That’s just the nature of the sport,” he said. “I really enjoyed my time with Seattle. It’s a world-class organization. I’m also excited to be here in Baltimore because I’ve heard great things about it, too.”

Hoppe has learned an important lesson.

“That I’m adaptable, and you have to be very adaptable to be in the big leagues,” he said. “When you’re with a team, you’re traveling all over the place, and with the flip of a switch you could be with a different team traveling completely different areas very quickly.”

Nunez was sent to Norfolk for the second time this season, and Albernaz is hoping he can gain more experience.

“More regular work, and also he’s still a developing young pitcher,” he said. “He’s shown what his potential could be, especially early in the year. He also showed that there are some things he needs to work on, in particular the efficiency of his pitches pounding the strike zone, being competitive in the strike zone.

“He knows the biggest things that we want him to work on, and it’s tough enough as it is in the big leagues to go out there and compete, but also for a young pitcher to try really work on those things and try to give him development runway in Triple-A Norfolk.”

Franklin leading off

Ward and catcher Adley Rutschman, who was traded to the Red Sox on Monday, combined to lead off in 68 games. Gunnar Henderson has led off 36 times, Dylan Beavers eight times, and Coby Mayo led off in Saturday’s game.

Albernaz has outfielder Christian Franklin, who was acquired from the Nationals on Monday, leading off in his second major league game. He’s the first Oriole to lead off in his second major league game since Xavier Avery on May 12^th, 2012. In his first game, Franklin walked, stole a base, scored a run and made a good catch against the left-field wall.

“Left-handed pitching, we’ve tried to solve that problem,” Albernaz said. “With Christian coming in, his track record of hitting left-handed pitching. His at-bat quality was outstanding. His path to the big leagues looks different from other guys. He was roadblocked, parts of three years in Triple-A, waiting for his chance. Yesterday, he showed that he was ready for the moment. He just went out there and played baseball and didn’t try to do anything else. We’re extremely confident he’s going to take the leadoff spot. The only thing that changes is he hits first one time.”

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Yaqui Rivera allowed five runs in the ninth inning as Triple-A Norfolk blew a four-run lead and lost to Buffalo, 7-6.

Randal Diaz homered and drove in five runs as High-A Frederick beat Jersey Shore, 10-9. In a planned short outing, Boston Bateman struck out six in two hitless innings.

Orioles-Angels lineups:

Orioles

Christian Franklin-CF

Pete Alonso-1B

Gunnar Henderson-SS

Tyler O’Neill-RF

Coby Mayo-DH

Christian Encarnaction-Strand-3B

Jackson Holliday-2B

Jeremiah Jackson-LF

Carlos Narváez-C

Trevor Rogers-LHP

Angels

Zach Neto-SS

Mike Trout-CF

Nolan Schanuel-1B

Vaughn Grissom-3B

Moisés Ballesteros-DH

Travis d’Arnaud-C

Josh Lowe-RF

Jose Siri-LF

Adam Frazier-2B

Reid Detmers-LHP

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com