Flipping through the pages of the Orioles spring training notepad

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are traveling to Tropicana Field this morning to play the Rays, who can't use their spring facility in Port Charlotte due to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Ian.

The place will seem empty. As if that's an oddity. But it's still 72 degrees and dry inside and a great setup for visiting teams and the media. Don't be a hater.

I spent some time yesterday making sure that I didn't forget to share anything important, as the days meld together and the brain begins to fry. Or anything stupid. Let's not be elitist.

* Outfielder Kyle Stowers isn’t working out at first base.

I felt like I had to confirm it after speculating in Friday’s mailbag.

Means goes on injured list, plus lineup (updated)

Means-Throws-Black-Road

The Orioles have placed left-hander John Means on the 10-day injured list with a left elbow strain. The move is retroactive to yesterday.
 
Reliever Travis Lakins Sr. had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk. Room on the 40-man roster was created with left-hander Kevin Smith clearing outright waivers and being assigned to the Tides.
 
Means exited Wednesday night’s start after four innings with tightness in his forearm, which often is a precursor to an elbow injury. He underwent an MRI, and manager Brandon Hyde will provide more details later this afternoon.
 
This is the fourth consecutive season that Means has gone on the injured list, the previous three relating to his left shoulder. He was denied the opening day start in 2020 due to a strain.
 
Means said he’s never experienced forearm/elbow discomfort, which he first noticed last Friday at Tropicana Field while throwing a curveball. It resurfaced in the third inning Wednesday on the same pitch.
 
Lakins made 24 appearances last season before undergoing surgery to address a recurrent olecranon stress fracture in his right elbow. He’s pitched twice for Norfolk and allowed two runs and five hits in three innings.
 
Smith, 24, came to the Orioles in the Miguel Castro trade with the Mets in August 2020. In two games with Norfolk, he’s allowed two runs and five hits with six walks, three strikeouts and a hit batter over 7 2/3 innings.
 
Hyde must find another starter to replace Means, with bullpen choices including Alexander Wells, Keegan Akin and Mike Baumann.
 
Jordan Lyles makes his second start tonight after allowing five runs and seven hits in five innings at Tropicana Field. This is his third career appearance and second start against the Yankees, and he’s allowed three earned runs (four total) and eight hits in 8 2/3 innings.
 
Giancarlo Stanton is 4-for-9 with two doubles and a home run lifetime versus Lyles.
 
Ramón Urías moves up from fifth to second in the lineup. Chris Owings is starting at second base.
 
The Orioles are 5-for-55 with runners in scoring position.
 
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery allowed three runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings in his first start against the Red Sox. He’s 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA and 1.353 WHIP in 12 career starts against the Orioles, with 72 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.
 
Trey Mancini is 9-for-21 with a home run lifetime against Montgomery. Cedric Mullins is 5-for-16, Ryan Mountcastle is 4-for-14 with a double and home run, and Urías is 3-for-7.
 
For the Orioles
Cedric Mullins CF
Ramón Urías 3B
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Trey Mancini DH
Anthony Santander RF
Austin Hays LF
Jorge Mateo SS
Robinson Chirinos C
Chris Owings 2B
 
Jordan Lyles RHP
 
The Orioles released pitcher Yeancarlos Lleras, a sixth-round pick in 2018 from Leadership Christian Academy in Puerto Rico who made two appearances this season with Single-A Delmarva and didn’t retire a batter while allowing six runs and walking seven. He had a 7.78 ERA and 1.886 WHIP in 39 minor league games and averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings, spending last year in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.
 
Steve Melewski is on game coverage tonight and will have more on Means. I’ll be back Saturday.
 
Update: Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters at Camden Yards that Means is getting additional testing and the club doesn't know how long he will be out.

A few more surprising developments

A few more surprising developments
Back on Dec. 14, when the lockout was still fresh and so was optimism for an on-time start to spring training and the regular season, I chose six decisions made by the Orioles after the final game that qualified as surprises in my corner of the baseball world. It was perhaps the first time that I reached for a shovel and really began digging deep for winter story ideas. Fast-forward to this morning and my back constantly aches. I can barely get out of bed. But I don't want your pity. (I...

Highest-ranked Orioles prospects should make 2022 more palatable

Highest-ranked Orioles prospects should make 2022 more palatable
One of the club records set by the Orioles last year, the kind that typically is chased by non-contenders while other teams are in pennant races, was the 16 players making their major league debuts. The previous high was 15 in 2018, when the Orioles finally heard the window slam shut - it no longer could be muffled - and began dismantling. They're still rebuilding from it. A few prospects were introduced, the pitchers led by Zac Lowther, Mike Baumann and Alexander Wells. Many others were...

Reviewing the latest news from the Orioles

Reviewing the latest news from the Orioles
Who needs major league roster moves when a team can stir up its fan base with adjustments to the ballpark's dimensions and an historic day of international signings? Reaction to the former has been mixed on social media. It's much harder to argue an organization's willingness to spend proficiently in the foreign market after years of resistance. And honestly, the latter is much more important. The Orioles made a big splash by doing a cannonball into the international pool. They spent the...

Conway on how Rom "didn't skip a beat" in 2021

Conway on how Rom "didn't skip a beat" in 2021
The anticipation surrounding the major league debuts by top Orioles pitching prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall in 2022 is thicker than wet concrete. The foundation of the rebuild. MLBPipeline.com ranks Rodriguez as the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball and eighth overall. Hall is 72nd overall. Drew Rom isn't in the top 100. He's 25th among Orioles prospects, the seventh pitcher listed and the fourth left-hander after Hall, Kevin Smith and Zac Lowther. Pitchers who didn't match...

Which way to go with the rotation for next season?

Which way to go with the rotation for next season?
While we have taken some space here in recent days to begin to size up 2022 Orioles rotation candidates - and will continue to do some of that moving forward - let's take a look at the bigger picture today. That is, the rotation as a whole and how should team management approach it this coming season? Plan A: The club has reached an agreement with right-hander Jordan Lyles. At a minimum, they hope he can eat some innings allowing younger pitchers more time to get minor league seasoning...

Debating dates of Orioles debuts in 2022

Debating dates of Orioles debuts in 2022
Based on draft status, expectations and various prospect lists, Orioles fans are likely to get most excited about the anticipated 2022 debuts of catcher Adley Rutschman and pitchers Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall. MLBPipeline.com, Baseball America, Prospects 1500 and I'm assuming everyone else with a list ranks them in that order as the top three prospects in the system. Rutschman is going to arrive in Baltimore first. Rodriguez and Hall haven't pitched above Double-A, but are primed to join...

A son's conversation to keep close on Christmas

A son's conversation to keep close on Christmas
I wake up to my third Christmas morning without my father, who fought esophageal cancer until he decided, on his own terms, that he was done. The entire family gathered in Ocean Pines to be with him in late December 2018, the only time we've done that. He didn't say much as we exchanged gifts. He just sat in his recliner, watching our faces, taking it all in. We knew why. Three weeks later, he was gone. We still talk, and sometimes the exchanges feel like they're coming from one of my...

Is there a starter ready to lower Lyles from No. 2 in rotation?

Is there a starter ready to lower Lyles from No. 2 in rotation?
My question in Saturday's spring training storyline post about the starters who follow John Means and Jordan Lyles in the rotation was met with some online resistance. As in, why is Lyles the No. 2 starter with a career 54-79 record, 5.21 ERA and 1.435 WHIP in 11 seasons? I can offer seven million reasons - his guaranteed salary for 2022. Also, there isn't a proven top of the rotation starter that I'm ignoring. Or one of the prospects who was so overwhelmingly good this summer that he's...

Rutschman should lead charge from farm to major leagues

Rutschman should lead charge from farm to major leagues
One is not officially signed yet and one is, but the Orioles have contract agreements in place with infielder Rougned Odor and right-handed pitcher Jordan Lyles. The Odor deal was announced and Lyles' pact will become official after the lockout ends. The term placeholder - not a favorite of mine - comes to mind here. They were not added to be key players of the club's core moving forward. They were added to help now, eat innings, hit a few homers, hold down a position while the club waits for...

Orioles pull off a few surprising moves since final game

Orioles pull off a few surprising moves since final game
The Orioles can be predictable in many aspects of the operation, especially after years of covering the team, but they also possess the skills to go left when I'm shaded toward the right. Stay bent at the knees and be prepared to pivot. I've been burned in offseason coverage a few times. Here are a half-dozen 2021 examples off the top of my head: Pitcher Chris Ellis outrighted Pretty much every early bullpen projection for 2022 had Ellis in a bulk relief role if he wasn't starting. Which, of...

More from the mailbag

More from the mailbag
Another week has passed since my last shallow dive into my mailbag. And if anyone is well-versed in being shallow, it's this guy. As usual, you're getting the raw and untampered version. The only editing is done if I catch the wrong punctuation in a sentence or change my mind about using profanity. Also, my mailbag strips down to its underwear, slaps on a coat of oil and wins every posedown. Are players chosen in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft required to stay on the team the entire...

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout
Even when Major League Baseball was fully operational and a lockout only meant that a guard needed to open the gate to the players' lot after hours, the Orioles welcomed and encouraged the increased attention on their minor league system. The talent pumped into it via the draft and international signings, the developmental tools and personnel spliced into the organization, a modernized approach that the rest of the industry was embracing. Can't stand the sight of the mounting losses that...

Another look at Lyles, plus other notes

Another look at Lyles, plus other notes
The lockout that occurred seconds after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement could produce the largest gap between an Orioles free agent agreement and actual signing in franchise history. Pitcher Jordan Lyles accepted the terms of his one-year, $7 million deal, which also contained an $11 million club option for 2023 and $1 million buyout. But the ink hasn't dried on the contract because a pen never touched paper. The transaction is pending a physical that can't be done until...

Orioles claim Fox, add six players to 40-man roster

Orioles claim Fox, add six players to 40-man roster
The Orioles are protecting six players again in the Rule 5 draft that's scheduled for next month in Orlando, Fla., placing pitchers DL Hall, Kyle Bradish, Kevin Smith, Félix Bautista and Logan Gillaspie, and infielder Terrin Vavra on the 40-man roster at tonight's deadline. The day began with 32 openings, heavy subtractions made since the last game. The most recent transaction impacting the roster before today was the claiming of pitcher Bryan Baker off waivers from the Blue Jays on Nov....

Taking a last look at possible protections in Rule 5 draft

Taking a last look at possible protections in Rule 5 draft
The Orioles' 40-man roster is holding at 32 players and must be set by Friday, before a Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings that remains in limbo, as well as Orlando, with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias will complete the task of protecting players, which follows the many transactions that cleared room for them. There will be the obvious calls and probably at least one that seems possible but falls a little short of a...

Orioles lose Hunter Harvey on waiver claim (updated)

Orioles lose Hunter Harvey on waiver claim (updated)
The Orioles made another roster move this afternoon and it eliminated a former first-round draft pick whose attempts at becoming a high-leverage reliever in the back end of the bullpen will continue in another organization. Multiple sources confirmed that the Giants claimed Hunter Harvey off waivers. He was on the 60-day injured list, which didn't count against a 40-man roster that holds at 30, but the Orioles were approaching the date to reinstate him. Harvey was the 22nd overall pick in the...

Because You Asked - Analyze That

Because You Asked - Analyze That
With the 2021 season officially over and baseball moving into full offseason mode, important dates on the calendar crossed off one at a time, the mailbag again is inflating like my ego. My new wife is only available to deflate the ego. Not the mailbag. That one is up to me. Just to review: You, my wonderful followers - which unfortunately sounds like a cult that will be documented on Netflix - ask me many questions that I attempt to answer. Some of you ask the same ones as if I ignored you. And...

More on Orioles' 40-man moves, plus Stowers note

More on Orioles' 40-man moves, plus Stowers note
As the participants in the World Series begin to come into focus, the Orioles are busy doing their own heavy lifting with moves to clear room on their 40-man roster. They needed a big broom. The season concluded with a full 40-man. Putting reliever Zack Burdi on waivers, and he was claimed by the Diamondbacks, was just the first attempt. They're down to 35 after outrighting catcher Austin Wynns, infielder Pat Valaika, and pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Konner Wade. That leaves space for the five...