Can a team that expects to be in the playoffs carry a struggling rookie on the roster? How about one in the everyday lineup?

This is sort of a natural follow up blog to yesterday when we pondered how the O’s will look to introduce some of their top prospects to regular player time. When is the right time for the Orioles to make that move?

Yes, it is easier for a losing team or a rebuilding team to carry a struggling rookie simply because they have less concern over daily wins and losses. But you still have to worry about the individual and when the struggles become too much or that player should be sent back to the minors. These are not easy calls for any club, no matter their place in the standings.

A young Orioles team with a manager with a strong player development background may be the near perfect spot for a young player like Heston Kjerstad, Colton Cowser or Jackson Holliday to break in. The clubhouse is filled with players who have been there and done that when it comes to rookies finding their way. Recent examples like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson who had initial struggles and more established players like Cedric Mullins, not that far removed from them. Mullins can tell any young player about the time he fell all the way to Double-A before making it back to become a 30-30 talent and win a Silver Slugger award.

The other thing to keep in mind is that yes, the Orioles will be pushing to make the playoffs again. But any young player on the roster, even one as touted as Holliday, need only be complementary to the roster on a 101-win team and not the key guy. No one needs to be the straw stirring the drink here. No one needs to carry this club.

One of the biggest questions facing the Orioles for next season is how and when to turn over significant playing time to some of their top prospects? When is the right time to not only call up a player but commit to that player as a regular?

The Orioles have more than three players that are on the verge of cracking the everyday lineup or pushing to do that, but the three that are right on the cusp include two we have already seen in the majors in outfielders Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad and one we have not. That’s the big one, MLB’s No. 1 prospect in shortstop Jackson Holliday.

We have here three players ranked by at least one major outlet as among the top 25 prospects in baseball. Holliday is No. 1 by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com while Cowser is No. 11 by Baseball America and No. 14 via MLB. Kjerstad is No. 24 via MLB and No. 43 by Baseball America.

Sometimes an injury will determine when this player gets in the lineup and then it’s up to the player to take the chance and run with it. Sometimes a prospect will make the roster but not have regular playing time. That is always a big decision to make. Is the prospect better suited to just play every day on the farm or learn on the job in the big leagues even if not playing a lot? How will the prospect handle not playing a lot?

Cowser got into 26 games with the 2023 Orioles and hit .115/.286/.148/.433. Known for a good batting eye and patient approach with nice gap-to-gap pop, he managed a 16.9 walk rate in that limited sample with a 28.6 K rate. There is some swing and miss in his game, but this is also a player that gets at least average grades on defense and is considered a plus runner.

Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton summoned Colton Cowser to his office following a July 4 game and told the outfielder to pack his bags. He was joining the Orioles in New York. The wait was over.

Cowser’s time in the majors met the same fate on Aug. 14, with the Orioles optioning him to create roster space after Aaron Hicks' reinstatement from the injured list. Cowser had seven hits in 61 at-bats, with three coming in his first five games.

“It’s not always a terrible thing to have a guy come up here and experience what big league pitching is like and what major league life is like and understand how to go through adjustments,” manager Brandon Hyde said while explaining the decision. “We saw Grayson (Rodriguez) do that earlier this year and he came back a different guy.”

Cowser came back on Sept. 1 but lasted only two days on the expanded roster and didn’t play. Hicks returned from a second stint on the IL. Cowser had to leave again.

He wasn’t on the playoff roster. He wasn’t on the taxi squad. But it wasn’t a total loss.

When the regular season was winding down for the Orioles, they went through an eight-game stretch from Sept. 15-22 when they allowed nine runs once, seven runs twice and five runs twice. But then their pitching was really rolling in the season’s final eight games, pitching two shutouts in that span and allowing one run or less five times.

But the Baltimore offense was certainly not rolling. They hit just .138 scoring eight runs in the last four-game series versus Boston. In the last 11 games, the Orioles scored two runs or fewer seven times.

But over the long haul, the stats covering all 162 games, this just served to improve the O’s in the pitching stats. Their final team ERA of 3.89 ranks fifth best in the American League. And while their final runs scored per game dipped under 5.00 to finish at 4.98, that is still fourth best in the AL.

And while there are many different stats we could look at to evaluate their pitching and offense, ranking fifth in pitching ERA and fourth in scoring is a pretty good combination, one that led this team to 101 wins.

But should Birdland worry about an offense that scored just 32 runs while hitting only three homers in those last 11 games?

The Orioles' Triple-A affiliate, the Norfolk Tides, won a franchise record 90 games this year, setting several team records along the way. Then they lost the first game of the best-of-three International League championship series last Tuesday, before winning two in a row to take their first IL crown since 1985.

But the Tides had one more big win in them last night as they beat Oklahoma City 7-6 to win the Triple-A championship game in Las Vegas, pitting the IL champion Tides against the Pacific Coast League champion Dodgers.

Norfolk trailed 2-1 in the top of the seventh but had the bases loaded with two outs. Down 0-2 in the count against lefty Alec Gamboa, Colton Cowser mashed a grand slam to right center to turn the one-run deficit into a 5-2 lead with one swing. He hit the ball with a 107.6 mph exit velocity and it went 455 feet and deep into the Las Vegas night.

A mammoth blast just when the Tides needed it by the player ranked No. 11 on the top 100 by Baseball America and No. 14 by MLBPipeline.com.

On a cell phone call from the Las Vegas ballpark postgame, I asked Cowser what it felt like to mash a baseball in such a big spot.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Activated RHP Jorge López. He will wear #73.
• Reinstated OF Aaron Hicks (low back strain) from the 10-day Injured List.
• Optioned OF Colton Cowser to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s game.
• Designated RHP Austin Voth for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 39 players.

The Orioles’ roster has changed again.

Get used to it.

Jorge López was activated this morning after the Orioles claimed him on waivers yesterday from the Marlins. Aaron Hicks was reinstated from the injured list.

To make room, outfielder Colton Cowser was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and reliever Austin Voth was designated for assignment.

López enters a bullpen that includes Yennier Cano. They were involved in the 2022 deadline trade with the Twins.

PHOENIX - Two players who spent time on the Orioles roster earlier this year officially returned to the team today as the September roster expanded from 26 to 28 players. Outfielder Colton Cowser and right-handed reliever Joey Krehbiel are back.

Cowser was the O’s top draft pick, taken No. 5 overall, in the 2021 MLB Draft. Krehbiel, 30, was a big part of the 2022 Orioles bullpen, going 5-5 with a 3.90 ERA and 1.231 WHIP.

"Honestly, really encouraged with how Joey was throwing the ball in Triple-A," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in the visitor's dugout at Chase Field. "Some really good appearances as of late and threw the ball well for us in a few brief moments this year. And Colton, just kind of where we are from an outfield standpoint, a health standpoint, have a lot of guys that have played a lot of innings out there. He adds outfield depth with a guy that can play all three spots. We thought that was important."

Hyde was asked if Cowser will be up for the rest of the season?

"I think we're day-to-day right now with everybody," he said. 

The Orioles won’t allow their roster to stop evolving. They are adding players for Friday’s expansion and figure to keep shuffling through the month of September.

The first two moves are decided, with outfielder Colton Cowser and reliever Joey Krehbiel joining the club in Arizona, according to a source. The club hasn’t made an announcement.

These are initial reinforcements who don’t close business.

Cowser made his major league debut on July 5 in New York and appeared in 26 games before the Orioles optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. He went 7-for-61 with two doubles, four RBIs, 13 walks and 22 strikeouts.

Over 69 games with the Tides, Cowser batted .314/.440/.524 with 15 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 45 RBIs in 315 plate appearances.

SAN DIEGO – Outfielder Colton Cowser is taking his turn at a minor league reset.

The Orioles optioned Cowser today after he went 7-for-61, creating a spot for Aaron Hicks’ return to the active roster.

“We talked a lot about that with certain guys this year, about how it’s not always a terrible thing to have a guy come up here and experience what major league pitching’s like and what big league life is like,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Understand how to go through some adjustments when you go back down to Triple-A. It’s like, we saw Grayson (Rodriguez) do that earlier this year, he came back a different guy.

“Colton’s going to be a really good major league player. Got off to a pretty good start, and then he just kind of got caught in between a little bit in his at-bats. I just want him to go down there and free his mind up. Kind of reset a little bit, relax and breathe and go take some at-bats, and don’t worry about trying to produce up here. And maybe we’ll see him soon.”

Hyde noticed that the league got a little more aggressive early in the zone, and Cowser wasn’t able to adjust to it.

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles made the anticipated outfield switch today, reinstating Aaron Hicks from the 10-day injured list and optioning rookie Colton Cowser to Triple-A Norfolk.

Hicks strained his left hamstring July 24 while diving for a fly ball in Philadelphia – incorrectly ruled a catch – and returns after two rehab games with Norfolk.

Cowser is 7-for-61 with two doubles, four RBIs, 13 walks, 22 strikeouts and 15 runs scored in 26 games.

Cedric Mullins returned over the weekend in Seattle and won yesterday’s game by robbing Ty France of a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and delivering a two-run shot in the top of the 10^th. His return cost Ryan McKenna a spot on the roster.

Mullins became the first player to rob a home run and hit one in the ninth inning or later of the same game over the last 10 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Ramón Urías is out of the lineup tonight with a bruised heel. However, Urías said he’s feeling better and should be available off the bench.

Urías hit his heel with his bat during last night’s game and was removed after the sixth inning.

“It feels good,” he said. “Just a little sore today.”

Jordan Westburg is the third baseman tonight. Colton Cowser is playing center field.

Second baseman Adam Frazier is back in the lineup after jamming his right thumb during the last game in Toronto.

TORONTO – You only get one chance to make a first impression. Right-hander Jack Flaherty, who had made 118 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals since the 2017 season, made a good one on his new Orioles teammates and fans throughout Birdland.

He was rolling, getting through the fifth in Toronto Thursday afternoon on 58 pitches. He had retired 15 in a row. But he got in trouble in the sixth and Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s single made it a 3-1 O’s lead and he walked a man to load the bases. But given a chance to pitch out of that big jam, he did, getting Matt Chapman swinging on a big breaking curveball and Alejandro Kirk to fly out on a breaking ball.

His new manager had the confidence to let him try and get out of that jam.

“Means a lot,” Flaherty said of that trust. “Go out and make pitches and let me get through that. Walked (George) Springer but made some good pitches and was able to execute with Chapman and Kirk there. Nice to have that trust and my job is to continue to make pitches until he takes the ball from me.”

Allowing just one run over six innings on 92 pitches, Flaherty seems fired up to be an Oriole so far. He had not touched 97 mph with his fastball all year and then he did that in his first inning.

The Orioles’ posted lineup yesterday had Ryan McKenna in center field instead of Colton Cowser for the third game in a row. Three out of the four played at Rogers Centre.

Facing left-handers Hyun Jin Ryu and Yusei Kikuchi provided a built-in explanation. Sitting Cowser yesterday against right-hander Kevin Gausman required one.

Manager Brandon Hyde cited Gausman’s career reverse splits during his pregame session with the assembled media. But he also explained how a few days of extra work and batting practice could benefit Cowser, along with a chance to “relax.”

This is one way for a contender to handle a rookie’s struggles. The other, of course, would be to option him.

If wins weren’t as important in the grand scheme, like over the past four years, the Orioles could keep starting Cowser and view it as part of his development. But that won’t work in 2023.

TORONTO – Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami entered in the sixth inning last night and pitched two scoreless in the Orioles' win over the Yankees. His fastball again touched 100 mph and his splitter got swings and misses at 93 mph.

That is three straight scoreless with the Orioles for Fujinami, who will continue to get action in high-leverage spots.

“The way he is throwing the ball the last few times, it’s going to be in big spots,” manager Brandon Hyde said today in advance of the series opener at Toronto. “He’s got incredible stuff. A fantastic arm. He showed it again last night with two really good innings. If he can be kind of that bridge guy to Félix (Bautista) it would be fantastic. But his last few appearances, he’s shown great stuff and we’re excited about him.”

The 29-year-old Fujinami was scored on in his first two Baltimore appearances. But his last three have produced 4 1/3 scoreless innings on one hit with seven strikeouts and a .330 OPS against. Last night he got four whiffs on six swings against his splitter.

Would Hyde consider extending him to three innings in some games?

PHILADELPHIA – Orioles outfielder Aaron Hicks is hopeful that he can return to the active roster after 10 days.

Hicks went on the injured list this afternoon with a strained left hamstring. He exited last night’s game in the third inning after diving for Johan Rojas’ shallow fly ball.

He lost control of it but was credited with the catch. The Phillies didn’t request the challenge within the allotted 15 seconds.

It proved to be costly to Hicks.

“I feel like by the end of the 10 days I should be good,” he said. “Obviously last night I thought it was just a cramp, and then woke up this morning not really feeling that great. I had to go get an MRI today and obviously that landed me on the IL, but I only think it’s going to take about the 10 days.”

PHILADELPHIA – A line drive traveling 356 feet the other way became Jordan Westburg’s first major league home run.

He couldn’t pause to admire it, as Gunnar Henderson did yesterday with a 446-foot shot off the D-catwalk ring at Tropicana Field. Westburg raced out of the box, slowed into his home run trot and pointed his index finger toward the outfield as he approached second base.

Westburg put a sinker about three rows deep into the right field corner in the second inning. He also put the Orioles in a favorable spot, with their 31-8 record when scoring first leading the majors before tonight.

Ryan Mountcastle broke a tie with a 451-foot homer to center field in the sixth, Colton Cowser broke another in the ninth with a two-out bloop double down the left field line and a short bullpen held up at the end in a 3-2 victory before an announced sellout crowd of 44,043 at Citizens Bank Park.

There’s no slowing this team, which has won five of six games, 13 of 16 and 14 of 19. The Orioles are a season-high 24 games above .500 at 62-38, including 32-18 on the road. And they lead the idle Rays by 2 ½.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Cody Asche gives the compliment and explains how it also can be a curse.

“We’re really fortunate, we have a lot of really good hitters who are almost too good for the minor leagues,” said Asche, the Orioles’ offensive strategy coach, as he sat in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field before a weekend game. “They don’t get to quite learn the lessons that players of less caliber have to learn when the competition gets better.”

Colton Cowser is in the same boat while navigating the choppy waters in the major leagues.

Cowser made his long-awaited debut at Yankee Stadium on July 5 and went 1-for-3 with an RBI, walk and run scored. Media swarmed his locker before and after the game. The smile didn’t leave his face. Teammates were excited to have his talents and fun personality with them again.

It almost looked too easy.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Colton Cowser is in right field and Aaron Hicks gets the start in center field, as the Orioles try for their 19^th series win and a two-game lead over the Rays in the American League East.

Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg are on the bench.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing shortstop. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter. Ramón Urías is the third baseman, with Adam Frazier at second.

Tyler Wells leads the majors with a 0.984 WHIP in 19 games. He faced the Rays on June 21 at Tropicana Field and allowed four runs (two earned) with six strikeouts in five innings.

Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes homered in the second inning.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson thought he drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning tonight, chucking his bat and taking a couple steps toward first base. Plate umpire Junior Valentine called him out on strikes, and Henderson reluctantly made the walk of shame to retrieve it.

This isn’t how the Orioles wanted to begin an important four-game series. Unable to trust their eyes or get a baserunner for three innings. An early deficit challenging them to post a 35^th comeback win.

Inside a ballpark with fake grass and real advantages for the Rays.

A three-run fourth inning, which began with Henderson’s leadoff triple, had the Orioles poised to get it done again, but Yandy Díaz tied the game in the seventh with a two-run double off Yennier Cano. Too much intensity for either team to go quietly.

The 35th happened anyway. With a veteran laying down a sacrifice bunt and a rookie playing in his 11th major league game driving in the go-ahead run.