This, that and the other

Anthony Santander lasted only one game with the Orioles after serving as the 26th man in the nightcap of Wednesday's doubleheader in Chicago. Hit a home run and hit the road.

He won't be forgotten by the Orioles.

Santander was wise to unpack his bags after returning to Triple-A Norfolk, but manager Brandon Hyde expects to write the outfielder's name on the lineup card again during the summer.

"I think you're going to see Tony here at some point. I don't know when, but he'll be back up," Hyde said.

"He swung the bat really well that night. Had some good ABs. Took one off the kneecap and then hit one 400-plus feet to right field. He plays a nice outfield, too. He plays a nice corner outfield and throws well, so you're going to see him back up here.

"I was really happy, and I told him, with how he swung the bat in Triple-A the last week, week and a half before he came to us. I look forward to him going back down there and continuing that and, hopefully, be back up here sometime soon."

Santander went 2-for-5 with an RBI last night in Norfolk's 10-2 victory over Charlotte.

* Richie Martin has been out of the Orioles lineup since going 2-for-4 with a double, triple and RBI in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader.

He didn't figure to play all 18 innings and was used in Game 2 as a defensive replacement while the Orioles tried unsuccessfully to protect their one-run lead. But he also sat last night against stud Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow.

Martin was slashing .164/.243/.209 before his big day at Guaranteed Rate Field, which improved his line to .183/.266/.268. Hyde gave Stevie Wilkerson his first career start in center field last night and wanted to keep Hanser Alberto in the lineup, which meant putting him at second base and moving Jonathan Villar to shortstop.

The other alternative was playing Alberto at third, but Rio Ruiz would have been forced out.

Anyway, Martin should be in the lineup tonight.

* Joey Rickard also should resurface after being on the bench last night while encased in a 1-for-22 slump that's left him batting .183/.269/.333 in 32 games.

Cedric Mullins was optioned after slashing .094/.181/.156 in 22 games. Rickard has options remaining, but which outfielder is knocking on the door to replace him at the position?

Santander is a corner outfielder. He's never played center. Austin Hays just played his first extended spring training game yesterday and it's going to be a while before he's back in the majors, considering that the Orioles optioned him late in camp to continue his development.

Mason Williams, the former Yankees prospect whose only "Classical Gas" might come from the minor league postgame spreads, was slashing .259/.340/.469 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 24 games with Triple-A Norfolk before last night. He hit .289/.325/.396 in 76 major league games before the Orioles signed him on March 28. But he isn't on the 40-man roster and they'd have to decide whether he's worth clearing another spot.

The organizational philosophies are different regarding Mullins and Rickard based on prospect status. The Orioles could be more inclined to stick with Rickard rather than worry about eroding confidence or stunted development. But they certainly aren't locked into keeping him on the roster long-term.

Mullins went 3-for-5 last night with a triple and his first home run, a three-run shot from the right side of the plate.

* Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI for Norfolk and is on fire. He should be setting off sprinklers.

Mountcastle is 20-for-48 (.417) during a 10-game hitting streak.

"I thought he ended spring training well," Hyde said. "I thought he was forcing the issue early, trying to impress, but the last couple of weeks he was with us he started swinging the bat better. Kind of started to show his power in games. He just mishit a few. But he had some really good swings.

"That Triple-A team for the most part got off to kind of a slow start offensively, but they've really picked it up the last two weeks and that's great to see. We would love to see all of our minor league affiliates and all of our guys play well and put pressure on people to move them and all that kind of stuff. So the better they do, the better it is for everybody."

* Trey Mancini struck out in all four at-bats last night and is 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts since being hit on his right index finger in the first inning of Saturday's game in Minnesota.

It was the first four-strikeout game of Mancini's career. Three of them came against Tyler Glasnow.

"He was absolutely disgusting," Mancini said. "You have to tip your cap. It's frustrating. Dude threw a good game. He did a great job executing his pitches. It's tough. His breaking ball, especially, looks like his fastball to the hands, so you try not to give up on it, but he spotted it well and he was really good out there."

What about the finger?

"Totally fine," he said. "It has nothing to do with the finger. Just bad timing for the first golden sombrero. Is that what it's called? Yeah, just not good timing, but I'm physically fine."

* The Orioles made room for catcher Jesús Sucre on Norfolk's roster by transferring Carlos Pérez to Double-A Bowie.

This was the logical move after Pérez moved up to replace Austin Wynns, who joined the Orioles in Minnesota.

Sucre cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk, where he's paired with Chance Sisco, who went 3-for-5 last night with three RBIs after homering in each of the last three games.