Hernández leaves game with elbow discomfort

Veteran starter Félix Hernández left today's start against the Rays with discomfort in his right elbow. He's undergoing an examination and the Orioles should have more information in the morning.

Hernández retired the side in order with two strikeouts, but manager Brandon Hyde sensed that there was an issue.

"I thought the velo was the same," Hyde said following a 7-1 seven-inning loss in Port Charlotte. "He was getting outs, he had a good slider. I just thought the body language was different this time than the last couple of times and he felt like there was something bothering him. So when I approached him after the inning he had a little bit of discomfort and I made the decision there to take him out of the game at that point and not risk anything on March 16 in Port Charlotte. I wanted to play it safe and not have him push it. I think he's getting reevaluated tomorrow and then we'll take it from there.

"It was just his body language, taking a little bit more time between pitches, and kind of the way he came off the mound after the inning, just looked different. You read pitchers. You get a feeling that something's not right."

The game fell apart for the Orioles, with Eric Hanhold allowing six runs in the second inning, Marcos Diplán surrendering one and the Rays sending 12 batters to the plate. The teams agreed to shorten it to seven innings due to a lack of Orioles pitching.

The Rays batted in the bottom of the seventh and the Orioles headed for the buses, unsure whether Hernández will be able to take his next turn.

The former Cy Young winner agreed to a minor league deal that pays $1 million if he's on the club. He opted out of the 2020 season after going to spring training with the Braves.

Losing Hernández would put a dent in the team's pitching plans. John Means is going to be the opening day starter April 1, and rookies Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin and Bruce Zimmermann are making their bids to stay in the rotation. The Orioles signed Matt Harvey and Wade LeBlanc to minor league deals and remain noncommittal on the number of starters heading north.

Asked whether the club has an ample supply of starters or needs to find more, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias replied, "We're always looking and we'll see what happens toward the end. Guys leave camps, they exercise outs, there's waiver activity. We'll just have to see.

"I think we're seeing some encouraging stuff here. We got a good start yesterday from Matt Harvey, Jorge López looked good today, Bruce Zimmermann's looked good, Keegan Akin threw well yesterday, so we've got a good competition going on and we've got a long ways to go. I know Brandon and the coaches are watching keenly and seeing good things."

López tossed three scoreless innings with one hit allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. He's surrendered three runs and struck out 11 batters in 11 innings.

"First inning, he was feeling for it a little bit, wasn't as aggressive as he had been his previous couple outings," Hyde said, "and then he picked it up the second inning and the last (two) innings was very aggressive, forcing contact, good tempo on the mound, did a good job. Escaped trouble one time. It's aggressiveness with Lopie. That's what we're just going to continue hound him on is being aggressive in the strike zone because his stuff really plays."

Conner Greene blanked the Rays on two hits over the last two innings.

The only run scored in the fifth when Rylan Bannon doubled, moved to third on a ground ball and came home on an Austin Wynns single. Bannon also doubled in the seventh, but he was included among six roster cuts following the game.

Bannon, infielder Tyler Nevin, outfielders Yusniel Diaz and Ryan McKenna, and pitcher Ashton Goudeau were optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, and catcher Taylor Davis was reassigned to Twin Lakes.

"Guys had good camps," Elias said, zeroing in on the collection of prospects. "They're knocking on the door and on our radar screen this year and I think we may see any or all of them debut, so all those guys showed well, but we're at the point in camp where we're starting to pare down and made those moves today."

Third baseman Maikel Franco will work out on the back fields Wednesday morning now that his contract is signed.

"Maikel Franco, I think, is someone who's going to help us a lot and fit in very well with the personnel that we have on this roster," Elias said. "I think it gives us not only an upgrade in different spots in the lineup and at various positions of the lineup, a right-hander that fits in very well with some of our other personnel, but it also makes our team deeper and protects us against what will be a long season and the ups and down and injuries that happen over the course of a season.

"I also think that his addition takes a good bit of pressure, so to speak, off a lot of different hitters around our lineup, different corners. First base, third base, the corner outfielders that will be rotating through the DH spot. Everyone, I think, will be seeing a lot of playing time and he's going to be a really good fit in that mix and certainly give us somebody that can mix and match at third base, but also at first base and DH at times as needed."

There would appear to be an immediate impact on Rio Ruiz, who's been the primary third baseman the past two seasons.

"For Rio, he's played well for us for a couple years and he will continue to do that, but I think we're going to need more right-handed options, more depth," Elias said.

"We're going to need guys who can rotate around in those spots. We had in the past couple years here Hanser Alberto and Renato Núñez, both of whom would be right-handed options at third base from time to time, and our roster's not build exactly like that this year. We thought this was a good opportunity, seeing a player of his caliber still unsigned.

"With the way we structured his contract, we have given ourselves and him sort of a pathway to revving up a little slower after opening day and sending him to the alternate site if we feel that's in his best interest, at least for a couple weeks. We think that's good because historically we've seen these guys who miss spring training, sometimes you can see the effects of that, so he wanted that option, as well, and wanted to give ourselves that flexibility.

"So I just think it makes our whole team stronger and our mix stronger and we're hopeful that he'll make the most of this opportunity. He wanted to play for the Orioles, he wants to be a part of this group, he's got a good relationship with Freddy Galvis already and it seemed like a good fit. So it's definitely more competition for the guys that were already on the roster, but there's still a lot of opportunities for all these guys."

Elias believes that Franco and Ruiz can co-exist on the roster.

"I think it's definitely a possibility to have any of these guys in an opening day mix together," he said. "It's going to depend on some other decisions that we make and so it's hard to address that as a one-off on March 16, but certainly seems very possible to me that both those guys are on the team at the same time the whole year, if that's what happens. So that's kind of why we like the signing. We see an avenue for a lot of these guys to blend together and create some options for Brandon and some competition and we'll see where it goes."

Reliever Hunter Harvey went on the 60-day injured list with a left oblique strain to create a spot for Franco on the 40-man roster.

"It's an injury that through experience we know takes a lot of time, especially for a pitcher to come back with his throwing program," Elias said. "So given that, given the need not to rush it and the timeline it takes, we went ahead and put him on the 60."

The list of injuries keeps growing with Harvey and diminishes his contributions to an organization that made him the 22nd overall pick in 2013.

"It's an oblique injury, they're very common in spring training," Elias said. "I also think the 2020 to 2021 calendar that we've been dealing is with probably leading to more than fair share, but he'll bounce back. We just want to make sure that his arm is ramped up properly and he's in shape. I think we're going to see him in May or early June."

Elias said the IL move can be backdated to opening day.