CLEVELAND -- At some point during the seventh inning of the Orioles’ loss to the Guardians on Wednesday, interim manager Tony Mansolino heard the bullpen phone slam behind him.
While he assumed the news on the other end of the phone was not good, he had no idea how bad it was going to be. On Thursday, the O’s placed relief ace Félix Bautista on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder discomfort prior to Baltimore's 4-3 win over Cleveland at Progressive Field.
The injury cropped up as Bautista started getting ready to pitch on Wednesday.
“When I heard that ring, I turned to the person next to me and said, ‘That’s not good,” Mansolino said before Thursday's series finale. “It turned out to be horrendous.”
Bautista is now the 26th player on Baltimore’s roster to spend time on the injured list this season. The club is back to having 15 players on the IL after it dropped down to 14 on Wednesday, when Zach Eflin was activated.
“It’s tough,” Mansolino said. “He’s a leader for us and helps win Major League games. We’re just hoping it’s not too severe.”
While any injury to a player of Bautista’s caliber is always scary, this injury means a little more given Bautista’s history.
Bautista suffered a partial UCL tear at the end of his fantastic 2023 season (1.48 ERA in 61 innings) and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery that October, which kept him out for all of ‘24.
Bautista made his return to the Orioles at the start of this season and has recorded a 2.60 ERA in 34 2/3 innings. His last appearance came over the weekend when he worked his 19th save against the Rays, and Bautista felt healthy prior to Wednesday’s game before the injury cropped up while he was going through his preparation routine.
Mansolino said that Bautista will get an MRI exam on Friday to determine the severity of the injury.
“We feel great about his usage this year,” Mansolino said. “It’s kind of hard to explain some of these things as it’s been hard to explain a lot of other injuries for guys this year.”
While Bautista was a longshot to be dealt at the July 31 Trade Deadline, this injury may well thwart any chance of him being traded.
Bautista was one of the top relief options who could have been available due to his track record of success and low salary (he’s earning $1 million this year). He’s also arbitration-eligible for two more seasons, but the Orioles have their sights set on competing next year so they likely would have needed to be blown away to deal him.
Bautista’s average fastball velocity has dipped from 99.5 mph in 2023 to 97.2 mph, but he still owns elite rankings in expected batting average (.158, 100th percentile), whiff percentage (35.7, 97th percentile) and strikeout percentage (35.2, 97th percentile).
Mansolino said the O’s will go with a closer by committee approach in the meantime, but the player pool he has to choose from could be tweaked soon depending on how things go at the Deadline.
On Thursday, Corbin Martin was the first reliever out of the ‘pen after starter Charlie Morton logged 6 2/3 innings before Seranthony Domínguez worked the eighth and Gregory Soto closed the door in the ninth.
It marked the first save of the year for Soto, who made the All-Star Game twice as a closer with the Tigers. Though, according to Mansolino, using Domínguez in the eighth inning against the middle of Cleveland’s lineup was equally important.
“[Domínguez] is our best guy in the bullpen ... and we were going to face 3-4-5 in their order in the eighth,” Mansolino said.
Domínguez, Soto and Andrew Kittredge make the most sense to get the lion’s share of save opportunities, but all three could be in different uniforms after July 31.
“I can’t control [the Trade Deadline],” Soto said through interpreter Brandon Quinones. “What I can control is going out there and doing my job. If they ultimately decide to make a decision to trade me, let it be.”
But regardless of what happens, the Orioles will need to start using some relievers in unfamiliar spots.
“I think with what we want, we don’t have a choice,” Mansolino said. “I think guys are going to have to bump up their roles and step up, and pitch in different spots. We’ll make use of what we have.”