The Orioles play their 18th game of the year on Wednesday afternoon. They have gone the previous 17 games without facing a left-handed starting pitcher, the longest stretch of any of the other MLB teams. That streak ends today as Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound against them. If the O’s can pull off the win, they’ll get the series win as they head off on a road trip. Lose and they won’t have managed to sustain good feelings after Monday’s big comeback win.
Although the Orioles have avoided
having anyone new placed on the injured list, there’s still been roster shuffling ahead of the game. The team selected the contract of catcher Sam Huff from Norfolk and optioned reliever Nick Raquet back to Norfolk. That means the O’s will be a pitcher short in the bullpen today and for however long this lasts. Raquet did not make a very good first impression on Orioles fans and was lucky not to have given up more runs last night. In this case, there’s not too much downside to not having him out there.
The three catchers thing probably won’t last for long. Maybe it won’t even last until tomorrow’s game. Ahead of today’s game, manager Craig Albernaz indicated that he foresees another roster move coming within the next few days to get the team back to an eight-man bullpen.
I don’t know why the Orioles didn’t bring up Huff a couple of days ago; they’d telegraphed wanting to bring him along as soon as Adley Rutschman hit the injured list, but he’s only arrived today. Mike Elias is always doing weird things on the fringes of the roster. If it matters whether Huff or Maverick Handley is on the roster or how much playing time they’re getting, that’s probably not going to mean good things for the 2026 team. Sending either of them out seems to be the most obvious move.
Pitcher Jayvien Sandridge was designated for assignment to make room for Huff on the 40-man. The Orioles acquired him for cash considerations on March 29, sent him to Norfolk, and never opted to bring him to Baltimore before designating him in turn. Existing at the edge of the 26-man or 40-man rosters is not the most stable place to be.
Orioles lineup
- Taylor Ward – DH
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Pete Alonso – 1B
- Johnathan Rodríguez – RF
- Weston Wilson – LF
- Jeremiah Jackson – 2B
- Coby Mayo – 3B
- Sam Huff – C
- Blaze Alexander – CF
This is a lineup, all right. It is not a lineup from which you might be expecting good things. I’m certainly not. Maybe they’ll surprise us. For me, it’s having Rodríguez as the cleanup hitter in his first start as an Oriole that really makes it. With three lefties coming up in the next five games, I’m curious how much of this is going to repeat.
Starting for the Orioles today is Kyle Bradish. At the outset of this season, things haven’t been going well for him, with a particular problem of nine walks in 13.2 innings.
Diamondbacks lineup
- Ketel Marte – DH
- Corbin Carroll – RF
- Geraldo Perdomo – SS
- Adrian Del Castillo – C
- José Fernández – 1B
- Ildemaro Vargas – 2B
- Nolan Arenado – 3B
- Alek Thomas – CF
- Jorge Barrosa – LF
Rodriguez has a 0.50 ERA through his first three starts of the year. Pretty good! It is not an Orioles lineup that’s likely inspiring much fear in him, though they are all still major league players and he can’t totally goof off or he’ll end up seeing his ERA balloon. His best is definitely better than their best and his decent might even be better than their best.
**
This game is taking place on April 15, the day that MLB sets aside each year to honor the day in 1947 that Jackie Robinson made his debut and broke the color barrier in what had been a segregated game. All players will wear 42, the number that is retired league-wide in Robinson’s honor, on this day.
It is a good day to remember that, although overt segregation in public spaces was stamped out long ago, the legacy of this history of racism still impacts our society today. For baseball in particular, a decline in participation by Black Americans is partly rooted in the fact that the youth travel baseball culture that fuels a lot of the domestic talent pipeline in the sport now is off limits to many families for economic reasons rather than overt racial ones.
As this country gears up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, there is still work to be done to live up to the ideal that all men are created equal. The times in American history of which one can be proudest are the times where people worked or fought to make this reality. Jackie Robinson was a great ballplayer and a great American.
