Summer camp ready to open Wednesday with 44 on roster
Mancini is placed on 60-day injured list, likely won’t play
Forty-four players will report to Oriole Park at Camden Yards this week to begin preparation for the coming shortened baseball season, with just over three weeks to cut down to the 30 players the team expects to start with on Opening Day.
The group the Orioles announced Sunday is largely made up of players who were remaining in camp when the coronavirus pandemic shut down baseball in mid-March.
Only one player — reliever Cesar Valdez — wasn’t on that camp roster, though the 35-year-old impressed in several cameos late in major league games.
Major league teams are allowed to have 60 players active between two sites — their major league site and a local secondary site, where players not active on the major league roster can stay ready in case they’re needed.
The Orioles will announce the beginning of their secondary roster and where they’ll hold that camp later this week, with many of the 40-man roster players not listed Sunday as well as some veteran minor leaguers expected to go to that second site. Well-regarded prospects such as Ryan Mountcastle, Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, and Yusniel Diaz could all be at that camp as early as this week.
The team will also use some of those spots on their top prospects as the summer goes on, especially if there’s no formal way to get the team’s priority minor leaguers any kind of game action.
Top prospects Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall could be added in the coming days and weeks, among others.
Not everyone whowas in camp at the end of the shutdown will be reporting to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday. Reliever Evan Phillips, who was dealing with elbow soreness at the time, isn’t listed.
Mountcastle, infielder Ramón Urias and outfielder Cedric Mullins were optioned to Triple-A Norfolk before rosters from in March and will likely be in the second wave, though right-hander David Hess was in that group and is still on the roster. Nonroster invitees Taylor Davis, Mason Williams, José Rondón, Richard Ureña and Bruce Zimmermann were all in camp at the end of the shutdown as well, but weren’t listed.
Additionally, the Orioles placed outfielder Trey Mancini on the 60-day injured list as he recovers from surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his colon and continues treatment for stage 3 colon cancer. While it’s expected that will become a 45-day injured list during the season, Mancini isn’t expected to play in 2020. That moves leaves the Orioles with 38 players on the 40-man roster.
Here’s the full list of players who will be in Orioles camp later this week:
Catchers: Bryan Holaday ( NRI), Pedro Severino, Chance Sisco, Austin Wynns.
Infielders: Hanser Alberto, Chris Davis, Dilson Herrera (NRI), José Iglesias, Richie Martin, Renato Núñez, Rio Ruiz, Pat Valaika (NRI), Andrew Velazquez, Stevie Wilkerson (NRI).
Outfielders: Austin Hays, Anthony Santander, Dwight Smith Jr., DJ Stewart.
Pitchers: Shawn Armstrong, Ty Blach (NRI), Richard Bleier, Cody Carroll, Miguel Castro, Alex Cobb, Thomas Eshelman (NRI), Paul Fry, Mychal Givens, Eric Hanhold (NRI), Hunter Harvey, David Hess, Branden Kline (NRI), Wade LeBlanc (NRI), Travis Lakins Sr., John Means, Tommy Milone (NRI), Tanner Scott, Chandler Shepherd (NRI), Kohl Stewart, Cole Sulser, Dillon Tate, Cesar Valdez (NRI), Hector Velázquez, Asher Wojciechowski, Ron Zastryzny (NRI).