East Notes: Rickard, Banuelos, Eveland

Outfielder Joey Rickard has been told that he’s made the Orioles’ roster, Roch Kubatko of MASN tweets. Of course, it comes as little surprise that Rickard, a Rule 5 pick from the Tampa Bay organization, would make the team after batting .390/.463/.576 this spring. Rickard could be having a significant impact on the Orioles’ roster composition, too, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan recently noted. Hyun Soo Kim is unlikely to make the Orioles’ 25-man and his immediate future is unclear, and while Kim’s .182/.229/.182 performance this spring is part of the reason why, but Rickard is part of the reason too. As Sullivan notes, Rickard doesn’t have much power (he only had two home runs all of last season in the minors) but was successful last year thanks to his abilities to hit for contact and control the strike zone. Rickard might also be able to add value with his defense and baserunning. If everything goes right, that could make him similar, as a player, to the late Ryan Freel, who was surprisingly productive for the Reds from 2003 through 2006. Here’s more from the East divisions.

• Braves lefty Manny Banuelos is fighting elbow soreness, and there’s no timetable for his return, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. A recent MRI indicated there was no damage, but the Braves are determining their plan for Banuelos, who had Tommy John surgery three years ago and had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow last September. Banuelos, who was competing for a job in the Braves’ rotation, says he doesn’t think his current soreness is a huge problem. “Doesn’t feel like it, but we’ll see,” he says. “I’m not worried too much. I wish I could pitch, man.”
• Rays lefty Dana Eveland has an opt-out Friday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Eveland is competing for a role in the Rays’ bullpen and has gotten good results in Spring Training, striking out eight batters and walking three in 10 2/3 innings while allowing three runs, none earned. He signed a minor-league deal with the team in September.