TODAY: Smith is indeed going on the seven-day concussion IL, the club announced. Outfielder Anthony Santander takes his spot on the active roster.
YESTERDAY: The Orioles expect to place outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. on the injured list, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after Thursday’s loss to the Rangers (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com). Smith crashed into the left field wall in the fourth inning, eventually forcing him to exit the game.
“He’s going to be out for a while,” Hyde said. “He’s going through concussion protocol, they’re going to X-ray his shoulder up here that he banged in the wall and he’s holding his jaw. It was like a car wreck.
The 26-year-old Smith has been one of last-place Baltimore’s best offensive players this season, which admittedly isn’t saying much. Still, Smith has perhaps given the Orioles better offensive production than they could have hoped for when they acquired him from the division-rival Blue Jays in early March.
In his first extensive look in the majors, Smith has hit .249/.296/.462 (98 wRC+) with 11 home runs, a .213 ISO and four steals on five attempts across 243 plate appearances. Smith has not complemented his respectable offensive output with quality defense, however, as evidenced by his minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-3.3 Ultimate Zone Rating and minus-6 Outs Above Average.
The Orioles replaced Smith on Thursday with Stevie Wilkerson, who could take over as their main left fielder if the former does go on the IL. Should Smith miss time, Baltimore would likely summon an outfielder from the minor leagues to take his roster spot. The team’s 40-man outfielders in the minors include Joey Rickard, Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins and one of its top prospects, Austin Hays.
Is it Hays? Problem is no one below ML level seems to be truly deserving.
He hasn’t played in AAA nor really tore up AA. I’d expect a band aid move like Rickard or maybe Santander for awhile at least. If Hays hits I’m sure he’ll be up shortly after the AS break.
Also we have Trumbo coming back within the next two weeks. I think it’s highly likely we see a band aid move here. Which is probably for the best. Hays hasn’t played that well and I’m definitely not for rushing him up here.
And I’m sure we have some hope to shed a portion of Trumbo’s salary if he’s swinging the bat well. Though with the Jay Bruce trade Elias must realize it probably won’t save much cash or bring a real prospect back.
Hayes has hit 288/.351/.558/.909 in his 13 games at Bowie, not bad for someone coming back from his injuries problems last year. The 13 games is a small sample size, certainly, and yeah, probably would be better for him to continue to improve on the farm. But, ya never know. Santander is intriguing, wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do on a regular basis. He’s just 24.
Hays must’ve had a solid game last night because his slash line upped itself this morning. Regardless he hasn’t played in a AAA game and only has played a few weeks in Bowie. I’d hope he continues the solid plate discipline and Mountcastle shows some more before getting the call. Santander’s promotion may open the slot for Hays to move to Norfolk as well.
And he made the catch last night. A great play!
Forget the poor defensive ratings, I agree, it was a tremendous catch of Odor’s shot. It didn’t really look car wreck serious real time since he was able to get almost 2 steps in but the recoil was violent.
Yes, and he has generally looked much better than the defensive metrics would seem to suggest.
Smith has been a nice find overall but the poor defensive metrics don’t surprise me. He looks like a below average LF with the tools to be an average LF to me. Arm isn’t very good and he’s made some poor throws. IE missing the cut off man. I’m sure you guys remember the game he did it not once, but twice. Even by traditional defensive stats he has 4 errors this season.
How far away is Diaz from being ready?
Wonder how Mason Williams is doing in Norfolk.
.287/.357/.476, not a terrible line
I feel bad for this kid. He can’t seem to catch a break.