Orioles Select Rico Garcia

The Orioles announced some roster moves prior to today’s game, selecting the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia to their roster. To make room for Garcia on the active roster, lefty Bruce Zimmermann was optioned to Triple-A. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Travis Lakins Sr. was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Additionally, righty Marcos Diplan, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Garcia, 28, has 19 innings of MLB experience under his belt, including three with the Orioles earlier this year. He was selected as a COVID-19 “substitute” when the club travelled to Toronto and placed Anthony Santander and Keegan Akin on the restricted list due to their unvaccinated status. As Garcia was given substitute status, he was removed from the roster after the Toronto series without being exposed to waivers.

Garcia also appeared in the big leagues with the Rockies in 2019 and Giants in 2020, generating a career ERA of 6.63 so far in that small sample of scattered work. He missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery and signed a minor league deal with the O’s in the offseason. He’s had a solid showing in Triple-A this year, throwing 18 innings with an even ERA of 3.00, along with a 25.3% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 31.1% ground ball rate.

As for Lakins, this transfer will mean he’s ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement for elbow inflammation, which was on May 20. Those 60 days are almost up and there’s no news on his prognosis, making this move a mere formality.

Diplan has been outrighted by the Orioles twice before and returned to the club both times. He has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it seems possible he’ll stick with the O’s like he did in those previous instances.