The Orioles have selected the contract of right-hander Chris Vallimont from Triple-A. In corresponding moves, left-hander Bruce Zimmermann was optioned to Triple-A, while Mychal Givens was moved to the 60-day injured list to create space on the 40-man roster.
Givens signed a one-year, $5MM free agent deal with Baltimore during the offseason, returning to the O’s after pitching with the team from 2015-20. However, the comeback has still barely begun, as Givens has been limited to four innings over six appearances (and an 11.25 ERA) due to injuries. Some inflammation in Givens’ left knee arose during Spring Training, which led to an IL placement on Opening Day and delayed his season debut until May 21. Givens then went back on the 15-day IL on June 1 due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder, and the shift to the 60-day IL means that he won’t be eligible to return until August at the earliest.
While Givens had started a rehab assignment, he was scratched from what would’ve been his fifth outing last week, and underwent further examination. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said the team wasn’t overly concerned with the situation, but obviously Givens has been set back enough that he might need to entirely restart his rehab work, thus extending his time on the IL.
Vallimont is now on the verge of making his MLB debut after five pro seasons. The righty was a fifth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2018 draft, and was traded to the Twins in 2019 before Baltimore claimed him off waivers from Minnesota in May 2022.
The results have been mixed at best for Vaillmont in the upper minors, as he has a 6.07 ERA over 123 career innings at Double-A and a 5.22 ERA in 129 1/3 frames of Triple-A ball. A starter for much of his career, the Orioles have used him as a starter in eight games in Norfolk and as a long reliever on six other occasions. Since the Orioles’ bullpen has seen a lot of work over the team’s last two games, Vaillmont’s selection is likely a way to get a fresh arm into the relief corps. After Thursday’s off-day, the O’s play every day until the All-Star break, so Vaillmont might get some chances to chew up any stray innings and turn some heads in his first stint in the big leagues.
Oh! Soooooo no outside upgrades? Oh….oh ok. Elias is really irritating a lot of Baltimore. Frfr. Get us a legitimate upgrade pitching wise bro. We only 5 out. Like, what are you doing?!
It’s July 1, don’t panic.
You guys should be erecting a shrine to Elias for what he’s done. I guarantee you, if he left or was fired by the Orioles, he’d have eight offers within the hour.
First, we are 6 and a half out. Secondly, there has been only one trade, to this point, for a bullpen piece that matters, and the O’s weren’t touching Aroldis Chapman.
2005 all over again. Minus the steroids. Lol
If you can’t see the difference between this team and the 2005 team, it is a reflection on your ignorance. The two teams are not similar.
Givens looks really out of shape this season. He’s listed as 6’0″ and 250. Gotta think whatever conditioning he may or may not be doing has led these issues.
I’m 5’11 and 186 and I’m a bit rubbery. No pro athlete should be 6’0 and 250 unless he’s a linebacker.
Too much time spent stalking his ex
The author spells Vallimont’s name correctly twice in the article while misspelling it three times as “Vaillmont.” Oh well, not like writing about baseball players is his profession or something.