The Orioles announced this morning that they’ve placed right-hander Albert Suarez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. To replace Suarez on the active roster, the club selected the contract of right-hander Matt Bowman. There was already a vacancy on the club’s 40-man roster, so an additional corresponding move for Bowman was not necessary.
Suarez, 35, signed with the Rays out of Venezuela and made his pro debut all the way back in 2008 but didn’t make his big league debut until 2016 with the Giants. The right-hander pitched to a pedestrian 4.51 ERA with a 4.40 FIP across two seasons and 115 2/3 frames in San Francisco before being outrighted off the clubs roster. He was then selected by the Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 draft but was outrighted to the minors once again without making an appearance during the 2018 campaign.
That led Suarez to try his hand overseas, and he ultimately spent five seasons pitching in Asia between Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows and the Korea Baseball Organization’s Samsung Lions. After posting ERAs of 3.00 and 3.04 respectively in those leagues, Suarez finally got the opportunity to return to the big leagues with the Orioles in 2024, and he made the most of the opportunity. The righty served as a valuable swing man for Baltimore last year, pitching 133 2/3 innings between 24 starts and eight relief appearances. The results were solid, with a league-average 3.70 ERA and a 4.24 FIP.
It was more than enough for Suarez to earn a spot on the club headed into 2025, though he ultimately lost out on the fifth starter job this spring when the nod was given to young southpaw Cade Povich instead. In 2 2/3 innings of work so far this year, Suarez has allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks while striking out two. It’s a solid enough performance, though a dip in his velocity was a cause for some concern. Evidently, that was a sign of injury, as now Suarez will be out for at least the next couple of weeks. A more firm timetable for Suarez’s return to action figures to be made clear in the coming days.
Replacing Suarez on the club’s roster for the time being is Bowman. A 13th-round pick by the Mets back in 2012, the right-hander got semi-regular work in the majors as a reliever from 2016 to 2019 with the Cardinals and Reds. During that time, he pitched to a solid 4.02 ERA (105 ERA+) with a 3.67 FIP in 181 1/3 innings of work, striking out 19.3% of opponents along the way. He did not pitch in the major or minor leagues from 2020 to 2022 due to the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and subsequent Tommy John surgery, then made it back to the big leagues for three innings of work with the Yankees in 2023. The righty resurfaced more fully in 2024 and posted a roughly league average 4.40 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work split between the Twins, Diamondbacks, Mariners, and Orioles. The majority of that time was spent in Baltimore, for whom he posted a 3.45 ERA and a 4.19 FIP in 15 2/3 innings of work.
The waiver wire would have been better.
Cooper, watch baseball much?
Bowman pitched well enough in ST to make the team and he did a nice job last year. This was the right move.
Bowman instead of Poteet?
I guess they told Bowman that he would be the first man up in the event of an injury to get him to agree to accept being outrighted to AAA?
Threw well today though.
He did.
I wasn’t saying bringing him up was a bad move, it’s just not the one I would have expected.
I wouldn’t be certain Poteet had even left Iowa yet. While the move was announced during yesterday’s game I’d wager he didn’t have much of a chance to hop a plane from wherever he was. I’d imagine he was leaving Des Moines this morning and might not have had a passport with him to travel to Toronto.
7 pitchers down. Yankee fans are whining babies w 4.
Can other teams top that? Dodgers?
this might spell the end of Bowman when Albert returns. esp if he has any kind of success in the Bigs. with no options remaining, another team might need Bowman and the O’s would have to expose him to waivers.
Looks like Poteet came just in time to be next man up. I still can’t understand why Hoyer just gave him up for a little bit of lunch money.
Good pick up.
As is often the case Hyde’s Sunday lineup is a head scratcher. First, you sit Westburg after a 2 homer day to start Mateo against a tough righty and then you start ONeil despite being 1-14 against Bassit rather than getting another lefty bat in there. O’Neil did get a single but then struck out in a huge spot and Mateo basically has no chance.
Might not matter if Sugano can’t throw some strikes
Patience my man. Patience.
Your point is well taken. I’d like to see no more than one of Urias or Mateo with Westburg around. ER NEED HENDERSON BACK!
He’s aging like a fine wine. There could be a bunch of other pitchers like him in leagues overseas who aren’t famous but have gotten really good over time.
I hope they can find a taker for Mateo in a small trade, a couple minor league lottery tickets.