The Orioles have selected the contract of righty Matt Bowman and optioned fellow right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo to Triple-A Norfolk, per a team announcement. Baltimore already had an open 40-man roster spot, so optioning Hiraldo is the only necessary corresponding transaction. Baltimore also announced recently that infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra, who was designated for assignment over the weekend, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.
Bowman, 33, is now in his second Orioles stint of the season. Baltimore designated him for assignment earlier in the month and outrighted him to Norfolk. He responded with 4 2/3 shutout innings of relief (four strikeouts, two walks) and promptly punched a ticket back to the big leagues. He’s appeared in 16 games for the O’s in 2025 and totaled 17 1/3 innings with a 5.19 ERA, a 15.2% strikeout rate and a 3.8% walk rate. That strikeout rate is nearly seven percentage points shy of league average, but Bowman’s super walk rate also checks in about five percentage points lower than average.
Baltimore is Bowman’s seventh club in seven big league seasons. He’s a former 12th-round pick who’s also spent time with the Cardinals, Reds, Yankees, Twins, Mariners and Diamondbacks since debuting with St. Louis back in 2016. In 233 1/3 innings, he sports a 4.24 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 52.9% ground-ball rate.
Vavra, 28, is an organization favorite. The son of former Twins and Tigers coach Joe Vavra, Terrin was a 2018 third-rounder out of the University of Minnesota by the Rockies. Colorado traded him to Baltimore in 2020’s Mychal Givens swap, and he’s spent the majority of the past half decade calling the Orioles organization home.
The younger Vavra played in the bigs with the O’s in 2022-23 and has accepted multiple outright assignments and re-signed multiple minor league deals with the Orioles. He’s a .254/.331/.303 hitter in the majors (159 plate appearances) and a .287/.383/.418 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons (583 plate appearances).
Little known fact: Before taking up baseball, Hiraldo had a successful talk show.
Cliff Clavin speaks!
A reliable reliever in high-pressure situations. Best of luck with your return to The Show.
Vavra not pursuing catcher anymore it looks like. That was a semi fun story to follow. That’s for sure a good way to stay in the show when you’re that versatile
Rotating the crappy options again
Much skinnier brother of the well known mark bowman, professional instigator for the Atlanta Braves