With camps opening for spring coaching, it’s frequent for golf equipment to supply updates on participant well being or the dearth thereof. Orioles basic supervisor Mike Elias in the present day knowledgeable members of the media, together with Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Solar and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, that each left-hander Trevor Rogers and infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo are unlikely to be wholesome by Opening Day.
The information on Mateo isn’t significantly stunning, as he underwent important left elbow surgical procedure in August. That was to restore his ulnar collateral ligament and add an inside brace, in addition to repairing the flexor tendon. That process was on his non-throwing arm however the anticipated restoration timeline was nonetheless going to take a number of months. The O’s have mentioned at occasions that Mateo might maybe be prepared for a full season in 2025 nevertheless it now appears that his restoration will lengthen a minimum of partway into the season.
The information on Rogers comes out of nowhere, as he didn’t spend any time on the injured record final yr. Per Elias, he suffered a proper kneecap subluxation in January. It’s unclear precisely the way it occurred however Rogers himself advised Kubatko that it dislocated for a few second. Although the lefty downplayed the severity and mentioned he’s already enjoying catch, he’s apparently weeks not on time.
It seems it received’t be a devastating blow nevertheless it’s one other irritating improvement in what has already been a tough Baltimore tenure for the southpaw. Acquired from the Marlins on the deadline final yr, Rogers was torched for 15 earned runs in 19 innings over his first 4 begins as an Oriole and obtained optioned to Triple-A. He then made 5 begins for Norfolk with a 5.65 ERA to complete the yr.
Going into 2025, he was probably blocked from securing a rotation gig to start out the season. On prime of his poor end in 2024, the O’s added Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano on one-year offers to pad out the rotation alongside Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer.
Rogers continues to be optionable and should have been ticketed for an additional stint in Norfolk to start out 2025 if he had been wholesome. An damage to these entrance 5 starters might have opened a path for him however he could be competing with guys like Albert Suárez, Chayce McDermott and Cade Povich for the #6 spot on the depth chart.
The O’s would clearly love for Rogers to get again into his 2021 type. With the Marlins that yr, he made 25 begins with a 2.64 ERA, 28.5% strikeout price and eight.4% stroll price. However his ERA climbed to five.47 the next yr and he spent most of 2023 on the injured record. He bounced again considerably final yr, with a 4.53 ERA previous to the commerce, however then had his aforementioned struggles after the swap. The membership may have a bit much less pitching depth to start out the yr, although they produce other choices there. For Rogers personally, he’ll be a bit delayed in heading down the comeback path.
Mateo would ideally be on the membership’s bench, offering the Orioles with depth throughout. In his profession, he has performed each place outdoors of the battery and first base. He’s not an enormous hitter however is a menace to steal 30 bases a yr, having achieved so twice, and will get sturdy marks for his glovework at a number of completely different spots. RosterResource presently initiatives the membership’s four-man bench to encompass catcher Gary Sánchez and infielder Ramón Urías, with Ramón Laureano and Heston Kjerstad backing up the outfield. Kjerstad is the one one in that group who will be optioned to the minors, maybe leaving him susceptible to getting despatched to the minors as soon as Mateo is wholesome except another person goes on the IL.
