‘We’re hoping he can help us’ – The Denver Post

The Orioles are adding a familiar face to their bullpen.

Baltimore is reuniting with right-hander Jorge López, the All-Star closer it traded last season, after claiming him on waivers from the Miami Marlins, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

López, who has struggled this season with the Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins, is not postseason eligible because he was not in the organization before Sept. 1. The Orioles designated right-hander Logan Gillaspie for assignment to make room for López on the 40-man roster. A move to add López, who hasn’t reported to the team in Arizona, to the 28-man roster has yet to be made.

Manager Brandon Hyde said he hopes López can “feel at home” when he joins the Orioles and “pitch well for us” over the final month of the regular season.

“Lópey is somebody that a lot of us in that clubhouse are close with,” Hyde said. “He had some really good moments in the first half last year. For me, he was the best closer in baseball with what he did, making the All-Star team. Great to see him a couple months ago in Minnesota, and we’re hoping he can help us down the stretch.”

López, an eight-year veteran who has pitched for five MLB teams, was an ineffective starting pitcher for the Orioles in 2020 and 2021. He went 5-16 for the rebuilding club and posted a 6.07 ERA in 121 2/3 innings in 2021.

But he transitioned into a short-relief role in 2022 and had the best season of his big league career. He was one of the best relievers in the American League, earning a trip to the All-Star Game as the lone player to represent the Orioles. Through July, he saved 19 games and posted a 1.68 ERA before Baltimore traded him at the deadline to the Twins.

“He was a huge part. I think that first half, we wouldn’t have won as many games as we did without him,” outfielder Ryan McKenna said. “He was a very solid presence coming in late in games and kind of found his niche there. Yeah, you can never not use any good bullpen guy. Just a quality pitcher, and we’re looking forward to having him.”

The trade was controversial at the time given the Orioles were in a wild-card chase, but López has since struggled, posting a 4.37 ERA down the stretch with Minnesota, a 5.09 ERA with the Twins in the first half of 2023 and a 9.26 ERA with the Marlins after they traded for him in July.

Reliever Cionel Pérez, a setup man for López last year, said he was “excited” when he learned his friend would be joining the Orioles.

“To see him get to that level last year, I think that was great for him personally,” Pérez said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “We saw once he got traded the results weren’t there the same way, so hopefully now as he comes back he can start to find some of that same success he did last year.”

Meanwhile, the haul Baltimore received for López, 30, looks even better now that he’s back with the organization. Left-hander Cade Povich, the best of three pitching prospects the Orioles got back for López, is in Triple-A and ranked by Baseball America as Baltimore’s top pitching prospect still in the minors. And Yennier Cano, an overlooked part of the trade at the time, has blossomed this season into one of the best relief pitchers in the sport with a 1.56 ERA.

While López can’t pitch in the postseason, he could bolster the bullpen down the stretch if he returns to form. The Orioles are in need of relievers capable of pitching in high-leverage situations, especially since closer Félix Bautista was placed on the 15-day injured list with an unspecified injury to his ulnar collateral ligament.

López is out of minor league options and has one more year of club control with 2024 as his third and final year of arbitration.

Around the horn

• Hyde did not provide any updates on Bautista. The right-hander is with the team in Phoenix and joined the pitching staff for pregame stretching in the outfield. He has not been made available to the media since he injured his UCL on Aug. 25.
• Hyde said Ryan Mountcastle is feeling “a little bit better.” The first baseman was scratched from Friday’s lineup and absent from Saturday’s because he’s “under the weather.” Hyde said he hopes Mountcastle is available off the bench in Saturday’s contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks. When asked if what Mountcastle is dealing with is related to the vertigo he missed a month with earlier this season, Hyde did not answer and repeated that Mountcastle could be available off the bench Saturday.
• Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Tyler Wells hasn’t pitched since Aug. 25 because he’s dealing with “a little bit of arm fatigue,” Hyde said. Wells, the Orioles’ best starting pitcher in the season’s first half, was optioned to the minor leagues after struggling mightily to begin the second half. He was transitioned to a short-relief role in August and has pitched just four innings in the past two weeks. “He didn’t quite bounce back like we were hoping, and hopefully he’s going to be out there soon,” Hyde said.

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