The Baltimore Orioles gave an excellent injury report on Friday regarding star closer Felix Bautista, who has been out with a UCL injury.
Per Roch Kubatko, who covers the O's for MASN, on social media:
Brandon Hyde said Ryan Mountcastle’s shoulder is “a lot better.” Will be taking some swings. Also said Felix Bautista is making “great progress” with throwing progression. Long tossing #orioles
That's huge news on Bautista, who people feared would be out of the rest of the season with the elbow injury. With this news, perhaps Bautista can return by the end of the regular season or for the playoffs, where the Orioles are a World Series contender.
Bautista is 8-2 out of the bullpen this season with a microscopic 1.48 ERA. He's got 33 saves and has struck out a whopping 110 batters in 61.0 innings. Regularly able to touch 100 mph, he's one of the most uncomfortable at-bats in all of baseball. He was named to the American League All-Star team this year.
Yennier Cano has been working in the back end of the bullpen in his absence.
The Orioles enter play on Friday at 91-55 and 1.0 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The two teams have three games this weekend which could go a long way towards determining the division champ.
The game on Friday night begins at 7:05 p.m. ET as Zach Eflin (TBR) pitches against Jack Flaherty (BAL).
Eflin is 14-8 with a 3.53 ERA while Flaherty is 8-8 with a 4.98.
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