Orioles Activate Christian Franklin For MLB Debut

The Orioles announced that left-hander Cade Povich has been recalled Triple-A Norfolk. Catcher Carlos Narváez and outfielder Christian Franklin, both acquired in trades yesterday, have been activated to the active roster. Those three take the spots of catcher Jake Rogers, outfielder Taylor Ward and right-hander Tyler Wells, who were traded away in separate deals yesterday.

Franklin, 26, will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The Nationals gave him a 40-man spot in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, but he was kept on optional assignment until he was acquired by the O’s yesterday.

He doesn’t have huge power but draws a lot of walks, steals some bases and can play any of the three outfield spots. He has 961 Triple-A plate appearances dating back to the start of last year. He has 18 home runs in that time with an average-ish 22.6% strikeout rate and really strong 15.1% walk rate. That has led to a combined line of .262/.383/.397 and a 111 wRC+. He swiped 36 bags in that timeframe.

With Ward out of the picture, Baltimore’s outfield mix consists of Colton Cowser, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill and Leody Taveras. Franklin is in left tonight with Cowser in center, Beavers in right and O’Neill on the bench.