Orioles To Promote Luis De León

The Orioles are calling up pitching prospect Luis De León, reports Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. The left-hander is not yet on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, so the club will need to open a spot for him. Active rosters are expanding from 26 to 28, so De León can take one of those two spots, but the O’s have more than that planned.

Per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun, lefty Cade Povich has been optioned, opening up another spot. Outfielder Christian Franklin is also going on the ten-day injured list, per Meyer. With those two subtractions and the two added spots, the O’s should be adding four guys, with De León being one of them. Outfielder Heston Kjerstad will be added, per Kostka. Meyer adds that right-hander Albert Suárez is in Denver but it’s not clear if he’ll be added. If De León and Suárez both get added, Baltimore will need to open two 40-man spots.

De León, 23, will surely be the most exciting of today’s batch of moves. An international signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, De Leon has long been praised for his raw stuff. His four-seamer and two-seamer both sit about 95 miles per hour. His slider, splitter and changeup are all considered plus pitches by Baseball America, with that outlet currently listing him as the #7 prospect in the Orioles’ system.

FanGraphs is even more bullish, putting De León fifth in the organization and 98th overall. There is some concern with his inconsistency but his arsenal, ground-ball tendencies and ability to hold velocity for multiple innings give him the ceiling of a big league starter. This year, he has thrown 99 innings on the farm with an unimpressive 4.73 earned run average and a high 11.9% walk rate, but his 27.1% strikeout rate and 58.3% ground ball rate are both really strong numbers.

For now, he will be in the bullpen. He has been starting in the minors for most of this season but has been in a relief role for the past few weeks. His innings total from this year is already a personal high. Moving to relief will allow the club to manage his workload for the rest of this year and perhaps allow his stuff to play up in shorter stints. If the latter comes true, he could help the O’s in a tight playoff race to finish the season. They are currently just half a game back of the Guardians for the final American League Wild Card spot.

Presumably, the Orioles haven’t given up on De León being a starter in the long run. But in the next few weeks, they can see how his stuff plays against big league hitters. He would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if not added to the 40-man and the Orioles were definitely not going to leave him exposed for that.