Orioles Work To Stay Competitive Despite Lengthy and Growing Injured List

Catcher Maverick Handley was added to the Baltimore Orioles injury list on June 23 with a concussion. This makes him the 22nd player to be placed on the list throughout the season and one of the 11 who are still on it according to MLB reporter Jake Rill via X (previously known as Twitter). Six of those 11 are pitchers.

In March alone nine players were listed on IL, four of which are still on it and are all right handed pitchers. Kyle Bradish was the first to go down and Tyler Wells followed two days later with a UCL surgery. 

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Outfielder Tyler O’Neill was made unavailable with issues to his neck and shoulder on April 24. The O’s thought they had him back on May 9 and a week later he went down again and is still on the list. 

Handley is the second catcher to be placed on IL since June 20 and the third on the year. Adley Rutschman hurt his oblique just before the concussion to Handley. Gary Sanchez missed around six weeks, from the end of April until the middle of June, with an injury to his wrist. 

The O's are still missing players in the infield and the outfield as well. They have not seen action from firsts baseman Ryan Mountcastle (hamstring) since May 31. Outfielder Jorge Mateo was last seen on June 7 and is still out with an elbow injury.

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It is impressive the Orioles aren’t the worst team in the Majors with the amount of injuries they are dealing with and have dealt with all year. 

Baltimore is 15-8 in their last 23. This includes a sweep of the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Seattle Mariners. They tied a series with the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida and just started a series in Baltimore against the Texas Rangers. They won the first game with a shut out and six scored runs. 

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The O’s currently are last in arguably one of the toughest divisions in the MLB, but they are finding a groove and figuring out how to deal with these injuries. They’re proving to be scrappy and they shouldn’t be overlooked as the midway point in the season is approaching. 

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