Orioles outfielder Mark Trumbo said the back spasms that kept him out of the lineup Friday and Saturday were improving, but the team is using caution with the major league home run leader this weekend with a crucial four-game series against the division-leading Boston Red Sox looming.
Manager Buck Showalter said Trumbo was "better," but the weekend's schedule with a day game Sunday was also impacting his availability.
"[He's] a lot more of a potential option tonight than he was last night," Sholwater said. "It has nothing to do with the post-Tampa series, but we've got a day game tomorrow and it'll be a quick turnaround. But he's close. He wanted to give it a shot tonight, but we're being cautious with it. He's feeling better, it seems, with every passing hour. It's one of those things, you kind of lean on him. He's got a real good feel for this. He's had it before. He knows. He was talking about the one time he tried to go too quick. But he's close."
Trumbo, who entered Saturday leading the majors with 42 home runs this season, has been a fixture in the Orioles outfield all season. He acknowledged his history with back spasms, but said this one is "no big deal."
"If you think about how many swings we take throughout the course of the year, usually at one point or another things will back up just a little bit, and that's all it is here," Trumbo said. "You just don't want it to get any worse."
He said it has been on the verge of cropping up "probably quite a few times" this season, but with just two weeks remaining, a few days out is worth it compared to missing the stretch run.
"It's always something at any point in the year, but especially now," Trumbo said. "You want to make as smart a decision as you can, and this seems to make the most sense right now. But I could have a big at-bat later tonight."
Snyder throws out first pitch
Olympian Kyle Snyder, a Woodbine native who became the youngest American ever to win a gold medal in freestyle wrestling (97 kg), threw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday night in one of his first opportunities to celebrate his Olympic victory since returning from Rio de Janeiro.
"I spent a few days in Brazil after I competed to see all the sites and then I went straight back to Ohio State because I had to start classes," he said. "This is kind of like the first opportunity I've had to do an event in my home state, so it's pretty cool."
Snyder wrestled at Good Counsel and won the 2015 world title at 97 kg and the 2016 NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship before going to Rio.
Around the horn
Showalter said reliever Darren O'Day (strained right rotator cuff) had no residual effects from his simulated game Friday, and the team was still deciding whether to activate him Sunday or Monday. … Executive vice president Dan Duquette and Showalter spoke about the team possibly adding another outfielder to the roster Saturday, and Showalter said those conversations would continue.