The Orioles used their day off Monday to add three prospects to their 60-man roster to get some developmental time at the secondary site at Double-A Bowie, inviting outfielder Ryan McKenna, right-hander Kyle Bradish and left-hander Bruce Zimmermann to the alternate camp at Prince George’s Stadium.
Zimmermann, who lives in Ellicott City and graduated from Loyola Blakefield, tweeted Monday night that he was excited to join the camp, and was doing so after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this summer.
“Been a long road since testing positive for COVID-19, and then some preemptive heart tests which all came back negative,” Zimmermann said in the tweet. “Can’t wait to get back to work.”
Zimmermann could not immediately be reached for comment.
The former Don, who also pitched at Towson University, came to the Orioles in a July 2018 trade with the Atlanta Braves that sent pitchers Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day the other way, and he’s pitched well for his hometown club’s farm teams since the trade.
He had a 2.58 ERA in 18 games for Bowie, striking out 101 in 101⅓ innings with a 1.20 WHIP before making seven starts at Triple-A Norfolk. He would have been back there this summer after making an impression as a nonroster invitee in spring training, and was still in camp when the coronavirus shut things down.
Before summer camp began in early July, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said that the team had no players who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, meaning Zimmerman’s diagnosis must be recent.
Bradish was one of four pitchers acquired when the Orioles traded 2011 first-round pick Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels in December, and joins Isaac Mattson at the secondary site on the list of prospects from that trade who are at the minor league camp.
McKenna, who was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, was the only rostered player not yet at the camps.
The secondary sites are meant to serve as depth for the major league team, though top prospects like Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are at the camp despite being farther from the majors so that the Orioles can get them into more productive developmental situations than they would have training at home.