An Orioles lineup that only had a few veteran presences when the season began four weeks ago now has none.
The team placed shortstop José Iglesias on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a left quadriceps injury they’ve tried to manage all season, and a struggling Chris Davis was benched for the fifth time in the past six games.
For Iglesias, the move is meant to give an injury that has already kept him out of the starting lineup for nine of the team’s 13 games a chance to properly heal. He was having the best season of his decorated career, batting .400 with a .977 OPS and hitting in the middle of the Orioles’ lineup.
Manager Brandon Hyde said a day before the injured list assignment, which was back-dated to Sunday to allow him to return sooner, that Iglesias’ production was what was keeping the shortstop off the injured list to begin with.
“Just [had] more discussions about it again this morning. We feel like just giving him some extra days would benefit him and us the rest of this season,” Hyde said. “The quad is improving, but with the off day on the 24th, that’s an extra day to have there on the IL. We just felt like it was the right thing to do.
“We need him to play shortstop, and play shortstop for us down the stretch even more. Putting him on now, possibly, saves us some time having to maybe put him on alter. We just want the leg to get better is the bottom line. He’s a big part of our lineup. He’s been instrumental in so many of our rallies and the success that we had the first couple weeks of the season, and we’d like to get him back to feeling that way. He really hasn’t been right since that first series in Boston.”
The Orioles summoned infielder Ramón Urías from Bowie to provide infield depth, but Andrew Velazquez is replacing Iglesias at shortstop in Tuesday’s lineup. Velazquez will also be needed as center field depth along with Cedric Mullins to cover for Austin Hays’ absence, so Pat Valaika will also see time at shortstop in the interim.
Hyde said he’d “mix and match” with those players at those two spots, with Urías a second baseman primarily who can play shortstop in a pinch.
It’s far less of a mystery where the at-bats that initially had been allotted to Davis are going. He hasn’t started since Friday, and is batting .133 with a .388 OPS in 48 at-bats over 13 games.
Initially, Hyde used the designated hitter spot to keep Iglesias’ bat in the lineup, and put slugger Renato Núñez at first base. He’s also tried to get hot-hitting catchers Chance Sisco and Pedro Severino into the game as designated hitters as often as possible, with third catcher Bryan Holaday as cover.
That’s meant no place for Davis, whose decline began pretty much immediately after he signed his club-record seven-year, $161 million contract in January 2016. He’s had several stretches out of the lineup since.
Even missing Iglesias doesn’t provide a path back into the Orioles’ everyday plans for Davis, Hyde said. He said the team isn’t working on a specific plan with Davis, and his day only includes “the normal pregame routine and batting practice.” Asked if there was a chance to get him more at-bats, Hyde said it “possibly” was.
“Today, we’ve got Chance who’s going to DH, Nuney is at first base, Sevi is catching,” Hyde said. “I like to see the three of those guys continue to get some more at-bats. That’s the reason why the lineup is made out the way it is.”
The resulting Orioles lineup for Tuesday night’s game against Blue Jays phenom Nate Pearson is one of the youngest the club can field. Valaika is the oldest player in there at age 27, and four of the nine hitters are in their age-25 season.