Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE
The Baltimore Orioles have been quite busy today – not only preparing to take on the Tampa Bay Rays tonight, but they’ve also made a handful of roster moves.
It was a given that they would recall outfielder Endy Chavez to take Nick Markakis’ spot on the roster and fill-in somewhere in the outfield for the rest of the season. What wasn’t a given though was that the team purchased the contract of infielder/outfielder L.J. Hoes to see if he can’t possibly help them during their quest for the AL East division title.
Chavez has hit .190/.222/.281 with two home runs and two stolen bases in 129 plate appearances this season, his first with the Orioles. Chavez previously was designated for assignment on Aug. 4.
Hoes has yet to play in the major leagues, having hit .283/.358/.375 in 2,262 plate appearances during five seasons in the minors. He has hit .300/.374/.397 in 357 plate appearances in his first exposure to Triple-A pitching this season while playing all three outfield spots.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Hoes, who was drafted out of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., and was hanging out at home when he got the phone call around noon on Tuesday. “I dreamed of this day happening at some point, so I’m just glad to be up here now and help out any way I can.”
To make room on the roster for both players the team designated both infielder Ryan Adams and relief pitcher Kevin Gregg for assignment.
Gregg, who saved 22 games for the Orioles in 2011, is 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 43 2/3 innings this year while recording no saves. He appeared to finally settle into his role a few months into the season, even posting respectable numbers until this past month where he seemed to fall apart again.
Adams didn’t appear in a major league game this year after recording 96 plate appearances with Baltimore last season. He has hit .224/.312/.353 in 264 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk this year. The unfortunate thing with Adams is that he definitely had the potential with the bat and while some said his glove was still too poor to play in the major leagues every day, it is something that he improved on enough of last season while with the Orioles that he was at least adequate at second base defensively.
Out of these moves, the most intriguing player of the group is clearly Hoes. If he can have a decent showing over the last three weeks of the season, then he would surely help general manager Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter make a decision as to whether they should seek help from outside the organization for left field or not. Then again, Hoes did come up in the minor leagues as a second baseman, playing a total of 264 games there over his career with a .950 fielding percentage, so it’s entirely possible they could have him get work in there come spring training.
