The Orioles announced Thursday that closer has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder discomfort. Righty has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take his spot on the active roster. Bautista, 30, is in his first season back on the mound after Richie Zisk Jersey mi sing the 2024 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. He has, in many ways, picked up where he left off pre-injury and reclaimed his status as a high-end reliever. Hes to sed 34 2/3 innings, saved 19 games and logged a 2.60 ERA with a gaudy 35.2% strikeout rate. Bautistas command, however, isnt as sharp as it was prior to surgery. Hes walked 16.2% of his opponents this year way up from the 10% mark he recorded in 2022-23. Bautista has also changed up his pitch selection, scrapping his four-seamer in favor of a sinker. Thats led to an uptick in grounders (50.7% in 2025 compared to 39.9% in 2022-23) but fewer whiffs. Impre sive as that 35.2% strikeout rate is, it pales in comparison to the superhuman 46.4% rate he posted in 2023. Bautistas sinker, notably, is sitting 97.2 mph a good bit shy of the 99.3 mph he averaged on his four-seamer prior to surgery. The Orioles control Bautista via arbitration for another two seasons beyond the current one. Hes come up in trade rumblings over the past month, but not because the Orioles have been shopping him. Contending clubs around the league have long since zeroed in on the Orioles as a club that will function as a seller on the summer market and have hoped to pry Bautista loose. The Os have reportedly listened out of due diligence, but general manager Mike Elias has been clear that he has every intention of competing in 2026. Bautista will play a prominent role in that effort. Elias has, accordingly, been focused primarily on discu sing players who are as he put it last week. Whatever slim chance there was of a team making an overwhelming offer to convince the Os to part with Bautista was dashed with todays placement on the injured list. Contending clubs would almost certainly have balked at the exorbitant asking price even for a healthy Bautista. Now that theres uncertainty regarding the health of his shoulder, itll be next to impo sible for the Os to find someone willing to meet whatever sky-high price theyd set. Bautista is set for an MRI to determine the extent of the discomfort, which arose yesterday while he was getting loose in the bullpen, interim manager told the Orioles beat ( ). Mansolino added that hes not yet sure who will step into closing duties while Bautista is sidelined. Right-hander and left-hander have been next in the pecking order in terms of high-leverage work for the Orioles, but theyre both impending free agents who will likely be traded within the next week. Hard-throwing has plenty of experience in high-leverage spots but is in the midst of an uneven season that saw him optioned to Triple-A for a bit earlier this summer. Carlos Vargas Jersey