12:42pm: The Orioles announced the Bautista and Povich moves. They shifted outfielder Tyler O’Neill from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to pave the way for Bautista’s return. O’Neill, out since Aug. 23 with right shoulder inflammation, will miss the rest of the season. He hit .212/.300/.377 (94 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 85 games and 260 plate appearances. In other transactions, the Orioles reinstated outfielder Christian Franklin from the 10-day IL and optioned outfielder Heston Kjerstad to Norfolk.
12:26pm: The Orioles are optioning lefty Cade Povich to Triple-A Norfolk to create room on the 28-man roster for Bautista, according to Rill. The team still needs to clear a 40-man spot.
12:08pm: Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias announced the club will reinstate right-handed reliever Félix Bautista from the 60-day injured list on Saturday. However, the O’s will shut down injured reliever Ryan Helsley for the year, Elias added (via Jake Rill of MLB.com).
Bautista, who last pitched in the majors on July 20, 2025, is finally returning 14 months after shoulder problems forced him to the injured list. He wound up undergoing surgery that August to repair a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum. It was the latest serious injury for Bautista, who missed all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
While good health has eluded Bautista over the past couple of years, the 6-foot-8 flamethrower has been dominant when he has taken the mound. From his 2022 debut through 2023, Bautista posted a spectacular 1.85 ERA with a league-leading 40.4% strikeout rate (against a 10% walk rate) over 126 2/3 innings. He notched 33 saves in his second season, earned an All-Star nod and took home AL Reliever of the Year honors.
After a year-long layoff, Bautista returned to throw 34 2/3 innings of 2.60 ERA ball last season. While primarily relying on a hard sinker, Bautista put up a career-best 50.7% ground-ball rate and a strong 35.2% strikeout rate. Those figures helped offset a personal-worst 16.2% rate for Bautista, who converted 19 of 20 save opportunities.
Bautista began a minor league rehab assignment on Aug. 23 and had a rough first outing with Double-A Chesapeake, where he walked three and allowed three earned runs in a third of an inning. He fared much better at Norfolk, however, with a 2.35 ERA and nine strikeouts against four walks over 7 2/3 frames. The 31-year-old will now get a chance to contribute on a Baltimore team that still has an outside shot at a playoff berth. Despite a lackluster 75-79 record, the Orioles are three games out of a Wild Card spot. Regardless of where they finish, the O’s are likely to tender Bautista a contract in his final year of arbitration eligibility in 2027. He is making an affordable $2.25MM, which shouldn’t increase much (if at all) after a lost season.
Knowing Bautista would miss a large portion of 2026, the Orioles signed Helsley to a two-year, $28MM guarantee in free agency last December. A Cardinal from 2019 until they traded him to the Mets before last year’s deadline, Helsley was superb for a sizable chunk of his St. Louis tenure. With the help of a 99 mph fastball, Helsley registered a 2.03 ERA with a 32.9% strikeout rate and a 9.2% walk rate in a 203 2/3-inning span between 2022 and the trade. That stretch featured 103 saves, including a major league-leading 49 in 2024. Helsley won NL Reliever of the Year earned his second All-Star selection that season.
While Helsley was outstanding in St. Louis, the righty hasn’t shown that form since the team parted with him last summer. He threw 20 innings for the Mets and gave up 16 earned runs on 25 hits, including four homers, and 11 walks (against 22 strikeouts). Despite a 7.50 ERA with the Mets, the 32-year-old scored a sizable payday with the Orioles. Helsley has been out since late June with elbow inflammation, though, and will wrap up his season with a 4.11 ERA, a 30.2% strikeout rate against a bloated 13.2% walk rate, and eight saves over just 15 1/3 innings.
Helsley’s contract includes a $14MM player option for 2027, and it is likely he will exercise it in the wake of an injury-ruined campaign. In an ideal world for Baltimore, Bautista and Helsley will stay healthy and form an elite late-game tandem next season.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
