BALTIMORE – The Orioles have not had an abundance of lefty relievers this year. And, as they hope to be chasing a playoff spot in the season’s final weeks, they could be adding one from their farm. A pitcher that, until this week, has been a starter.
This week the club moved farm lefty Luis De Leon, age 23 from the Dominican Republic, to the bullpen at Triple-A Norfolk. He began this year with Double-A Chesapeake in the rotation and was promoted to Triple-A July 26.
Now the pitcher ranked as the club’s No. 7 prospect by both MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America, could potentially help the big club down the stretch out of the Baltimore bullpen.
O’s manager Craig Albernaz was asked about De Leon pregame Thursday and what he remembered from seeing him in Sarasota in spring training.
“I was extremely impressed with him,” he said. “Just his demeanor, especially for a young player navigating his first big league camp. His first outing was electric. He had a great mound presence about him. Pounding the strikezone. He has elite stuff. Little funky arm angle too.
“For him, it’s one of those things where – just keeping our options open. But he’s an exciting young arm with a lot of talent. And a great kid.”
At Double-A, De Leon got off to a slow start, but over his final eight Baysox games he had a 1.80 ERA and that led to his promotion.
His ERA is 5.28 in 15 1/3 Triple-A innings. In his bullpen outing on Wednesday night he pitched a scoreless inning but walked three and needed 29 pitches.
Per Statcast, his fastball averaged 95.1 mph and he got a combined four whiffs on six swings off his slider and splitter. The split was a new pitch for him last year and has come on big this season.
In that relief outing he threw 14 two-seam sinkers, nine sliders, four splits and two changeups.
De Leon, before his early-season struggles, was a preseason top 100 prospect, ranked No. 95 in March by Baseball America and No. 63 via FanGraphs.com.
De Leon shows off his plus slider during a Chesapeake game in June
THE RETURN OF BAUTISTA?
One-time O’s closer Felix Bautista has not pitched in an Orioles game since July 20, 2025. He is expected to go out on a minor league rehab assignment soon and he could make it back to help the O’s down the stretch as well.
During that 2025 season, he had an ERA of 2.60 with 19 saves over 35 games. Bautista didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last August he needed another procedure to repair his right labrum and rotator cuff.
He was in the Baltimore clubhouse on Thursday afternoon.
“Just great to have him around,” said Albernaz. “See that big smile and you never forget how massive of a human being he is. His physical presence. This is a sign of good things. Just like all our guys going through the rehab process, to come into Baltimore, check in, have everyone get eyes on him. He was outside and played catch. Just good to have him around.”
The O’s can’t be sure what to expect from Bautista having been out so long. Maybe expectations need to be managed here by the team and its fans.
“There is a lot that goes into that. That is what we are balancing as a coaching staff. Obviously Felix as well. With all of our players rehabbing coming off injuries, the biggest thing is their health and making sure we’re not pushing them too hard.
“Felix is checking all the boxes. We are very aware of that aspect of it too. And also what he does. Being a backend leverage reliever. Sitting on your butt for seven, eight innings and then getting ramped up to go into the game. There is a lot that goes into it. That is why he’s here. We want to make sure that he’s in a good spot, we’re supporting him and making sure he has everything he needs,” Albernaz added.
HOPPE’S FASTBALL HOP
Speaking of players that throw hard and pitch late in games, right-hander Alex Hoppe is off to a nice start with the Orioles after the trade from Seattle.
He’s now thrown 5 1/3 scoreless over six games.
He pitched a scoreless ninth versus the Yankees Wednesday. Of his 15 pitches, nine were 99 mph or more and four were at 100 mph plus. He seemed to be throwing some dominant stuff.
Was that his best O’s outing?
“That’s a good question. Yeah. Yeah, it was up there,” said Albernaz. “The outing in Minnesota was really good too and he had a good outing in Tampa. The arm talent just stands out every time he is on the mound. The ability to throw 100 with both fastball shapes and he has a wipeout slider.
“He is coming into his own. He was kind of the up and down guy-ish in Seattle and then getting traded was a lot for him. He’s really starting to find his footing. It was tough to lose Taylor Ward, but to get Alex back in that trade it helps us a lot. He has a lot of potential moving forward.”
He may even have closer potential. What does Albernaz want to see, beside arm talent, from a reliever to trust him late in games?
“Yeah, strikes. Just the ability to pound the strikezone. That is the biggest thing. You can’t defend a walk and you don’t want to allow free baserunners at all during the game, but especially late with a lead. That is when you need to limit the baserunners and pound the strikezone. We challenge all our guys to pound the zone.
“With relievers, the pitches add up, not the innings. If it takes 25, 30 pitches to get out of the inning, you’ll feel it the next day. But if you are pounding the zone, being efficient and keeping the pitch count down, it allows you to be available the next day and keeps your arm fresh during the season,” he said.
I wrote a profile of Hoppe in this space on Thursday morning.
SWEPT AWAY BY THE YANKEES
The Orioles run of good baseball at the Trop has now been completely negated by a four-game losing streak.
The Yankees beat the Orioles 6-1 last night as Baltimore scored five runs in the series and went 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position in being swept three straight.
In going 2-8 on the year against the Yankees, Baltimore batters have scored just 27 runs.
The Orioles can beat Tampa Bay, and get another shot tonight, but not the Yankees. Since June 21, 2025 they are 3-16 versus New York.
Ouch.
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