Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jorge Mateo suffered an apparent left arm injury during Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Marlins (box score). Mateo’s arm appeared to bend awkwardly on a collision with fellow infielder Gunnar Henderson as both pursued a batted ball from Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez during the third inning. After the game, the Orioles announced Mateo had returned negative X-rays, but that he was set to undergo an MRI.
Mateo, 29, came into Tuesday having hit .230/.268/.403 (92 OPS+) with five home runs and 13 stolen bases (on 15 attempts) over the course of his first 67 games. His contributions thus far this season have been worth an estimated 0.8 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde subsequently removed Mateo from the contest and altered his defensive alignment. Jordan Westburg, Baltimore’s starting third baseman, was shifted to the keystone; Ramón Urías came off the bench to take over at the hot corner.
It’s worth noting that Mateo was not the only Orioles player to leave the field with an apparent injury during the third inning. Baltimore right-hander Albert Suárez was struck in the foot by a line drive from the next batter, Otto López. Suárez, a pleasant surprise who entered the night with a 2.82 ERA on the season, was replaced by lefty Keegan Akin. Suárez was described as having a bruised shin. (The Orioles are known to be in the trade market for pitching help.)
If Mateo is forced to miss any game action, it’s at least possible that the Orioles would bring prospect Jackson Holliday back to the majors for the first time since his demotion in late April. Holliday has hit .316/.494/.614 since returning from the injured list in late June. He’s homered three times and walked five more times than he’s struck out in 17 Triple-A games.
