Orioles place Ryan Mountcastle on 10-day injured list with vertigo, designate top-20 prospect Noah Denoyer for assignment

Before Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said first baseman Ryan Mountcastle was feeling “much, much better” despite being out of the lineup for the fifth time in six games with an undisclosed illness.

Hours later, Baltimore placed Mountcastle on the 10-day injured list with vertigo, the sensation that the environment around oneself is moving or spinning. About 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Hyde said Mountcastle was set to go through a full pregame routine and be available off the bench, with hopes he could be in Wednesday’s lineup. The roster move, which is retroactive to Saturday, came just before the game’s 7:05 p.m. first pitch.

Hyde said Mountcastle came to the ballpark during Monday’s day off for a workout and came out of it feeling well. But while trying to go through physical activities ahead of Tuesday’s game, “he didn’t feel very good,” Hyde said.

To fill Mountcastle’s place on the active roster, the Orioles selected the contract of Mark Kolozsvary, adding a third catcher to the roster. Baltimore designated right-handed pitcher Noah Denoyer — the organization’s No. 20 prospect according to Baseball America — to create a 40-man roster spot for Kolozsvary, who made his team debut as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of an 11-6 victory.

Mountcastle, 26, leads the Orioles with 11 home runs, though he hit only one in his past 15 games while batting .158 with a .459 OPS and 20 strikeouts in 65 plate appearances. In his past eight games, Mountcastle was 4-for-30 with no extra-base hits and 11 strikeouts. The IL stint comes at an unfortunate time for Mountcastle, who has dominated the Blue Jays. In 45 career games against Toronto, Mountcastle has slashed .306/.368/.613.

Kolozsvary hit .200/.238/.450 for the Cincinnati Reds last season in his first major league action. The Orioles claimed him on waivers in October and outrighted him off the 40-man roster the next month. Between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, the 27-year-old was hitting .172 with a .549 OPS in 25 games, often spending time with the Orioles as a member of their taxi squad.

Signed as a free agent after going unselected in the 2019 draft, Denoyer, 25, was added to Baltimore’s 40-man roster in the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after he posted a 2.61 ERA and 35.4% strikeout rate for Bowie last year, working largely as a bulk reliever. In a similar role this season at Triple-A, he has a 5.04 ERA while walking 6.5 batters per nine innings, more than triple his rate from last season. The Orioles have a week to trade Denoyer or try to pass him through waivers.

In Mountcastle’s absence, Ryan O’Hearn — batting .319 with a .991 OPS in 25 games — figures to see most of the playing time at first base, with Josh Lester, Anthony Santander and James McCann also options. The Orioles are already playing without center fielder Cedric Mullins (right groin strain), though replacement Aaron Hicks has reached base in his first 11 games with Baltimore and, like O’Hearn, homered Tuesday night.

“With a six-month season, you’re gonna have guys go down for, you hope, a short amount of time when they do go down and good teams have guys step up in their place,” Hyde said. “That’s why depth is so important. Fortunately, we have Ryan [O’Hearn], and he’s done a great job here in the last week to 10 days with the at-bats he takes, the power he’s brought, just the quality of the at-bat. It’s been excellent.”

Tate, Givens near new rehab stints

A pair of right-handed relievers who have combined for fewer than two weeks on the active roster all season are nearing what will be the second rehabilitation assignment for each.

Mychal Givens (right shoulder inflammation) will pitch for Double-A Bowie on Wednesday and Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, Hyde said. Dillon Tate, who was initially diagnosed with a right elbow flexor strain before a stress reaction soon landed him on the 60-day injured list, said he will drive to Norfolk on Wednesday to pitch for the Tides on Thursday and Saturday.

The pair were expected to play key roles in Baltimore’s bullpen. Givens is the Orioles’ highest-paid reliever, rejoining his original organization this offseason after signing a guaranteed $5 million contract as a free agent. He began the season on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation and went back on after six appearances, allowing five earned runs in four innings.

Tate led Baltimore in games pitched each of the previous two seasons. He suffered his elbow injury in the offseason and struggled during an initial rehab assignment, with 13 earned runs allowed in 8 1/3 innings across three minor league levels.

Tate said Tuesday in the Orioles’ clubhouse those results were a mix of his health and just getting back up to speed. He added he feels “better than the first go-round.”

“It’s definitely a mental grind more than I realized, and physically, time is going to allow my body to get to where it needs to be,” Tate said. “But the other piece is mental, and it’s just not getting too down on yourself and just staying as tough as I possibly can. Just not quitting on myself.”

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