Leody Taveras goes deep in victory over Royals

With Dylan Beavers back in the mix, we could start to see Taveras’ playing time start to dip a bit. The Orioles are rolling with Colton Cowser in center field and Beavers in right against Nationals’ right-hander Zack Littell on Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.

And he got to stay in left field the whole way through. That wouldn’t typically be noteworthy, but the Orioles needed someone to play third base after Blaze Alexander got hurt in the third inning tonight. The seemingly obvious move with Jackson Holliday unavailable would have been to lose Coby Mayo as the DH and play him at his natural position, but the Orioles instead galaxy-brained using Leody Taveras at the hot corner, even though Taveras had never played any infield as the pro. Ward, on the other hand, has started at third 42 times as a major leaguer and 101 times as a minor leaguer. Still, Ward stayed put and all worked out in the end. Taveras played five innings at third without incident, and the Orioles did finally sacrifice the DH and stick Mayo at third for the final two innings of a 6-1 win.

Alexander was 0-for-1 prior to leaving the contest in Los Angeles. His departure forced outfielder Leody Taveras into action at the hot corner since the Orioles were already playing without Jackson Holliday (groin) for the second straight contest. The versatile 27-year-old is likely headed for imaging to determine the severity of the issue. There should be an update on his status leading into Tuesday’s contest.

Taveras had three of the Orioles’ six hard-hit balls and was the offensive player of the game, but he was nearly the goat after botching what seemed to be a game-ending fly to right in the ninth, giving the Dodgers their second run. Fortunately, the Orioles held on to win 3-2. Taveras is batting .255/.332/.368 through 236 plate appearances. He’s fourth on the Orioles with 28 runs scored and sixth with 29 RBI despite having homered just twice in 66 games.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 27-year-old outfielder. Tyler O’Neill will start in his place in right field and will bat eighth for the O’s against Griffin Canning and the Padres.

The Yankees are throwing left-hander Max Fried, so it’s likely that Beavers would have sat anyway, but the team also sent him for an MRI on his oblique and is “going over the results.” That’s a bit of an ominous sign. Leody Taveras will start in centerfield and bat sixth on Wednesday, but there remains a possibility that Beavers could land on the IL. That would open up playing time for Colton Cowser or potentially Heston Kjerstad (hamstring), who is rehabbing in Triple-A right now.

Taveras had started in each of the team’s previous four games, so he’ll get a breather in this one. Colton Cowser will start in his place in center field and will bat seventh for the O’s against Marlins’ right-hander Max Meyer.

Taveras smacked a two-run triple off of Lance McCullers Jr. in the fourth inning of this one, but all it did was pull the Orioles to within seven runs at 10-3. He has been sizzling at the dish in recent weeks and is slashing a healthy .288/.397/.455 with two homers, 17 RBI and a stolen base in his first 79 plate appearances with the O’s.

The Orioles scored their first run with two outs in the top of the ninth to turn this into an extra-inning game. Both teams went scoreless in the 10th and plated one in the 11th. In the 12th, the Orioles took a lead on a Samuel Basallo single before Taveras appeared to finish things. The Royals, though, came back with three runs before making an out in the 12th, only to sputter out afterwards. Taveras came into tonight as a lifetime .280 hitter with the bases loaded, but he’d never gone deep in 50 plate appearances. He’s been a great surprise in the early going, hitting .341/.453/.554 to take over as the Orioles’ primary center fielder. His success might get Colton Cowser demoted at some point.

Taveras also drew a walk in the contest, reaching base twice on a day in which Messick was nearly un-hittable. He also scored the O’s first run on a sacrifice fly by Gunnar Henderson in the ninth. He’s off to a nice start at the dish this season, slashing .375/.487/.469 with zero homers, eight RBI and a 9/7 K/BB ratio in his first 40 plate appearances.