Taylor Ward (quad tightness) not starting Thursday

It’s the second consecutive game that the 32-year-old outfielder has missed due to tightness in his quad, though he is expected to be available off of the bench. Expect him to return to the lineup before the weekend is through.

Ward has gone from a power hitter to a walk merchant in one season. After hitting 36 home runs in 2025 and posting a .317 on-base percentage and 11 percent walk rate, he has now hit seven home runs in 111 games with the Orioles, with a .383 on-base percentage and over a 17 percent walk rate. You wonder if the Mariners will try to turn him loose a little bit more, but this is a team that needed right-handed pop. This likely pushes Victor Robles back to the bench.

The Orioles will receive Alex Hoppe, Brock Moore and Harrison Kreiling in return, according to the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich. Ward’s offensive profile has radically changed this year, but he’s remained quite valuable in the process. The Mariners will likely play him in right and bat him somewhere near the top of the order. The ballpark change could bring down his fantasy value a bit.

Mayo gets the nod to face Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez with Taylor Ward hitting second. It’s a bit of a different look for Baltimore, but one of their former top prospects has earned the opportunity by hitting .267 (8-for-30) with two homers in 11 games since last month’s All-Star break.

The Orioles are unclear about whether they truly want to trade away players at the deadline because, despite being three games under .500, they are just 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. The expiring contracts include Taylor Ward, Trevor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge, but the Orioles are also listening to offers for Adley Rutschman, who is under team control for one more season. While it remains unclear what the Orioles will do, Rosenthal believes that “Ward and Rogers, even as rentals, could fetch sizable returns,” so they remain the two most likely to be moved. If anybody moves at all.

Up until the eighth inning, the Orioles had only scratched one run across in this game and it came via three consecutive walks in the third inning. Their pitching kept them in the game and Ward turned this game on its head with a two-run shot that pushed them to victory. It was a key fifth straight win for them as they try to claw back into the playoff race and Ward finding some power could really help their chances. This was just his seventh home run of the season after hitting 36 last year as one of the league’s leaders. He’s held up his value somewhat with a sky-high .388 on-base percentage that’s mostly been fueled by his ultra-passive approach, but fantasy managers and the Orioles alike would love to see more of that power return.

Ward’s home run was just his sixth of the season. He hit a solo shot off Noah Cameron in the sixth inning. After hitting 61 home runs over the two previous seasons, Ward has had a power outage. Saturday’s home run was his first since June 22, breaking a streak of 15 games without a home run. Ward’s .104 ISO is still on pace to be a career-low.

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.

Ward’s home run was just his third of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Kevin Gausman in the fifth inning. Ward’s power is noticeably down this season as his .105 ISO would be the lowest of his career in a single season where he’s reached 200 at-bats. He has a career .185 ISO so Sunday’s home run could be the beginning of Ward finding his power stroke this year.

It’s been a fascinating season for Ward, whose walk rate has exploded as Baltimore’s leadoff hitter. He was at 11% with the Angels last season, and it’s now near 20%. His strikeout rate has also fallen, but it has cost him in the power department, as he has just two home runs through June 3. Ward has started all but one game for the Orioles, consistently hitting first or second. As a result, he has 37 runs scored compared to just 17 RBI.