Jorge

Mateo

The Orioles had announced over the weekend that Mateo might require surgery and now he’s officially out for the remainder of the 2024 season. The Orioles did not announce any sort of timeline for his recovery, but it’s possible that he could be ready to go by the time spring training rolls around in March.

Mateo told reporters surgery hasn’t been ruled out yet as he still needs more range of motion and for inflammation to dissipate before he’s cleared to resume any baseball activities. There was hope a couple weeks ago that he could make it back before the regular season wraps up, but that’s looking more challenging in the wake of this latest update.

Mateo partially dislocated his left elbow last week and is going to be on the shelf until the very late stages of the regular season. The positive news here for the Orioles is that his season isn’t over and he could potentially return for the playoffs, if they get there. His extended absence creates an opportunity for Jackson Holliday at the keystone after Connor Norby was shipped to the Marlins at the trade deadline.

This shouldn’t be a season ender for Mateo, but nor is he likely to return immediately after his 10 days are up. Connor Norby replaced him on the roster and likely will get most of his playing time.

There’s still no word on how long exactly Mateo will be sidelined for, but it’ll be a couple of weeks at a minimum. Connor Norby was already with the team on their taxi squad in case something like this happened, and he’ll officially be promoted from Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

The Orioles are still evaluating Mateo after a brutal collision with Gunnar Henderson on Tuesday. The Orioles have yet to place Mateo on the IL or determine that he doesn’t need to miss time, but Ramon Urias will start at third base on Wednesday with Jordan Westburg sliding to second base.

After Jorge Mateo suffered a scary injury in Tuesday night’s game, the Orioles are bringing Norby to Miami as a precaution. If Mateo were to have to land on the IL, Norby would almost assuredly be called up to take his place. The 24-year-old went 3-for-14 with a single homer while he was up for Mateo back in June.

Mateo was lifted from Tuesday’s game against the Marlins with an apparent left elbow injury that he suffered during a third-inning collision with teammate Gunnar Henderson. The positive news here is that X-rays came back negative for any fractures, but he’s still headed for an MRI to determine whether he’s dealing with any structural damage. He’s tentatively day-to-day for now. There should be an additional update on his status at some point on Wednesday.

Mateo made an immediate exit following an ugly third-inning collision with teammate Gunnar Henderson behind the second-base bag. Mateo appeared to get the worst of it as his left arm got tangled up underneath Henderson’s body and his elbow bent awkwardly in the process. He remained on the ground for a considerable amount of time with what looked like a serious elbow injury. There should be an update on his status shortly.

Mateo has now started three straight games and four of the last five. However, he’s hitting just .240/.282/.453 with five home runs, 12 steals, and a 23 percent strikeout rate. However, he’s hitting just .225 in June and Coby Mayo is on fire in Triple-A, so Mateo might need to go on a hot streak to keep getting starting opportunities.