Robinson

Chirinos

Chirinos, 38, played for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, but he never signed with a major league team this spring. He spent much of last year as Adley Rutschman’s backup, hitting .179/.265/.287 in 220 PA for the Orioles. For a player who didn’t debut until age 27 and who dealt with some significant injury issues, it was pretty remarkable that Chirinos got to play 11 years. He had a particularly nice run from ages 33-35. In 2017, he posted an .866 OPS in 88 games for Texas, and in 2019, he was the Astros’ primary catcher during their postseason run, hitting 17 homers in the regular season and two in the World Series.

The hard-hitting rookie backstop will get a well-deserved day of rest against A’s left-hander JP Sears. The 24-year-old is hitting .244/.353/.425 with eight long balls, 25 RBI and three stolen bases through his first 82 big league games. Robinson Chirinos will start in his place behind the dish and bat ninth for the O’s on Friday.

Rutschman gets a day off after hitting his seventh homer of the season on Tuesday. It’s just a regularly scheduled day off for the impressive rookie backstop. Robinson Chirinos hits eighth and is behind the plate on Wednesday for the O’s.

Chirinos singled twice, with one of them driving in a run against his former team. His home run came in the seventh inning off of Matt Moore. It’s just the third home run this season for Chirinos, who hasn’t provided as much power as hoped.

It appears to be a routine maintenance day for Rutschman, who has started five consecutive games for the Orioles since last Saturday. The 24-year-old top prospect is hitting .214/.286/.400 with four homers and one steal in 154 plate appearances over 38 games this season. It’ll be veteran Robinson Chirinos behind the plate on Friday night against the Angels.

Chirinos was responsible for nearly all of the Orioles’ offensive output Saturday afternoon against Red Sox’ starter Nathan Eovaldi, who went the distance in a complete-game victory. The veteran backstop connected for a two-run shot to left field -- his second long ball of the season -- in the fifth inning.

Rutschman gets the front-end of Saturday’s twin bill off with veteran backstop Robinson Chirinos handling the catching duties. The 24-year-old top prospect will likely be back behind the dish for the nightcap showdown at historic Fenway Park. He’s gotten off to a bit of a slow start since making his debut last week, slashing .200/.259/.280 across 27 plate appearances. It’s just a matter of time before he really gets going at the highest level.

It was a two-run shot off Jordan Montgomery in the second inning. Chirinos came into the game batting .141/.265/.183 with two runs scored and four RBI in 83 plate appearances. The Orioles should soon have a decision to make whether to keep Chirinos or Anthony Bemboom as their backup catcher, assuming that they eventually go ahead and promote Adley Rutschman.

Chirinos came through with the Orioles’ only run of the contest on Wednesday, working a fifth-inning RBI double against Miles Mikolas. His finished as the only extra-base hit by the Orioles on the evening. Through 22 games played this season, the veteran backstop is slashing just .145/.264/.194 with no homers and four RBI.

Chirinos, who was diagnosed with a facial contusion after being hit by a pitch Wednesday afternoon against the Athletics, put the Orioles on the scoreboard with a two-run single to right field off Angels’ southpaw Reid Detmers in the second inning. He also drilled a lead off double in the fifth inning to complete the multi-hit effort and also tacked on an RBI ground out in the ensuing frame. The 37-year-old veteran backstop is hitting .231/.375/.269 across 32 plate appearances this season.