Maybe the grass is greener in Maryland for Nick Avila.
On Monday afternoon, the Baltimore Orioles claimed Avila, a 2015 graduate of Turlock High School, off of unconditional release waivers from the San Francisco Giants, as first reported by the Turlock Journal on X, the app formerly known as Twitter. It was a roster transaction that came after the 26-year-old right-handed relief pitcher was cut by the Giants on Sunday morning.
As part of Monday’s move, Avila filled in the final slot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster despite being immediately optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and placed on the minor league 7-day injured list with right shoulder impingement.
Avila, who turns 27 next month, made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 1. In eight games this season, he had a 8.49 ERA on 17 hits and 3 walks while punching out 14 in 11 2/3 innings pitched. In eight games with Triple-A Sacramento, he had a slightly better 6.75 ERA on 7 hits and 4 walks with 13 strikeouts over 9 1/3 frames. He has not seen game action since May 29 with the shoulder ailment.
Barring any setbacks, Avila is slated to be activated on June 24. From there, he will look to break back into the big leagues with the Orioles, who had a 47-24 record coming into Tuesday night, sitting just 1.5 games back of the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. Comparatively, the Giants had a 36-37 record entering Tuesday, sitting 8.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
