BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥� Baltimore Orioles reliever F茅lix Bautista and utility player Blaze Alexander could begin rehab assignments by the end of the week, according to the club鈥檚 weekly injury report.
Bautista was an All-Star in 2023, when he had 33 saves and a 1.48 ERA. That September, he suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.
The hard-throwing, 6-foot-8 right-hander missed all of 2024. His 2025 campaign was interrupted by another injury in July, and that August he had a second surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff.
Bautista has recently progressed to throwing live batting practice.
鈥淲ith F茅lix, it鈥檚 one of those things where I haven鈥檛 even thought about him joining us,鈥� Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said Tuesday. 鈥淗aving those two big injuries, arm injuries, that鈥檚 really tough to come back from. And F茅lix has done everything that he can. And the live BPs have been looking great. He鈥檚 trending in the right spots.鈥�
Alexander has out since July 13 with a broken left hand. The 27-year-old is batting .312 in 82 games.
Baltimore (61-64) began Tuesday in a three-way tie for the final AL wild-card spot with Texas and Detroit.
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