Orioles adding Christian Walker to roster before Wednesday's game

One way of figuring out who's going to be soon joining the Orioles is if you know who is mysteriously absent from the Norfolk lineup. Tides beat writer David Hall brought the news on Tuesday evening that first baseman Christian Walker was a healthy scratch from the Norfolk lineup for Tuesday, signalling that he will be joining the Orioles on Wednesday.

This is one of those cases where Dan Duquette makes a roster move just because he can. What would be the scenario that would leave the Orioles wishing they had called up Walker and they didn't? It's hard to envision one such case, though one surely exists, and so the swirling maelstrom that is the Orioles roster is up for another chaotic round of moves.

You may recall that the Orioles are already going to have to make a roster move on Thursday when they bring Nolan Reimold off the paternity list. Reimold's wife delivered a baby girl today, whom the Orioles announced is named Charlotte Rose.

Ryan Flaherty, added when Reimold was put on the paternity list, figures to be headed down again. His ten day counter will be ticking over the All-Star Break, so they can bring him back and really only have him missing for a handful of games, if they want to have him back promptly. They can also decide to option Walker again after having him around just for one game.

Who's going down to the minors for Walker, though? One idea that fellow CC writer Stacey pointed out is that the O's could option Kevin Gausman, set to start on Tuesday night, following his outing tonight. That would leave him in Norfolk over the MLB All-Star Break, and the O's wouldn't need him again until probably the 20th or 21st. In the meantime, he could make a tune-up start for Norfolk on regular rest on Sunday.

If Gausman were brought back after the O's first post-break series, that's outside of the ten day window. Until then, the Orioles can make use of an extra roster spot. They love to do that, as we know.

So to sum up, one plausible set of moves:

Wednesday: Walker up / Gausman down
Thursday: Reimold active / Walker down (or Flaherty down)

And Dan Duquette can sleep another night knowing he has made another roster move that hardly anyone else would bother to make.

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