Labor Day Orioles game thread: at Rays, 1:10

For the first time in the 2019 season, Mark Trumbo’s name is in the Orioles lineup. He is back, and I think we all know which dessert item is most appropriate to celebrate the return, though I would be remiss if I did not remind you that Trumbo himself denied being the spark for the pie ban that placed an immediate curse upon the Orioles in September 2017.

As Trumbo has been on the 60-day disabled list all season, his return does come at the cost of someone on the 40-man roster. In terms of the future of the Orioles, the cost is not very high. Tom Eshelman has been designated for assignment. My biggest memory of him is watching a game he pitched earlier in the year where Jim Palmer on the MASN broadcast reacted with disbelief that a guy was throwing 86mph fastballs in MLB.

Trumbo’s meandering 2019 rehab wrapped up with five Norfolk games at the end of August. He had hits in three of those games, including two home runs. He is not expected to play a lot and his return is being treated by Orioles beat writers, including MASN’s Roch Kubatko, as more of a gesture of respect for a veteran than anything.

Be that as it may, I would rather see Ryan Mountcastle, though there’s no guarantee the O’s would be calling up Mountcastle even if Trumbo and Davis weren’t clogging up the roster this September.

Your Labor Day Orioles lineup:

1. Hanser Alberto - 3B
2. Trey Mancini - RF
3. Anthony Santander - CF
4. Renato Núñez - 1B
5. Jonathan Villar - 2B
6. Mark Trumbo - DH
7. Pedro Severino - C
8. DJ Stewart - LF
9. Richie Martin - SS

Asher Wojciechowski gets the start for the Orioles. He was bad in August so perhaps September will be kinder to him.