Photo via Toronto Star

Orioles activate reliever Félix Bautista from injured list, Albernaz returning, Mancini retires

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Stevens, P. (2026, September 19). Orioles activate reliever Félix Bautista from injured list, Albernaz returning, Mancini retires. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/orioles-activate-reliever-f-lix-bautista-from-injured-list/article_21062d42-8c79-5903-bba0-0507da558bbe.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-19 · by Patrick Stevens

Quick Summary

The Baltimore Orioles activated reliever Félix Bautista from the injured list after he completed rehabilitation from shoulder surgery. Manager Craig Albernaz expressed optimism about Bautista's readiness but emphasized cautious use of him in games. The article also notes that Trey Mancini signed a one-day contract to retire with the Orioles, acknowledging his long-standing career and emotional connection to the team despite playing for other franchises later in his career.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Baltimore Orioles activated reliever Félix Bautista from the 60-day injured list on Saturday, preparing him to return after undergoing shoulder surgery in 2024. Bautista, who saved 33 games and struck out 110 batters during his All-Star season in 2023, missed most of that year and all of 2024 due to injuries. He recently completed nine minor league rehab games with a 2.35 ERA, prompting manager Craig Albernaz to express optimism about Bautista's readiness for play. Additionally, the team transferred outfielder Tyler O’Neill to the 60-day injured list and optioned pitcher Cade Povich and outfielder Heston Kjerstad to Triple-A Norfolk while activating outfielder Christian Franklin from the 10-day IL. Manager Albernaz is set to return in 2027, despite the team's current record of 75-79 this season.

Written for “Orioles Team Updates” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Orioles Team Updates
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11416 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Patrick Stevens
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Mauricio connected on a fastball three pitches later for his first home run since May 1.
🔮 New York (73-87), which began the season with a major league record $358.4 million payroll, will finish last for the first time since it was 66-95 in 2002.
🔮 They’ve already clinched their fourth consecutive NL Central title and will make their eighth postseason appearance in nine years.
🔮 “He is as close to full go as he could be,” manager Craig Albernaz said.
Also by Patrick Stevens
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

BALTIMORE Félix Orioles The Baltimore Orioles Triple-A Norfolk

Subjects

Orioles ORG · 6× Mancini PERSON · 5× Albernaz PERSON · 3× BALTIMORE GPE · 3× Bautista PERSON · 2× Cade Povich PERSON · 1× Craig Albernaz PERSON · 1× Félix ORG · 1× Félix Bautista PERSON · 1× The Baltimore Orioles ORG · 1×

Narrative

He also was an emotional centerpiece of the Orioles after he recovered from a colon cancer diagnosis that cost him the entire 2020 season and earned the AL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2021 by hitting .255 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 “He is as close to full go as he could be,” manager Craig Albernaz said.

Claims (25 extracted, 2 hedged)

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles activated reliever Félix Bautista from the 60-day injured list Saturday, setting up the former closer to return from right shoulder surgery 14 months after his last major league game. asserted
Orioles → activate → game
Bautista saved 33 games and struck out 110 in 61 innings while earning an All-Star nod in 2023, but he missed the final month of that season and all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. asserted
he → save → surgery
He had 19 saves in 35 games in 2025 before surgery to repair his torn labrum and torn rotator cuff ended his season. asserted
surgery → have → season
Bautista had a 2.35 ERA in nine minor league rehab games. asserted
Bautista → have → games
“He is as close to full go as he could be,” manager Craig Albernaz said. uncertain
Albernaz → say → go
“We’re going to try to be as smart as we can with using Félix. asserted
we → go → Félix
But also, the game is chaotic and unpredictable, so you don’t know what’s going to happen.” asserted
what → know → ?
The Orioles also optioned pitcher Cade Povich and outfielder Heston Kjerstad to Triple-A Norfolk, activated outfielder Christian Franklin from the 10-day injured list and transferred outfielder Tyler O’Neill to the 60-day IL. asserted
Orioles → optione → IL
Mike Elias, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations, said Saturday that Albernaz would return in 2027. asserted
Albernaz → say → 2027
The Orioles are 75-79 in Albernaz’s first season and began the day three games out of an AL wild-card spot. asserted
Orioles → begin → spot
“It’s a great vote of confidence,” Albernaz said. asserted
Albernaz → ’ → confidence
“Obviously, this season hasn’t gone the way I wanted it by any stretch, by how the players wanted the season to go, how the front office, how the fanbase. … asserted
season → go → stretch
That’s something I wear pretty heavily because of the seat I’m in and I don’t take that lightly.” asserted
I → ’ → that
In addition, Trey Mancini signed a one-day contract to retire with the Orioles, the franchise he played for during the bulk of his eight-year career in the majors. asserted
he → sign → majors
The former first baseman and outfielder had four 20-homer seasons for Baltimore. asserted
baseman → have → Baltimore
He also was an emotional centerpiece of the Orioles after he recovered from a colon cancer diagnosis that cost him the entire 2020 season and earned the AL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2021 by hitting .255 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs. asserted
that → recover → homers
“I know there have been players that were better players than me overall and that haven’t gotten this treatment and haven’t gotten to retire with the team they came up with and played with for a long time and really identified with asserted
they → know → time
,” said Mancini, who was honored before the Orioles’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers. asserted
who → say → Brewers
“It’s not something I take for granted at all.” asserted
I → ’ → ?
Mancini hit .263 with 129 homers and 404 RBIs in the majors, making 701 of his 836 appearances with the Orioles. asserted
Mancini → hit → Orioles
Mancini was dealt to Houston at the trade deadline in 2022 and helped the Astros win the World Series. asserted
Astros → deal → Series
He struggled in 79 games with the Chicago Cubs in 2023, spent the following year out of baseball and then played the first three months of the 2025 season with Reno, Arizona’s Triple-A team. asserted
He → struggle → Reno
Mancini hit .308 in five games with the Los Angeles Angels in June, then announced his retirement on Aug. 18. asserted
Mancini → hit → Aug.
“The whole goal was to make it back up and end my career on my terms more so than how they were kind of ended for me three years prior,” Mancini said. asserted
Mancini → make → me
“I knew that the rest of my life I could look back and have no regrets.” uncertain
I → know → regrets
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support