Orioles select former first-round pick Cody Sedlock, designate Jahmai Jones

The Orioles announced a series of roster moves prior to Saturday’s doubleheader with the Red Sox, including the news that right-hander Cody Sedlock’s contract has been selected from Triple-A. Infielder Jahmai Jones was designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster, and righty Beau Sulser was optioned to Triple-A. Additionally, right-hander Denyi Reyes was also called up as the 27th man for the doubleheader.

Jones is headed for DFA limbo just a day after the Orioles announced that the infielder underwent Tommy John surgery. He suffered his injury while in the minors, and thus couldn’t be moved to the 60-day injured list unless the O’s officially added him to the big league roster. In designating him for assignment, the Orioles could simply be looking to remove Jones from their 40-man roster without that official call-up, and the team is betting that another club won’t make a claim on Jones given that he’ll miss the rest of the season recovering.

This will be the first major league opportunity for Sedlock, who was selected with the 27th overall pick of the 2016 draft. Sedlock’s progress was slowed by elbow and shoulder problems, as well as thoracic outlet syndrome, though he was able to avoid TOS surgery. Between injuries and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Sedlock has only 371 1/3 innings under his belt over parts of six professional seasons.

Making his Triple-A debut in 2021 and continuing with Norfolk this season, Sedlock has a 5.13 ERA over 59 2/3 innings, with a 25.75% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate. Working mostly as a starter throughout his career, Sedlock could be used as a swingman or long reliever in Baltimore, depending on how the Orioles choose to juggle their pitching mix as the team navigates a busy stretch of the schedule.