Orioles’ Chris Davis thinks he’ll be back after 10 days on injured list

BALTIMORE—Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been having pain in his left hip, but he thinks his time on the 10-day injured list should be long enough for the inflammation to heal.

Davis was placed on the IL on Sunday, retroactive to Saturday. He’ll be eligible to return on June 4 in Arlington, Texas, when the Orioles visit the Rangers.

“Don’t feel like it’s going to be a long, drawn-out thing,” Davis said. “Taking advantage of these next [five] days I have left and be ready to go when we go to Texas.”

Davis started the season 0-for-33 but then perked up and nearly raised his average to .200. But he’s been in a 1-for-19 skid in which he doesn’t appear to be seeing the ball well, striking out in his last four at-bats.

He’s batting .171 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. Davis has struck out 57 times in 43 games and 129 at-bats.

Davis, 33, doesn’t believe the injury is severe.

“I’m actually going to start moving around and doing some of the rehab or maintenance upkeep,” he said. “Some of the work that I’ve been doing over the last few weeks, just working on range of motion mobility, but I feel pretty good.”

Davis said that the hip had been bothering at him for a while.

“It’s been several weeks, kind of nagging, something that I figured was just general fatigue or soreness,” he said.

“It never really got any better. It kind of sucks, but I’m getting older. I think the positive thing for me moving forward is that we actually have things that we can do to help alleviate some of the pain, things that we can do to stay on top of it. At least there’s something we can do, and we’re not sitting on our hands.”

Davis had notified Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel of his injury.

“It was something that was kind of on their radar for at least a week or so ,” Davis said.

Hyde said he didn’t believe the injury was severe.

“The good news is that he’s feeling better today, and hopefully stays on that track,” he said.

“I knew it had been bothering him for a few days before that, and he tried to play through it. It was Friday when we kind of talked about that it might be getting too much.”

Hyde didn’t know if the hip was affecting Davis’ performance at the plate.

“I’m not really sure,” Hyde said. “You’d have to ask him that. I know his hip was sore for a few days before that. He was trying to gut it out, but I don’t know if it was affecting his performance at all. He felt like also he needed a break.”

At first, Davis was unsure what the source of the discomfort was.

“It’s hard to tell whether it’s a little bit of fatigue getting in the middle of the season now,” Davis said. “Kind of the meat of the season where it’s starting to warm up a little bit. That’s been taking the toll on everybody. I would say the last week, 10 days. I just know there’s been some discomfort, and we saw an opportunity to get a little bit of a blow and try to get on top of it.”

Davis doesn’t think that he’ll have to go to one of the Orioles’ minor league affiliates to get some at-bats.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m going to do everything I can to do to hit as frequently as I can, modify the amount of swings I’m taking, but I don’t think it’s a cause for rehab assignment.”

DJ Stewart was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to replace Davis on the roster, but Hyde said that he hadn’t decided on a roster move if Davis is ready to play when he’s eligible.

“Baseball’s a funny game where things work out, so I don’t want to look too far ahead,” Hyde said. “The good news is that he’s feeling better today and making progress. We’ll re-evaluate our roster situation when he’s ready, but I’m not there yet.”

Mountcastle sidelined: Norfolk infielder Ryan Mountcastle is out with a sore left wrist. According to the Virginian-Pilot, Mountcastle might miss a few more days. He’s received a cortisone shot.

Mountcastle is batting .326 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs in 43 games with the Tides.

Trumbo update: Even though Mark Trumbo went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his first rehab game for Double-A Bowie on Tuesday night, Hyde was satisfied.

Trumbo, who was briefly in the Orioles’ clubhouse when it was open to the media, wasn’t scheduled to play Wednesday for the Baysox.

“I heard he faced a couple of good arms, which was good for him to see,” Hyde said. “Feels good, ran to first a couple of times with no pain, feels good today. He didn’t get the results offensively he was looking for, but it was all positive in Bowie.”

Diaz returns from injury: Outfielder Yusniel Diaz, who has been out with a hamstring injury, was activated from the seven-day minor league injured list. The Bowie outfielder was transferred to High-A Frederick.

Before his injury, Diaz was batting .225 with a home run and seven RBIs in 20 games for the Baysox.