Orioles send Diaz, Stowers to Arizona Fall League; Eddie Robinson dies

Outfielders Yusniel Diaz and Kyle Stowers will be among eight Orioles who will play in the Arizona Fall League.

Diaz, who was one of five players the Orioles received from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Manny Machado trade in July 2018, had an awful 2021 season, hitting a combined .161 in 65 games at Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie. He had a groin injury and turf toe.

Stowers, who shared the Orioles’ award for top minor league position player with catcher Adley Rutschman, hit a combined .278 with 27 home runs and 85 RBIs with High-A Aberdeen, Bowie and Norfolk. He was the 71^st overall pick in 2019, behind Rutschman and infielder Gunnar Henderson.

Joining Diaz and Stowers on the Mesa Solar Sox will be pitchers Cameron Bishop, Logan Gillaspie, Connor Loeprich and Nick Vespi, infielder Greg Cullen and catcher Ramón Rodriguez, who is on the taxi squad.

Bishop had an injury-shortened season. He was chosen in the 17^th round of the 2017 draft and had a 3-2 record and 4.58 ERA in 16 games with Bowie and Low-A Delmarva.

Gillaspie was 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA and four saves with the Baysox and Shorebirds. Loeprich was 2-5 with a 5.63 ERA in 14 games with Aberdeen and the Florida Complex League Orange team.

Vespi, the Orioles’ 18^th-round selection in the 2015 draft, was 4-3 with a 5.12 ERA and a save in 30 games with Norfolk and Bowie.

Cullen, who was acquired in the deal that sent Tommy Milone to the Braves in August 2020, hit .259 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 38 games with the Baysox, Shorebirds and the Florida Complex League Orange team.

Rodriguez hit .253 with five home runs and 29 RBIs in 54 games with the Baysox, IronBirds and Shorebirds.

The Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays send players to the six-team league, which begins on October 13^th. The championship game is November 20^th.

Norfolk hitting coach Tim Gibbons will serve in that role for the Solar Sox, who will play their home games at Sloan Field, spring training home of the Cubs.

The fall league will feature pitch clocks, restrictions on defensive positioning, larger bases and robotic umpiring in games played at Salt River Fields. Pitcher and catchers will be permitted to use PitchCom, enabling them to communicate.

Eddie Robinson dies: Eddie Robinson, who was the oldest living former major leaguer, died on Monday at 100.

Robinson played his final four games with the Orioles in 1957. He was also a coach with the team from 1957-1959.

He worked in baseball as the general manager for the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, a farm director and a scout. His final job was with as a scout in 2004 with Boston Red Sox, the only American League team for which he didn’t play.