Yohel Pozo

Pozo was replaced by Carlos Narváez behind the dish after being struck by a swing from Twins slugger Josh Bell. He’s likely to undergo X-rays to determine whether he fractured anything.

It provided the only run for the Orioles in the game, somehow, despite them drawing eight walks against the Angels’ pitching staff. It was Pozo’s first homer of the season and the 29-year-old will pair with Carlos Narváez until Samuel Basallo is ready to return from the injured list.

Pozo was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals on Thursday. He hit .242/.242/.273 in 33 plate appearances with the Cardinals to begin the season and was hitting .229/.256/.386 with three homers in 86 plate appearances at Triple-A before being designated for assignment. He will back up Chadwick Tromp in a situation that all fantasy managers should avoid.

Pozo spent most of the first half in the season in the bigs, hitting .242/.242/.273 in 33 plate appearances with the Cardinals. The 29-year-old has also played in 21 games for Triple-A Memphis, hitting .229/.256/.386 with three homers in 86 plate appearances. He’ll trade Triple-A clubhouses as he heads to Norfolk.

The Cardinals needed to free up a spot on their 40-man roster for Scott Blewett on Friday and unfortunately, Pozo wound up being the odd man out. There’s a decent chance that the 29-year-old backstop will pass through waivers unclaimed and continue to function as extra catching depth for the Cardinals.

Pozo was hitting .242/.242/.273 in 33 plate appearances. This demotion seems more about giving Jimmy Crooks a chance to stick than anything Pozo did wrong — Pedro Pages has been much worse in a larger sample size, but is out of options.

Pozo entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Thomas Saggese who had pinch-run for Ivan Herrera earlier in the contest. He made the most of his lone at-bat, ambushing a first-pitch fastball from Steven Cruz and punching it into right field to plate Nathan Church with the game-winning run. The 28-year-old backstop is now just 7-for-27 (.259) with five RBI in his limited action with the Cardinals.

The deal is now official. Pozo’s return on a split contract fortifies the Cardinals’ catching situation behind Pedro Páges with Iván Herrera ticketed for DH duty until further notice. The 28-year-old backstop posted a .637 OPS with five homers and 19 RBI in 168 appearances over a career-high 67 contests this past season.

Pozo was non-tendered last week despite not being eligible for arbitration last week, so this will probably be a minor league deal that keeps him off the 40-man roster. He could then compete to keep his spot as a third catcher/pinch-hitter.

The free-swinging Pozo hit .231/.262/.375 in 168 plate appearances for the Cardinals last season. The team could have kept him around if it again wanted Iván Herrera to mostly DH next year, but with Herrera at least technically available to catch and top prospect Jimmy Crooks ready to contribute, he did seem expendable.