DETROIT -- Ryan Mountcastle did not begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday as originally scheduled.
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said Mountcastle -- who sustained a left foot fracture on April 11 -- was not feeling 100 percent, so the team decided the 29-year-old first baseman would not play for Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle is being re-evaluated, and Albernaz said he should know more later this week.
"To start a rehab assignment not 100 percent is not where you want to be," Albernaz said. "With any of our guys that are rehabbing and on the IL, obviously we would be overly cautious. So we want to make sure that he's good to go before we start the games."
Mountcastle, who has played his entire seven-year MLB career for Baltimore, appeared in only eight games this season before getting injured. He went 4-for-14 (.286) with one double and one RBI.
It isn't exactly clear how the right-handed-hitting Mountcastle will fit onto the O's roster when he eventually returns (and assuming there are no additional injuries before that point). Pete Alonso is the Orioles' everyday first baseman, while Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have each had offensive success against left-handed pitching.
Mountcastle has played only 97 big league games since the beginning of the 2025 season. Last year, he was limited to 89 contests due to a right hamstring strain that sidelined him from May 31-Aug. 8.