Orioles Catcher Caleb Joseph Placed On DL With Groin Injury; Francisco Pena Recalled

The Baltimore Orioles placed backup catcher Caleb Joseph on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with a testicular injury.

Orioles Catcher Caleb Joseph Placed On DL With Groin Injury; Francisco Pena Recalled

Joseph, 29, was injured after being struck in the groin by a foul ball during the eighth inning of Monday’s 7-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park. He underwent surgery late Monday night.

 Second on the depth chart behind Matt Wieters, Joseph was batting .182 in 23 games, 19 of which he has started as backup for Wieters.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter declined to go into detail regarding the surgery, but he stated the urologist decided on surgery after Joseph’s symptoms were deemed too severe. Given the rarity of the injury, Showalter was unable to give a date or timetable for the catcher’s return.

“I know what they thought but there’s not a whole lot of history that says, ‘If you have this done and you’re a catcher when are you going to be able to catch again?'” Showalter said. “Obviously, not before 15 days.”

The team recalled catcher Francisco Pena from minor-league team Triple-A Norfolk to replace Joseph. The self-described defensive catcher is batting .200 in 24 games with the Tides this season, but he has hit safely in five of the past six contests, batting .353/.421/.353 (6-for-17) in that stretch. Pena has nine total games of major league experience, all with Kansas City. He went 1-for-7 in eight games with the Royals last season.

Pena, 26, reportedly didn’t know of Joseph’s injury on Monday night, so naturally he was surprised when he received a call around 10:30 am ET on Tuesday from Norfolk manager Ron Johnson, who told him he was heading to Baltimore. He said he feels comfortable playing there because he has become familiar enough with the Orioles players by now.

“It helps me a lot because I know everybody here,” Pena said. “I caught all the guys in the bullpen; I caught all the starters here. So I have a pretty good idea of what they got, what they throw, what they like to do, what are their tendencies.”

The Orioles may rely on Pena often while Jospeh recovers, since Weites has only caught three consecutive games once since undergoing surgery himself in June 2014. Although Pena has only started one game with the Royals– a 6-0 loss on Sept. 25, 2015–Showalter doesn’t plan to have Weiters catch more often.

The Orioles (28-22, 2nd in AL East), who also lost to the Red Sox (32-20) 6-2 on Tuesday, will host Boston’s team again on Wednesday night.

PHOTO: SARASOTA, FL – FEBRUARY 28: Caleb Joseph #36 of the Baltimore Orioles poses during photo day at Ed Smith Stadium on February 28, 2016 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)