Orioles designate Dietrich Enns for assignment, recall Nick Raquet from Triple-A Norfolk

What happened

The Orioles announced they have recalled left-hander Nick Raquet from Triple-A Norfolk and, in a corresponding move, designated left-hander Dietrich Enns for assignment. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com had reported the Raquet recall before the club made it formal.

The two moves are linked by roster math as much as anything else: a 26-man active roster holds exactly 26, and adding Raquet required removing someone. Enns drew the short straw.

Why it matters

For Enns, the designation is a jarring turn in what had been a quietly compelling story. He is 35, made his major league debut a few years prior, then spent 2022 through 2024 pitching overseas before returning to North America in 2025. That comeback season produced 46 1/3 innings split between the Tigers and Orioles. He allowed 4.08 earned runs per nine innings, per MLB Trade Rumors. His 24.5% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate both landed a bit better than average. A .338 batting average on balls in play pushed that ERA higher than his underlying numbers warranted — his 3.54 SIERA told a somewhat friendlier story, the kind of gap that tends to close over time but does not always get the opportunity to.

Baltimore liked what it saw enough to bring him back for 2026 on a one-year deal carrying a $2.625MM guarantee and a club option for 2027. That contract makes the designation notable beyond a simple roster shuffle. Under general league rules, a player designated for assignment must be traded, released, or placed on waivers within seven days. If he clears outright waivers, the club can assign him to the minors — but the financial terms of a guaranteed deal travel with him regardless of where the roster paperwork lands him.

The left foot infection that put Enns on the injured list from early April to early May — roughly a month of the 2026 season — is the unavoidable backdrop. He had only recently returned to action when this move came down. A month on the shelf is a long time to lose momentum in a rotation or bullpen competition, and a pitcher working his way back into form is always operating on borrowed goodwill. Whether the IL stint affected his performance upon return, or whether the club simply preferred what Raquet was doing in Norfolk, is not addressed in the announcement.

The comeback arc, briefly

It is worth pausing on the broader shape of Enns's career, because the sport does not produce many like it. A major league debut, then three years pitching overseas from 2022 to 2024, then a return to North America that earned him a guaranteed big-league contract — that is not a standard trajectory. The 2025 season, split between Detroit and Baltimore, was the proof of concept. The 2026 deal was the reward. A left foot infection and a designation for assignment in May is not the next chapter anyone was writing for him.

Whether that arc has another chapter — in Baltimore, elsewhere, or at all — is genuinely unresolved as of the club's announcement.

What we don't know yet

The announcement does not specify what comes next for Enns. The seven-day DFA window opens the door to a trade, a release, or a waiver claim by another club, but none of those outcomes has been reported by MLB Trade Rumors or anyone else at the time of the club's move. The 2027 club option adds a layer of complexity to any potential transaction, though the terms of that option — whether it vests, what it pays, whether it carries a buyout — are not detailed in the available material.

Raquet's role with the big-league club is similarly undefined. He arrives from Triple-A Norfolk, but whether he is expected to work as a starter, a long reliever, or a situational left-hander is not specified in the announcement. A left-hander recalled from Triple-A in May could be any of those things, and the club has not said which one it is asking him to be.

What to watch

The seven-day DFA clock is the most immediate thing to monitor. If Enns clears waivers unclaimed, the Orioles would face a decision about whether to outright him to the minors or release him — and either path carries financial implications given the guaranteed money remaining on his 2026 deal. A waiver claim by another club would resolve the question more cleanly, at least from Baltimore's perspective.

On the other side of the ledger, Raquet's first appearances with the big-league club will offer an early read on what the Orioles are asking of him. Roles have a way of clarifying themselves once the schedule starts moving, and a left-hander's usage pattern in his first few outings tends to signal intent more reliably than any pregame description would.

The 2027 club option on Enns's deal is worth keeping in view as the situation develops. Options of that kind typically carry a decision date well down the road, but how the next seven days unfold — trade, release, outright, or waiver claim — could shape whether that option ever becomes a live question again.

Enns's story has the ingredients of something worth following: overseas stints, a late-career resurgence, a guaranteed major-league contract, a month lost to a foot infection, and now a designation for assignment before the calendar turns to summer. The sport generates these arcs more often than the standings suggest. Where this one goes next is, at the moment, entirely open.