BALTIMORE -- In truth, the Orioles know they might never be able to truly replace Félix Bautista, their All-Star closer who was in the midst of one of the most dominant seasons in club history before suffering a concerning right UCL injury on Friday night. But they can try. In fact, they must.

This weekend provided a glimpse of what that might look like, the results mixed and, ultimately, to be determined. On their first two nights without Bautista, manager Brandon Hyde turned to All-Star setup man Yennier Cano in the ninth inning. Cano converted the save in Saturday night's win and suffered a hard-luck loss in Sunday afternoon's 4-3 defeat to the Rockies, allowing a critical unearned run to score in the ninth after the Orioles rallied to tie the game a half-inning earlier.

Though the outcome had more to do with a defensive error behind Cano, the result in the series finale only emphasized the hands-down top issue right now involving the Orioles: How will they finish games down the stretch and into October without Bautista?

“We have a ton of confidence in [Cano],” outfielder Austin Hays. “His stats speak for themselves. He’s pitched in huge situations and has some saves when Félix needed days off. So he’s been in that role.”

Hays isn’t wrong. Cano’s numbers are still sparkling. His 1.57 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 59 appearances both rank fifth among AL relievers, and the run he allowed Sunday was his first in 13 appearances. He still hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 31.

But a huge part of what’s made the Orioles so successful has been their ability to shorten games by stacking Cano and Bautista together. With those two locking down the final two innings, Baltimore only needed to be leading after seven most nights to leave with a win. Bautista’s absence moves a capable hand up in Cano, but it exposes the O's on the back end, with ripple effects that impact the entire bullpen. Asked what the biggest challenge is in managing the situation, Hyde said “trying to put guys in a position to have success.”

“Keep people healthy,” Hyde said. “We are approaching September, and guys have had a lot of appearances, so to juggle that. We play so many close games, also … there haven’t been many opportunities to give guys easy appearances or appearances where they have any breathing room.”

The key might very well lay in No. 10 prospect DL Hall, who replaced Bautista on the roster and worked a scoreless eighth inning in front of Cano on Saturday. Hall isn’t anywhere near workload concerns after spending six weeks this summer effectively rehabbing at the Orioles’ training facility in Florida, searching for the high-end velocity that has long made him one of the organization’s top prospects.

Hall did rediscover his upper-90s velo after a concerning stretch earlier this season that saw his velocity dip into the low 90s. All six of his fastballs Saturday eclipsed 96.3 mph, and he topped out at 98.3 mph in his first big league appearance since April 29.

“It’s been a long year for me,” Hall said on Sunday. “It’s an unreal feeling just to be back up here and be with this awesome team -- a great group of guys."

Said Hyde: “Hopefully he can be a big part of our 'pen and really just fit in. He has a special arm. We saw that at the end of last year in September. We want him to fit in, compete, throw a bunch of strikes and let his stuff work.”

It speaks to the Orioles’ organizational depth how they can pluck a longtime top prospect like Hall seemingly out of nowhere when need arose. They will likely do something similar soon with Tyler Wells, their top starter as recently as the first half of this season who has spent the past few months at Triple-A. Even before Bautista went down, Wells began transitioning into a relief role with Norfolk similar to the one he impressed in as a rookie in 2021. 

Part of that was the club eying the possibility of using Wells as a high-leverage arm down the stretch and into the postseason. Another was that Baltimore was already working with six starters, and that’s before counting natural starters like Wells, Hall and the rehabbing John Means, who could return from Tommy John surgery shortly after rosters expand from 26 players to 28 on Friday.

No doubt about it, losing Bautista is a serious blow. But even in his absence, the Orioles sport an abundance of quality arms. To what extent the O's struggle without their All-Star closer will likely depend on how they manage and deploy their remaining relievers.