The Baltimore Orioles clinched a playoff berth last weekend and are on their way to winning the AL East and securing the top seed in the American League playoff picture. They'll have to do it without one of their regular starters.

Infielder Ryan Mountcastle was placed on the injured list with left AC joint inflammation, according to Dan Connolly. He started 86 games at first base for the Orioles this season and has appeared in 111 total. He has a .780 OPS and 39 extra-base hits.

Mountcastle will likely miss the rest of the regular season, which ends in less than two weeks. With the Orioles in line to be the one seed in the American League, their first playoff game will be on October 7.

The Orioles certainly don't want injuries, but there may not be a better time than now to have a player go down. Baltimore will clinch the one seed in the next few days and can cruise into the playoffs and rotate their lineup. They don’t want to hand it over to their opponents during the final week of the season, but letting other players get their time in games that don’t totally matter for the Orioles may be beneficial to the team.

Ryan Mountcastle's injury doesn’t sound season-ending, so the right-handed slugger should return to Baltimore's lineup at some point before the 2023 season ends. The Orioles have championship aspirations and at the very least want to win a playoff series in their first season of contention with their new core.

In a corresponding move, the Orioles recalled outfielder Ryan McKenna from the minors.