CLEVELAND — The Orioles placed right-hander Félix Bautista on the 15-day injured list for right shoulder discomfort Thursday, one day after he told the coaching staff midway through the game that he was unavailable.

The move is retroactive to July 21, the day after Bautista threw a season-high 34 pitches. Bautista will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine if there’s any damage.

“It’s tough,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Félix is a guy who is really one of the leaders. He’s a catalyst for us; he’s a guy who shortens the game. He helps you win major league games every night. We just hope that it’s not too severe.”

Mansolino said after Wednesday night’s loss that Bautista sent a message to the coaching staff in the seventh inning saying “something didn’t feel right.”

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It came as a surprise to Mansolino, because he said Bautista threw as normal before the game. “Everything was normal,” Mansolino said after the game. “Definitely not expected.”

Mansolino said the Orioles decided to shut Bautista down rather than pitching him.

On Thursday, after Bautista was placed on the injured list, Mansolino said his heart sank when the dugout phone rang Wednesday night.

“Right when I heard that thing ring, I told whoever was next to me, ‘That is not good,’” Mansolino said. “I didn’t know what it was, or who it was, but when it comes our way, that wasn’t good. I heard it get slammed after off, and I knew it wouldn’t be good, and it turned out to be really horrendous.”

Mansolino said Bautista hadn’t begun throwing off the mound in the bullpen at that point. As part of his warmup routine, Bautista begins loosening a few innings early. He was throwing weighted balls, as is usual for him.

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“In that process of getting ready to get loose is when it kind of flared up,” Mansolino said.

Bautista’s last outing was arduous. He hurled a season-high 34 pitches Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. His sinker velocity, which has averaged 97.2 mph this year (his first back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery), was an average of 95.8 mph, and his slowest came out at 94.1 mph.

At the time, Mansolino said that was emblematic of a pitcher who hadn’t thrown in 10 days. The update Thursday draws additional concern, although Mansolino said Bautista didn’t exhibit issues Monday or Tuesday.

Bautista holds a 2.60 ERA with 19 saves this year.

To replace Bautista on the active roster, the Orioles promoted right-hander Kade Strowd. The 27-year-old pitched three games with Baltimore in May and June and surrendered two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

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Strowd holds a 4.15 ERA in 29 games with Triple-A Norfolk this season.

The ninth-inning plan remains to be seen. Mansolino said the Orioles will “figure it out. I don’t think you’d have a specific closer, so to speak. I think you’ll try to get your best matchups."

Either way, Baltimore is riding with an inexperienced bullpen. Right-hander Colin Selby stepped into the eighth inning Wednesday as part of the trickle-down effect of Bautista’s injury. He surrendered the go-ahead run.

Those decisions will continue, placing pitchers in unfamiliar roles.

“With how we’re currently constructed, I don’t think we have a choice,” Mansolino said. “I think guys are going to have to bump up, like we saw with Selby last night. They’re going to have to bump up their roles and step up, so to speak, and pitch in different spots. As currently constructed, we’ll make use of what we have.”

Baltimore has 15 players on the injured list, and 26 players have spent time on the IL this season.