Hello, friends.
The Orioles… ah, the Orioles. They made a substantial statement last week when they took two out of three from the Yankees in the Bronx and got all of our hopes up for more greatness, and then, this weekend in Houston happened. Sunday’s loss in the finale of the series was the worst of the three, with neither pitching nor hitting doing well. Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the not-so-lovely totals from the 8-1 loss.
The team is doing a little bit of a roster shuffle as the road trip concludes and a homestand begins. The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka reported on Sunday evening that the Orioles will be recalling Heston Kjerstad today. Kjerstad hasn’t gotten regular playing time in his two previous stints with the Orioles. It’s not clear whether they have a different plan in mind this time.
Infielder Nick Maton, called up just in case Jordan Westburg’s injury from Juan Soto crashing into him turned out to be more serious, figures to be the obvious DFA candidate. If the Orioles are looking to swap an outfielder for an outfielder, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to send Colton Cowser back to the minors to see if he can straighten things out; he’s batting under .200 since the start of May, and OBPing just .254 in June.
If there’s any silver lining about what happened in Houston, it’s that while the Orioles were getting swept, the Yankees lost two out of three to their opponent, Atlanta. So for as much dumb stuff as happened with the O’s in these three games, all it cost them is one game in the AL East standings. It’s not much of a consolation prize, but it’s something. There’s also the consolation prize of the team record streak of games with a home run continuing, thanks to Jordan Westburg. There’s always another streak.
The problem for the Orioles isn’t that they lost the series as such, so much as it exposed that there is the potential that this team, even with its great 49-28 record and 103-win pace, has major pitching needs that need to be addressed for it to achieve its best possible outcome for the 2024 season.
Albert Suárez looks like he’s heading into pumpkin territory, Cole Irvin’s had a couple of bad starts, Grayson Rodriguez has dropped to a below-average ERA+, Dean Kremer stunk in his rehab over the weekend, and then there’s whatever is happening with the bullpen, where you could be suspicious of any reliever depending on your anxieties at a given moment. I’m particularly concerned with counting on any of Yennier Cano, Dillon Tate, and Jacob Webb lately.
It makes for a weird dynamic, because the team is great but it feels like there are urgent needs. Then, the reality of baseball’s calendar, with the trade deadline more than a month away, means there’s actually going to be any urgency in the market. There are maybe only five teams in the league that are totally out of any postseason consideration at this point. Many of those barely hanging on could be pushed towards selling in another four weeks’ time, but they’re not there yet. So we’ve just got to ride it out for now.
Things aren’t getting any easier over the next few games, with the Orioles going up against a Guardians team that’s bringing a better record than the O’s have into the series. Cleveland beat the Blue Jays on Sunday to improve to 49-26 for the season. They hold the widest lead in any of the AL divisions with eight games over the second-place Twins. Must be nice. Tanner Bibee and Cade Povich are the scheduled starting pitchers for tonight’s 6:35 opening game.
Around the blogO’sphere
10 starting pitcher trade targets for Orioles in wake of Kyle Bradish injury (The Baltimore Sun)
The Sun casts the net wide to try to find help for the Orioles. Some of these names seem like better help than others.
Coach Cody Asche on Rutschman batting leadoff and more (Steve Melewski)
Adley Rutschman was the leadoff batter yesterday. It didn’t pay off in that game, but Adley is certainly a batter where in the long run the idea of him being guaranteed more plate appearances is a good one.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Of all the players to ever play for the Orioles, there is only one who was born on this day: 1995 reliever Doug Jones. He mustered 21.4 bWAR over a 16-year-career, though his lone Orioles season was a -0.3. Jones passed away three years ago at the age of 64.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: psychologist Ernst Weber (1795), basketballer and shoe namesake Chuck Taylor (1901), Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood (1947), actress Mindy Kaling (1979), and footballer Lionel Messi (1987).
On this day in history…
In 1812, Napoleon led his Grande Armée into Russia. It wasn’t a good idea.
In 1922, an organization that had been known as the American Professional Football Association rebranded itself as the National Football League.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 24. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s
