Good morning Birdland,
Everything feels very difficult for the Orioles right now. Their most recent wins, which have been few and far between, have all come in extreme circumstances. And then last night, they lose a game against a bad team despite having all of the ingredients at their disposal for a win.
Coby Mayo got the scoring started with his first long ball of the season, a three-run shot that gave Shane Baz a cushion to work with against one of the league’s least productive lineups. That lead
would slowly evaporate. Not to worry. Adley Rutschman was off of the IL and back behind the plate. He had a nice return too, going 2-for-4 including a late home run to put the O’s ahead 5-4. But that advantage would also disappear.
Baz should have been better against a poor Royals lineup. He probably should have also been yanked after the sixth inning, but his manager Craig Albernaz was trying to push him a bit. It didn’t work out. Rico Garcia has been fantastic this year. He finally allowed a run on Tuesday, and it came at a bad time. Then, Ryan Helsley was as wild as ever in his appearance. He issued a pair of walks and uncorked two wild pitches, one of which ended the game.
It was a bad game for the Birds! And they still probably should have won it. Bouncing back this afternoon and snagging the series finale will ease the pain a little bit. It is both the final game of a road trip and the last piece of a 13-day run without a day off. This club could use a little rest, it seems.
Hopefully that upcoming off day also comes with some good injury news. It seems like Tyler O’Neill could come off of the IL at any moment. He has been traveling with the team and taking batting practice. The lineup could use some of his (intermittent) thump.
And perhaps we will get MRI results from Jackson Holliday’s ongoing battle to get healthy. He left Triple-A Norfolk’s game on Tuesday night with wrist and hand discomfort following a foul-tip in which he was in visible pain. It was said all along that these hamate injuries are finicky and progress can be slow. Hopefully that’s all it is and not a larger issue that will keep Holliday down for an extended period.
Please, baseball gods, give these Orioles something positive!
Links
Holliday (hand) set for MRI after early exit from Triple-A rehab game | MLB.com
Holliday had just restarted his rehab a few days ago after a brief pause to address a sore wrist. It looks like this latest rehab will also have to take a beat as the Orioles get him up to Baltimore for an MRI to see what’s happening in his hand. It is possible that everything is fine, but the replay certainly didn’t look great.
Orioles Designate Sam Huff For Assignment | MLB Trade Rumors
In case you missed it, Huff was DFA’d to make room for Rutschman on the active roster. You have to imagine the Orioles will try to keep him in the organization since he was the team’s preferred option over Maverick Handley anyway.
More reminders of Orioles’ unpredictable nature, some mailbag leftovers | Roch Kubatko
Roch illustrates how these Orioles have rolled with the punches through the season’s early trials. Injuries and underperformance have forced a few guys into more prominent roles than the organization would have hoped for. Some of them are thriving, like Leody Taveras. Others are struggling quite badly.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Rylan Bannon turns 30 today. The infielder was one of the players that came to Baltimore in the Manny Machado trade back in 2018. He played in just four games for the big league squad back in 2022.
- Jimmy Key is 65. The lefty wrapped up his 15-season MLB career with two years in Baltimore from 1997-98. In those two years he tossed 291.1 innings and was worth 5.8 bWAR.
- Dave Schmidt is 69 years old. From 1987-89, he was a valuable swingman option on the Orioles pitching staff. He appeared in 114 total games for the O’s, 49 of which were starts.
- The late John Orsino (b. 1938, d. 2016) was born on this day. He had a three-year stint in Baltimore from 1963-65, where he shared the catching duties with Dick Brown.
This day in O’s history
It has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. So here are a few happenings from beyond Birdland:
1876 – The first National League baseball game is played at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1977 – Optical fibers are first used to carry live telephone traffic.
