The Baltimore Orioles have been run by one of the Moneyball 2.0 acolytes since the Giants hired Farhan Zaidi in November 2018. Mike Elias was part of the Astros’ front office, and their innovation on the Billy Beane way of running a baseball team* was not only to cheat, but to infuse data and “inefficiencies” into literally every area of the baseball operation. Elias’s twist was to tank the Orioles for a few years to improve the prospect stock and then let those cheap young superstars carry the team into and through
a contention window.
It hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
However, the Orioles’ new owner has finally infused the organization with enough cash flow and approvals to compel them to boost their roster through other means besides their front office’s cleverness. The Orioles finally signed a top 50 free agent after over a decade of not having done so, and it’s a good one! Pete Alonso is a Giants Killer. He has 13 home runs in 39 career games to go with a triple slash of .257/.326/.546.
They reinforced their rotation with the additions of Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt and signed Ryan Helsley and his 100 mph fastball to close. They’ve also hired former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz as their new manager.
The 43-year old has an almost farcical Massachusetts accent, but he means business when he talks about how his team can improve. There hasn’t been a Defector article written about his vibes — not yet, anyway — but he’s already made public comments about the culture of the organization, specifically with regards to how defense hasn’t been valued. Even in what has been, essentially, a “peak” into the full season, his team-focused public comments stand out when compared to what Tony Vitello’s up to.
This is probably an expectations thing, though. The Giants are still trying to recapture a time that has come and gone while the Orioles are simply trying to stay relevant. The Orioles have some pressure to succeed while they still have this particular group of hitters, which includes Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, and Jordan Westburg; but also, a second line of young hitters like Colton Cowser, Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers, and Coby Mayo.
They’re off to a 6-6 start with just a 1 series win: a 3-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago. The Giants are coming off a 3-4 homestand that ended on a high note. This series is the start of a 9-game road trip and it’s one I believe is well timed. Those back to back shutouts of the Phillies heading into a long trip is an ideal set of circumstances for a “new” team to bond. Spring Training and home games allows players and coaches alike to simply “go home” after the game. On the road has a level of being stuck together, and that’s where relationships can be forged. Sure, a lot of the Giants are quite familiar with one another — maybe too familiar in some cases! — but road trips are a great bonding experience. On an interpersonal level, this is a big moment in the early days of Tony Vitello’s major league career.
But lots of winning would be great, too.
Series overview
Who: San Francisco Giants (5-8) at Baltimore Orioles (6-6)
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards | Baltimore, Maryland
When: Friday & Saturday at 4:15pm PT, Sunday at 10:35am PT
National broadcasts: Friday (Apple TV), Saturday (FOX Network)
Projected starters
Friday: Landen Roupp (RHP 1-1, 4.22 ERA) vs. Shane Baz (RHP 0-0, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday: Landen Webb (RHP 1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Chris Bassitt (RHP 0-2, 14.21 ERA)
Sunday: Adrian Houser (RHP 0-1, 3.97 ERA) vs. Cade Povich (LHP 0-0, 3.18 ERA)
Players to watch (besides Pete Alonso)
Orioles
Gunnar Henderson: He’s got 4 home runs and an .890 OPS overall to start the season. The 24-year old is positioned as the face of the franchise, but now he’s got lineup protection in the form of Pete Alonso…
Taylor Ward: But also Taylor Ward! The Orioles acquired him in the offseason from Zack Minasian’s brother Perry with the Angels, and all Ward has done is slugged .574 in his first 12 games (56 PA) to slash .383/.464/.574. He has hit ZERO home runs. He does have a sport-leading 18 hits, though, 9 of which have been doubles. The 32-year old has already recorded two 4-hit games for Baltimore. In his 8 seasons with the Angels, he had ZERO 4-hit games.
Grant Wolfram: A 6’7” lefty with 9 strikeouts and ZERO walks in 5 innings? What’s going on here in this small sample? Well, it turns out he’s in the Matt Gage zone in terms of stuff — at least from my eye test. His fastball is in the 95 mph range, but his slider is sub-2,500 rpm. He doesn’t get much chase and hitters are able to make good contact when they do. Of his 9 strikeouts, 3 came against White Sox hitters and another was of Joc Pederson. So, just want to see if this is a candidate for “a guy the Giants get to at an important spot in a game” during this series.
Giants
Logan Webb: Usually, I put the Giants’ ace in the (besides) portion of the Players to watch header mainly because I don’t see a reason to spotlight him when everybody knows he’s The Perfect Giant and you should watch him whenever there’s an opportunity. In this case, though, I want to make sure we’re all watching Webb in this start because this has been a shaky start and how he performs will determine how far the Giants will go this season. His sole appearance in Camden Yards was back in 2024 when he struck out 8 in 5 innings in his penultimate start of the season (the Giants lost 5-3). Webb has been good enough in interleague play (3.75 ERA in 275.2 IP), but not so much against the AL East. Look at this breakdown:
- Yankees: 1-3, 6.65 ERA in 4 GS (23 IP)
- Red Sox: 0-2, 5.63 ERA in 3 GS (16 IP)
- Blue Jays: 0-3, 9.00 ERA in 3 GS (16 IP)
- Orioles: 0-1, 4.50 ERA in 2 GS (12 IP)
- Rays: 2-0, 0.64 ERA in 2 GS (14 IP)
Rafael Devers: We can think about how Pete Alonso has gotten the best of the Giants all we want, but that matchup pales by comparison to how Devers has tormented the O’s. In 124 career games (543 PA), he’s slashed .292/.352/.493 with 21 home runs and 79 RBI with 45 walks and 109 strikeouts. His 32 career doubles against them is his most against a single opponent. He also has 2 triples. A big chunk of that damage has come at Camden Yards, where he’s a career .290/.354/.511 with 13 home runs and 11 doubles (22 BB, 58 K). His 3-run bomb in Wednesday’s finale against the Phillies made him the hero then. Was it the start of a hot streak?
Jung Hoo Lee: I wonder if getting away from the fan section at Oracle Park might help Jung Hoo Lee clear his head enough to get his bat going. He was just 2-for-21 on the homestand with a pair of walks and 5 strikeouts. If his slump continues through this road trip, it’s not going to be seen simply as a bad start.
Tony Vitello watch
Craig Albernaz perhaps has the home field advantage, but it will be interesting to see which of the rookie managers looks more rookie-like. Vitello certainly won the matchup with rookie Craig Stammen, but Albernaz has a bit more of an MLB coaching background than either. Both managers have been ejected already this season. Will the twitchy Missourian prove superior to Albernaz’s mouthy Masshole persona?
Prediction time
At the end of the day, these are two orange and black teams trying to forge a path to contention in the best way they know how. The Orioles are sticking with a culture that has so far produced some interesting prospects and a 101-win season, but has slowly devolved into frustration. The Giants rebuilt themselves into a 107-win team and have slowly devolved into frustration.
I know I was greedy in the Yankees series pulling for 1 win and Giants fans have subsequently been spoiled by the team winning two series, so, I’m just going to say that I think the Giants will win a game in this series.
