In last night’s game with the Angels, the first since the trade deadline, the lineup looked about as standard as we could expect. Christian Franklin and Carlos Narváez were in the bottom of the lineup, but everything else seemed almost normal. Today, against a lefty, things look a little weird.
Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers have been swapped out for Tyler O’Neill and Jeremiah Jackson, except Jackson is playing left field. It’s his third start in the outfield this season. And Christian Franklin,
in his second big league game, is leading off. There is a Taylor Ward-sized hole in the lineup, and this is how the Orioles have decided to fill it. Franklin looks fast, so I guess that is why he’s batting first. He has shifted over to center field with Cowser out. I hope he’s good out there, because he is flanked by Jackson and O’Neill. It could get scary out there.
Trevor Rogers, who is probably wondering why nobody wanted him at the deadline, gets the start. It’s my theory that keeping Rogers is how Mike Elias can pretend this team is still trying to win this year. If you also want to do that too, you can root for the Mets over the Guardians and the Royals over the Twins tonight. Our old buddy Dean Kremer is on the mound for Minnesota. The Rangers are also ahead of the Orioles in the WC race, but they have already beaten the Giants today.
Reid Detmers is the lefty going for the Angels. He has a 4.03 ERA and 3.34 FIP for the Angels this year. Beating him won’t be an easy task for this team.
Orioles lineup
Christian Franklin (R) CF
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
Tyler O’Neill (R) RF
Coby Mayo (R) D,
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (R) 3B
Jackson Holliday (L) 2B
Jeremiah Jackson (R) LF
Carlos Narváez (R) C
Angels lineup
Zach Neto (R) SS
Mike Trout (R) CF
Nolan Schanuel (L) 1B
Vaughn Grissom (R) 3B
Moisés Ballesteros (L) DH
Travis d’Arnaud (R) C
Josh Lowe (L) RF
Jose Siri (R) LF
Adam Frazier (L) 2B
Let’s go O’s!
