Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Just 10 days remain until the MLB trade deadline, and at this moment, there’s no telling which direction the Orioles are going to go. Two weeks ago they looked like sure sellers, but their recent seven-game winning streak, which currently puts them three games back of the final wild card, might have changed the calculus.
The front office’s trade strategy could well come down to how the Orioles fare in their final three series before the deadline. They’re not going to be easy
ones. Two of the Birds’ next three series come against National League clubs that are currently in playoff position, the NL East-leading Braves and the second-place Phillies. The other is against the Tigers, a team that’s basically an even match with the Orioles (just one game worse than the Birds). Two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is slated to start tonight against the Royals, which would line him up to pitch next Wednesday against the Orioles in what could be his last start as a Tiger. So the Orioles’ next week and a half will pit them against two very good teams and perhaps the best pitcher in baseball. Good luck!
The Orioles, at least, are looking more like a team that’s up for such a challenge. They’re playing much better baseball of late, and their pitching in particular has started to gel. Their 2.96 team ERA since the start of July is the second-best in baseball, behind only the Red Sox. Maybe the best indication of how good the O’s pitching has been is that long reliever Albert Suárez hasn’t pitched in more than two weeks. With all due respect to Albert, he’s the guy you bring in when a starter gets chased early or you’re hopelessly out of the game late, so the fact that he hasn’t been needed in so long is a positive thing.
If the Orioles continue playing like they’ve been doing lately, they have every chance to win more than they lose during this upcoming 10-day stretch, which would bring them to the deadline at about the .500 mark and right on the heels of the wild card leaders. If that happens, you have to think the Orioles would be buyers, but perhaps modestly so. They’re not going to get Skubal, but they could add a reliever or two and maybe another bat.
But if the sloppy, fundamentally unsound version of the team rears its ugly head in the next week and a half, and a lot of losses follow, then the O’s could be faced with the unappetizing reality of selling at the deadline. That would be a tough pill to swallow for a second straight year.
The Orioles are plenty capable of playing good baseball, staying in the thick of the postseason chase, and convincing the front office to supplement the roster at the deadline. They’re also, unfortunately, plenty capable of just the opposite. Which path will the O’s take? That’s the million dollar question.
Links
Orioles Claim Yohel Pozo, Designate Johnathan Rodríguez For Assignment – MLB Trade Rumors
If you’re tired of watching Sam Huff bat, don’t worry: the Orioles have acquired a catcher who’s even worse than him.
Updated MLB top 70 prospects: Kade Anderson is the new No. 1, Jesús Made at No. 2 – The Athletic
Two O’s prospects, Ike Irish and Joseph Dzierwa, crack Keith Law’s midseason top prospect update. And JT Quinn gets a very intriguing shout-out in the Dzierwa writeup, so I’m gonna count that as a third.
I had never heard this story before. It’s fascinating to find out that such an iconic Baltimore tradition basically started because of a fan’s inside joke with her friends.
Are Orioles’ injuries preventable? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
A reader wants the Orioles to simply put together a team of players who won’t get injured. Buddy, what you’re asking for is a team of indestructible cyborgs, which…actually, yeah, that sounds pretty nice. Make it happen, Mike Elias.
I still have mixed feelings about Davis being elected into the Orioles Hall of Fame so soon after his disastrous end to his career. It sounds like Tommy Hunter is going to give a pretty awesome speech, though.
I try less than almost anybody. Maybe I can be a professional baseball player after all.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Only two players in O’s history had a July 24 birthday, and they were born 64 years apart. Right-hander Miguel Socolovich (40) pitched six games for the 2012 Birds, and righty Duane Pillette (b. 1922, d. 2011) was a member of the inaugural 1954 Orioles, coming over with the franchise from St. Louis.
On this date in 2018, the Orioles traded their two-time All-Star closer, Zack Britton, to the Yankees for three prospects. It was a foregone conclusion that the last-place Birds would deal Britton, a pending free agent, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow that he went to the Orioles’ most hated rival, where he spent the remaining five years of his career. The three players the O’s acquired didn’t amount to much, aside from one decent relief season by Dillon Tate.
Random Orioles game of the day
On July 24, 2004, the Orioles defeated the first-place Twins at Camden Yards, 4-2. The Orioles were trailing 2-0 at one point, but scored a single run apiece in the third, sixth, seventh, and eighth to earn the victory. Miguel Tejada provided nearly all the offense by himself, not only driving in two runs on a solo homer and an RBI double, but also scoring from first base on a strikeout (thanks to a throwing error by the catcher on a stolen base attempt). O’s starter Sidney Ponson worked seven innings of two-run ball, and B.J. Ryan and Jorge Julio each worked a perfect inning of relief.
