Happy Friday, everyone! It’s a warm evening in Baltimore as the Orioles and Phillies kick off a big series in what will surely be a rocking crowd filled with both Orioles and Phillies fans.
But first, some news if you missed it. The Orioles have announced that they signed Yennier Cano to a two-year contract extension with a club option for 2029. Those two years are his arbitration years, so this isn’t a big move. Good for them, I guess. The Orioles are weird. Anyway, on to tonight’s game.
Brandon Young
is on the mound for the Orioles, sporting a sharp 3.13 ERA. The Orioles are 14-3 in games started by Young this year, which might make him the most valuable player on the team.
For the Phillies, it’ll be righty Andrew Painter on the mound. Painter is a 23-year-old rookie who was Philly’s top prospect coming into the season. He made the team out of spring training and made 12 starts and two relief appearances before he was demoted to Triple-A. His first go-round in the big leagues did not go so well, with a 7.06 ERA and 1.662 WHIP in 14 games. He was sent to the minors on June 17th and has made five starts with a 4.56 ERA. That doesn’t sound great, but he had four very good starts and one very bad one.
If Painter shuts down the Orioles, I know everyone in the comments will register their displeasure about how they rolled over for a guy with a 7 ERA. And while they technically wouldn’t be wrong, it’s worth keeping in mind that Painter is a recent top prospect with just 14 MLB games who was performing better in Triple-A. I would prefer, however, that the Orioles light him up like a Christmas tree and render this entire conversation moot.
The Orioles lineup is your typical vs righties lineup of late, however you choose to feel about that. Coby Mayo is in against the right-handed pitcher, which is fine with me. He has done better against them of late and it’s worth seeing if that’s real, in my opinion.
The Phillies lineup might be filled with aging guys, but it still has a lot of street cred.
Orioles lineup
Dylan Beavers (L) LF
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
Taylor Ward (R) DH
Leody Taveras (S) RF
Jackson Holliday (L) 2B
Coby Mayo (R) 3B
Colton Cowser (L) CF
Yohel Pozo (R) C
Phillies lineup
Trea Turner (R) SS
Kyle Schwarber (L) DH
Bryce Harper (L) 1B
Alec Bohm (R) 3B
Brandon Marsh (L) LF
J.T. Realmuto (R) C
Bryson Stott (L) 2B
Gabriel Rincones Jr. (L) RF
Justin Crawford (L) CF
Let’s go O’s!
