Hello, friends.
As the now-old movie quote goes, “Oh no, we suck again!” The Orioles were back at it last night, not convincing anybody that anything is going to be different this year no matter how many slogans they put out. They dropped a 5-2 game to the Texas Rangers to start off their three-game set, falling to 2-2 on the year. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
The offense getting worked again is an ongoing early story, though for me it’s got to be
the clunker of a first outing for Chris Bassitt that’s the most disappointing. He was supposed to not end up in Charlie Morton territory; he’s younger and the Orioles paid him even more money. He had the narrative around him of his postseason success last year and all of that. It was worth nothing in the 2026 season, at least to begin. He will get many more starts to prove he’s better than that, but for now, it’s a bad ERA number.
Alright, fine, I’m also disappointed about the offense. There are no bonus partial wins for silver linings, of course. Even so, it was nice to see Gunnar Henderson connect for his first homer of the season last night, and add a second hit later in the game. Good things will be needed from him this year, and from Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso. This is doubly true as long as these guys are the top three hitters in the lineup. They aren’t doing it yet.
It’s only been four games. Many, many more games remain. Still, I understand the early frustration. The team needs to go out in the month of April and convince people that things are really going to be different this year. They’re 2-2 through four games and honestly, even one of their two wins still had some nervousness underneath it that maybe the offense isn’t fixed. Until they blast this narrative away, it will linger because it’s been lingering since July of two years ago.
Perhaps they can start to author a different story in tonight’s game. The series with Texas is scheduled to continue at 6:35 tonight. As of this writing, the Rangers still don’t have an announced starting pitcher. It’ll be Zach Eflin getting the start for the Orioles. There’s one more guy who needs to quickly show that he’s put a rough 2025 behind him, or else sunny assumptions about the 2026 squad will have to be revisited in the aftermath of a dose of cruel reality.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
How an offseason of spin helped Coby Mayo square up at the plate like never before (The Baltimore Banner)
Every article in this vein always makes me think, “I hope this is still true by season’s end!”
Inside the Orioles clubhouse makeover: New layout, shuffleboard, and more (The Baltimore Sun)
You know what would be cool? If there was still an Orioles offseason event where you could get a peek into the empty clubhouse.
Orioles throw good money after Baz (FanGraphs)
Some national baseball website analysis on the weekend’s Orioles contract extension news.
French offers opinions on a variety of Orioles pitchers (School of Roch)
If you can believe this, the Orioles pitching coach really likes his starting rotation, the one that didn’t even have room for Dean Kremer.
At 34, Dietrich Enns breaks out a new pitch to try to become a fixture in the Orioles bullpen (Steve on Baseball)
The full article is for Steve’s Substack subscribers only. Let’s hope the new pitch does in fact allow Enns to become a fixture who people want to be a fixture.
A potentially intriguing bat may be emerging in Norfolk (On The Verge)
I’m not jumping on the Willy Vasquez hype train yet, but if you do, it seems like you won’t be the first one.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
The Orioles were most recently victorious on today’s date just a year ago, when they beat the Red Sox, 8-5, thanks to scoring four first-inning runs and four eighth-inning runs. Just four of the 17 players who appeared for the O’s in that game are active on the roster to begin this season.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025 one-game pitcher Elvin Rodríguez, and 1954 three-game pitcher Dave Koslo.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician/philosopher René Descartes (1596), composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), composer Joseph Haydn (1732), baseball Hall of Famer Mule Suttles (1901), actor Christopher Walken (1943), and actress Rhea Perlman (1948).
On this day in history…
In 1774, in a retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the port of Boston was ordered closed by Great Britain.
In 1814, the army of the Sixth Coalition (against Napoleon) occupied Paris after two days of fighting. This led to Bonaparte’s surrender and temporary exile.
In 1906, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States – today known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – was established.
In 1995, Tejano singer-songwriter Selena was shot and killed by the woman who was the president of her fan club. The murderer had been embezzling thousands of dollars from the fan club.
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a random book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question in this space each time it’s my turn until I run out of questions. Last time, I asked who was the ERA leader for the 1970 Orioles. The answer was elusive for some, but if you knew it was Pete Richert with his 1.98 ERA in 54.2 IP, good job. Here’s today’s question:
Who was the first Orioles player to hit for the cycle in franchise history?
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 31. Have a safe Tuesday.
