Happy Monday, Camden Chatters!
Welp, it was a pretty lousy weekend in Cleveland. The Orioles dropped three games out of four in the series, culminating in a loss yesterday in which Trevor Rogers allowed six runs (five earned) in five innings. He was particularly victimized by José Ramírez, who homered twice. It was the second straight poor outing by Rogers, who also gave up four runs in 4.2 innings last week against Arizona. After five starts, Rogers has an ERA of 4.08.
It’s no secret that the starting
pitching has not gone as planned this year. Rogers started strong, and hopefully these last two are the exception and not the rule. Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz have been pitching poorly. Chris Bassitt, too, although he at least is coming off a relatively decent start over the weekend. It’s been a bad scene all around.
Is it possible that an upgrade to the rotation is just a few hours south in Norfolk, VA? Two unlikely candidates have emerged. Brandon Young pitched to a 6.24 ERA in 12 starts in 2025, but has been singing a different tune so far in 2026. In three starts with Norfolk, Young has allowed just two runs. He has 19 strikeouts and just three walks in that span of 16.2 innings. This past Saturday, Young struck out 10 in 5.2 innings without allowing a hit. In his one start in the majors, Young pitched five shutout innings.
And then there is Cade Povich. He has a longer track record of disappointment in the majors, with a 5.20 ERA in 36 starts in 2024 and 2025. Povich started the 2026 season with a rough start for Norfolk, but since then has shone. He pitched 5.2 innings in relief with two runs allowed against the Pirates, then got the win with 6.2 innings vs the Giants. Back in Norfolk, Povich pitched yesterday. He allowed one run in five innings for the Tides with 10 strikeouts.
I, along with many others, haven’t had much faith in either Young or Povich. The reason that the Orioles needed to add pitching over the offseason is that those were not considered viable options. And I’m not saying that has changed. But so far, at least, Young and Povich are pitching like they don’t want to be forgotten. They’ve gotten a few chances so far, and as long as the rest of the rotation continues to flounder, they’ll get more.
The Orioles’ tour of the AL Central continues tonight as they kick off a three-game series in Kansas City tonight at 7:40. The Royals are in last place in the Central with a 7-15 record. They are currently on a seven-game losing streak. Even with that bad record, the Orioles will be facing three tough starting pitchers in Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic, and Michael Wacha. Something tells me the Royals won’t stretch their losing streak to 10.
Links
‘Look in the mirror’: O’s searching for answers amid tough stretch – MLB.com
Jake Rill focuses on three things to consider after this tough series with the Guardians.
Rogers, offense struggle again as Orioles lose series to Guardians, 8-4 – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff has the game story from yesterday with quotes from players and manager.
Orioles Outright Jayvien Sandridge – MLB Trade Rumors
In case you’ve been up at night wondering what happened with Jayvien Sandridge after he was DFA’d, he made it through the waivers and was assigned to Norfolk.
Next week you can see every team in one system — from Single-A to MLB — on one road trip – MiLB.com
All four Orioles farm teams are home this week, and the Orioles return home on Friday. This story has a road trip planned so you can see all five teams in five days. I personally would swap Frederick and Chesapeake in their order.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Of all the players who have ever played for the Orioles, none were born on April 20th. Two prominent MLB players born on this date are Don Mattingly (65) and Hall of Famer Dave Bancroft (b. 1891, d. 1972). A few non-baseball players born on this day include actors George Takei (89) and Shemar Moore (56), and singer Luther Vandross (b. 1951, d. 2005)
On this day in 1988, the Orioles set a Major League record by losing their 14th straight game to start the season. As we all know, they went on to lose the first 21 games of the season.
In 1997, the Chicago Cubs won their first game of the season after starting the year 0-14, ensuring that the Orioles’ 1988 losing streak would remain in the record books.
One year ago today, the Orioles were embarrassed on Easter Sunday in a 24-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The Orioles used five pitchers, including position players Jorge Mateo and Gary Sánchez. Starting pitcher Charlie Morton allowed seven runs in just 2.1 innings. The most successful pitching performance came from Cionel Pérez, who allowed three runs in two innings. The Orioles’ two runs scored on an error and an Adley Rutschman home run.
