Good morning Birdland,
Sometimes it feels like the Orioles are in a free fall, and then you look at their 15-17 record and realize that things could be much worse. Yesterday was one of those days.
Before their 7-2 loss to the Yankees on the Friday night, the Orioles got some bad injury news. Their closer Ryan Helsley was headed to the IL with elbow inflammation. Fortunately, imaging had already been done and come back clean. Helsley is taking medication to calm down the inflammation and is expected
back relatively soon.
This is just the latest pitching injury for an Orioles team that has already had its fair share. It comes right on the heels of Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers going on the shelf with the flu. The club is also awaiting returns from Dean Kremer and Dietrich Enns.
The Orioles have shown off some of their depth in the pitching department. The likes of Cade Povich, Brandon Young, and Albert Suarez have come up and shown varying levels of success. That has its limits, though, as witnessed this week. Povich got hit around by the Yankees on Friday, right after Young was bombed by the Astros on Thursday.
Right now, the Orioles are simply in survival mode. Their double-header on Thursday marked the beginning of a streak that will see them play 15 games in 14 days. So expect to see a lot of pitching shuffling over the next two weeks. Hopefully the team can also, ya know, win some of the baseball games.
Kyle Bradish is on the bump this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. His stuff has looked good recently and the top-line stats are improving. The O’s need an ace-like start from him today, one that comes with a little length as well.
Links
Orioles Place Ryan Helsley On IL With Elbow Inflammation | MLB Trade Rumors
Here is more on Helsley’s IL stint. As they point out, an elbow issue tends to be quite ominous for a pitcher, but it sounds like the Orioles aren’t too concerned. Of course, we have heard that before and see it go south. Fingers crossed!
Catching up on Rutschman and Basallo backstop duo | Roch Kubatko
Things have gone well for the Orioles behind the plate, despite Adley Rutschman’s IL stint a few weeks back. Both he and Samuel Basallo have been hitting while many other parts of the lineup have struggled. The defense is more of a mixed bag (particularly for Basallo), but it’s outweighed by how productive the two bats have been.
Jon Meoli: The Orioles’ biggest early-season test comes this weekend in New York. Their stars need to ace it. | The Baltimore Banner
The Orioles will play two series against the Yankees in the next two weeks. I don’t expect them to win both of them, but they need to be competitive and look like a squad that could chase down the Bombers in the division at some point. That didn’t seem to be the case on Friday.
Orioles’ Pete Alonso, back in New York, has no regrets | Capital Gazette
I mean, how could he? It doesn’t sound like the Mets ever got serious about bringing him back. And it’s not as if his former squad is in an enviable position anyway. While the Orioles have their own issues, you have to think Alonso feels fine about where he ended up.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Jonathan Villar turns 35 today. He was quite good for some very bad Orioles teams. Between 2018 and ‘19, Villar was worth 6.0 bWAR, had a 106 OPS+, hit 32 home runs, and stole 61 bases.
- Brent Bowers is 55 years old. The outfielder played in just 21 big league games, all of which came with the 1996 Orioles.
- Keith Moreland is 72. He wrapped up his 12-years in the majors with a 33-game cameo on the 1989 O’s.
This day in O’s history
2010 – The Orioles complete their first home, three-game sweep of the Red Sox since 1974 when Ty Wigginton hits a walk-off double against Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the 10th inning.
