Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Even an off day didn’t give the Orioles a break from the relentless injury news. Dean Kremer is the latest injured Oriole, just two starts into his major league season, as the club placed him on the 15-day injured list yesterday with a right quad strain. The O’s called up Brandon Young from Triple-A Norfolk to take Kremer’s rotation spot.
It never seems to end. We’re less than a month into the season and the O’s now have 13 players on the injured list, including six on the 60-day
IL. Other than Félix Bautista, all of these injuries have occurred since the start of spring training, robbing the Orioles of a slew of players they expected to be contributors this season. That kind of attrition is hard for any team to overcome. The O’s front office did a somewhat better job of building the Birds’ depth this offseason compared to last year, but they probably weren’t expecting it to be put to the test quite this early.
Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg have yet to play a major league game this year, and the latter might miss the whole season. Zach Eflin made a grand total of one appearance before his season ended. In some cases, the Orioles have shown remarkable resilience to overcome key absences. The bullpen in particular has outperformed expectations without late-inning relievers Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin (not to mention Bautista), thanks to lesser-known names like Rico Garcia, Anthony Nunez, and Grant Wolfram stepping up. Jeremiah Jackson has superbly replaced Holliday at second base, to the point that I’m not totally sure what the O’s are going to do with Holliday once he’s healthy.
Other injuries have led to some less-than-stellar replacements. Coby Mayo has gotten everyday duty at third base in Westburg’s absence and has been better than expected with the glove but miserable at the plate, his two long homers in Kansas City notwithstanding. And Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O’Neill, while not pivotal members of the team, were at least expected to boost the Birds against left-handed pitching. With that duo out of commission, the O’s have cobbled together lineups against southpaws that include Johnathan Rodríguez and Blaze Alexander in the outfield, with dismal results. And now the Kremer injury, on the heels of Eflin’s surgery, has further stretched the Orioles’ pitching depth.
For now, it’ll be up to Young to try to prove himself as a capable replacement. He’ll take the mound tonight as the Orioles begin a six-game homestand against the Red Sox and Astros, two teams who were expected to contend but who currently sit in last place in their respective divisions. You love to see it. The O’s went 3-3 on their first homestand, then 3-3 on their first road trip, then 3-3 on their next homestand, then 3-4 on their next road trip. There’s simply no way to guess how many games they’ll win during this homestand.
Links
Last year around this time I declared that Adley was so back, only for him to spend the rest of the season being injured and/or ineffective. But this time? Adley is so back.
Will Orioles ever retire Mike Mussina’s No. 35? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
I know what the answer should be. But Rich Dubroff’s answer probably isn’t the one you want to hear.
Leody Taveras has been the O’s MVP so far. Here’s how – MLB.com
File this under “Orioles Headlines I Never Expected to Read This Year.”
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 33rd birthday to former O’s ace John Means. The lefty hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2024, when he underwent his his second Tommy John surgery, and likely won’t pitch this year after rupturing his Achilles this offseason, but he signed a two-year deal with his hometown Royals in hopes of returning in 2027. Good luck to Means in his recovery. The other ex-Oriole with an April 24 birthday is catcher Welington Castillo (39).
On this day in 1965, the O’s reunited with an original Oriole, acquiring veteran right-hander Don Larsen from Houston. Larsen had pitched for the inaugural 1954 Orioles, coming over with the franchise from St. Louis, but went 3-21 that season before joining the Yankees, where he eventually threw a perfect game in the World Series. Larsen’s second stint with the Birds in ’65 was as a reliever, where he had a 2.67 ERA in 27 games.
Random Orioles game of the day
On April 24, 1996, the Orioles beat the Royals in an 11-8 barnburner at Kauffman Stadium. The O’s pounded out 18 hits in the game, led by Cal Ripken’s 4-for-5 performance. Chris Hoiles bashed two home runs while Ripken, Brady Anderson, and Mike Devereaux each went yard as well. O’s starter Kent Mercker got the win despite giving up six runs in five innings, and closer Randy Myers stranded the bases loaded after a hairy ninth in which he walked three and gave up a hit. The win snapped the Orioles’ six-game losing streak.
