Good morning Birdland,
It was bound to happen at some point, and on Friday night it finally came to be. Trevor Rogers had a bad game and led the Orioles to an 8-4 loss in the Bronx.
Home runs were the killer
for Rogers. He gave up three of them, two to Giancarlo Stanton and the other to Aaron Judge. The lefty is the not the first pitcher to be victimized by that duo, and he is unlikely to be the last.
In an ideal world, Rogers would have finished off his impressive season with yet another dominating performance. He would have helped the Orioles spoil the Yankees pursuit of the AL East crown, and given the fanbase at least a mental boost heading into the offseason.
That didn’t happen, but it also doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Rogers will still finish the season with a ridiculously good stat line: 109.2 innings, 1.81 ERA, 103 strikeouts, 29 walks, .180 batting average against, 0.90 WHIP. He has successfully resuscitated his career and set him self up to have a big contract year in 2026.
In my view, Kyle Bradish is the still the “ace” of the current staff. Despite the Tommy John surgery that cost him most of the last two seasons, Bradish still feels like the most dependable arm in the organization. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting back in 2023. Prior to his injury last year, he looked just as good. And ever since coming back this year he has been fantastic. While Rogers has been dominant this season, consistency and longevity concerns will linger until he proves otherwise.
Regardless, the Orioles head into this offseason in a far better position with their starting staff than they did a year ago. Bradish and Rogers are a good 1-2 punch. Dean Kremer is a solid back-end arm. Hopefully an injury update of some kind is coming on Grayson Rodriguez. But even if he is healthy—don’t hold your breath—the front office should still be pursuing at least one more impact arm this winter.
Honestly, the rotation will probably be the least of the team’s worries this winter. Meanwhile, they still need to rebuild the bullpen and figure what happened to a lineup that was supposed to be one of the game’s best.
Links
Maryland investor Mark Ein adds minority Orioles stake to growing sports inventory | The Baltimore Banner
It feels important to keep tabs on the people added to the Orioles ownership mix. Control person David Rubenstein is 76 years old. He is unlikely to own the team for as long as the Angelos family did, and it’s not clear what the succession plan would be.
This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
Rico Garcia has been a nice little find for the Orioles this year. Does that mean we should pencil him into a 2026 role in the bullpen? Eh, maybe initially. The 31-year-old is out of options and has played for three teams this year alone. Relievers are fickle. As good as he has been recently, he could fall apart next year. But if the club likes what they see, there is no harm in holding onto Garcia until the spring.
Orioles mailbag: Should Tony Mansolino be the manager in 2026? | The Baltimore Sun
Mansolino gave the 2025 squad exactly what they needed. But does that mean he can elevate them in 2026? He deserves to get an interview and be in the mix. But the upcoming season is far too crucial for this organization to simply hand him the role.
Rogers rolls into O’s record books in remarkable comeback year | MLB.com
Despite a poor final game, the lefty still managed to put forth a historically good campaign. That trade with the Marlins looks a lot different now than it did a year ago.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Radhames Dykhoff turns 51 today. His only MLB appearance came with the Orioles in 1998.
- Carlos López is 77 years old. The outfielder spent the 1978 season in Baltimore, where he compiled a 74 OPS+ over 129 games.
- The late Dick Hall (b. 1930, d. 2023) was born on this day. He played nine seasons with the Orioles, split up into two stints (1961-66, 69-71). In total he had a 2.89 ERA over 770 innings. He was elected to the Orioles’ team Hall of Fame in 1989.
This day in O’s history
1953 – The St. Louis Browns play their final game, their 100th loss of the season. The team will relocate to Baltimore in the offseason and adopt the name “Orioles.”
1974 – After 16 scoreless innings, the Orioles finally break the 0-0 deadlock to beat the Brewers 1-0. Jim Colborn and Jim Palmer combined for 25 shutout innings, but neither one gets a decision.
1996 – Orioles second baseman Roberto Alomar spits in the face of umpire John Hirshbeck while arguing a called strike. Alomar claims he was provoked by Hirschbeck, but then goes on to tell the media that “I used to respect him a lot. He had problems with his family when his son died…after that he just changed, personality-wise. He just got real bitter”. Hirschbeck has to be restrained from running into the Orioles locker room to confront Alomar. Alomar will be suspended for five regular season games the following season.
