Hello, friends.
You could be forgiven for getting swept up from time to time with the feeling that the 2025 Orioles, if only they hadn’t been so fatally flawed in the early months of the season, still might have made some noise this season. That feeling pulls all the stronger today, coming off the Orioles going out to San Diego and sweeping the Padres, who are definitely heading to the postseason.
They hit well in all three games, pitched well in two of the three games, and in the process put a real
bruising on the Padres chances of chasing down the Dodgers in the NL West. It’s fun when things are going well. Back-to-back-to-back homers by Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo, and Alex Jackson were particularly fun. Cade Povich was fun for five innings (but no fun while getting no outs in the sixth). Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.
An off day awaits the Orioles today, giving them a chance to rest after returning to Baltimore from out west. Over the weekend, when there will be celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the 2131 game, the Orioles will be playing the Dodgers. It’ll be fun if they shake up the NL West again by playing the $330 million men tough. I know better than to expect any Orioles team to play well when celebrating something historic from the franchise’s past. Even in seasons that turned out better than this one, there have been some clunkers on those nights.
There have been memorable successes too, of course. The 2012 Orioles pulled into a tie in the AL East by beating the Yankees on the night of Cal Ripken Jr.’s legends statue replica giveaway, itself connected to the 2131 anniversary. That’s the best Orioles game I have ever personally attended at Camden Yards, one that’s tough to top except for people who were at the Delmon double game. We’ll see what happens this time around. My recent experience is that Dodgers fans are as obnoxious as Yankees or Red Sox fans, except we don’t see them as often to really notice. So it’ll be nice if the team can play well enough to send them home sad.
After this series sweep of the Padres, the Orioles are 64-76 on the season. They are now on pace to win 74 games. That would be a 10-12 finish from here. I probably won’t feel so much different about them if they’re able to go 11-11 or 12-10 instead. I just need to see something over the last few weeks to believe that the position player core can do a better job of competing next season. That’s been the story for a month now. They didn’t do a very good job of proving it in August.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Trevor Rogers on winning AL Pitcher of the Month (Baltimore Baseball)
It continues to be the case that the best thing about this stupid season is the emergence, hopefully to last at least to the end of next year, of Rogers as one of the best pitchers in baseball. Still can’t believe that’s a true thing I can type.
Trevor Rogers is lying to you (Baseball Prospectus)
Subscription required to read this one. The reference to lying is actually about the deception he is using in his pitch selection and execution.
Updating Westburg and O’Neill (School of Roch)
The update is that Jordan Westburg is on track for a minor league rehab assignment next week, while outfielder Tyler O’Neill could rehab two weekends from now.
As the Orioles contemplate Yennier Cano’s regression, a new changeup grip is a hopeful cure (The Baltimore Banner)
No way to know at this juncture if it’s really indicative of improvement or not, but Cano looked fairly good getting a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season yesterday.
Orioles add to front office, hiring Nationals scouting director Danny Haas (The Baltimore Sun)
Let’s hope this is a pickoff that works out better than the Orioles adding one of last year’s Seattle Mariners hitting coaches into their own hitting coach mix for 2025.
The Golden Spikes Award winner has had a pretty golden bat so far on Orioles farm (Steve on Baseball)
Another subscription required, this one for Steve Melewski’s Substack. About the article, all that I have to say is this: Wehiwa!
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2023 one-game catcher Mark Kolozsvary, 2002-04 infielder Luis López, 1972-76 pitcher Doyle Alexander, and 1955 infielder Eddie Waitkus.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: composer Anton Bruckner (1824), actress Khandi Alexander (1957), actor Damon Wayans (1960), baseball Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (1968), and singer-songwriter Beyoncé (1981).
On this day in history…
In 1666, the worst day out of the four days of the Great London Fire took place. Among the buildings destroyed by the fire’s sweep on this day was St. Paul’s Cathedral. The old cathedral was replaced within a few decades by a new one on the same site.
In 1886, Geronimo, leader of the Apache tribe, surrendered to US military forces. He had been fighting for nearly three decades.
In 1972, the first episode of The Price is Right aired on CBS. Still running today, this is the longest-airing game show on American television.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 4. Have a safe Thursday.
