Good morning Birdland,
This whole Trevor Rogers thing is insane. After six more shutout innings on Friday night, Rogers now has a 1.35 ERA over 106.2 innings this year. The lefty is not going to log enough innings to win the Cy Young, but he probably will/should get some down ballot consideration. He has been that good!
Andrea relayed the context of Rogers’ dominance from the MASN broadcast in last night’s recap. The only pitcher in MLB history to make at least 16 starts and have a better ERA than
Rogers is Bob Gibson in 1968. Gibson had a 1.12 ERA that year, which contributed (in part) to MLB deciding to lower the mound from 15 inches to the current 10 inches. So I suppose you could say that Rogers has had the most dominant season ever for a pitcher standing on a 10-inch mound.
Of course, the fact that Rogers has only put together a little more than half of a season dings the historical significance of his performance quite a bit. But it is reasonable to say that he has been the league’s top pitcher since mid June. Better than Paul Skenes. Better than Tarik Skubal. Better than Garrett Crochet. It’s Rogers!
Some of the lefty’s peripheral stats are not quite as good as his topline numbers. His xERA is 3.08. His FIP is 2.43. His exit velocities are slightly below average. So at some point he is going to regress.
But this is not a case of smoke and mirrors. Even if he falls back to the performance he “deserves,” he will remain one of the better arms in the league, a frontline starter on any team. Combine that with a healthy Kyle Bradish, (hopefully) an offseason addition of some significance, and whatever Grayson Rodriguez can provide, and these Orioles are going to be in a good spot going into 2026.
Given how bad the Orioles starters have tended to be since, like, the 1990s, that feels unnatural and unlikely. But maybe?
Links
Rogers provides reason to track Cy Young voting | Roch Kubatko
Roch gets into more of the Cy Young discussion and comes to a similar conclusion as above. Inning volume should be a factor in these awards, and it’s why Rogers should not win it. But he has been so good, that he does deserve to finish, like, fifth in the AL.
Jon Meoli: Is David Rubenstein ready to play ball this offseason? | The Baltimore Banner
This is a fair question to ask. At some point, the Orioles need to take more risks. That means handing out some contracts that might be an overpay or might make the accounting department feel a bit queasy. A deep playoff run, the buzz around town, and the ticket sales would make it feel a lot better though.
Orioles Designate Scott Blewett For Assignment | MLB Trade Rumors
Back in April, Blewett threw 4.1 shutout innings for the Orioles. That didn’t stop him from being DFA’d at the time. The team re-added him in June. Then he had a 7.58 ERA over 19 innings through mid July, when an elbow injury sidelined him. Welp, his rehab from tat injury is done, and the team decided they are going a different direction again. Tough business being a fringy relief arm.
Orioles add another reliever, Jose Espada | Baltimore Baseball
When Espada gets into a game, he will be the 70th player used by the Orioles this season. That will tie an MLB record. The use of so many players is not typically a sign of a particularly good team, and it’s gonna make the Sporcle about this Orioles roster particularly annoying. But it’s also kinda fun to remember some guys that played for this team. You remember Vidal Bruján?
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Steve Lombardozzi turns 37 today. The Maryland native played 20 games on the Orioles infield during the 2014 season.
- Dave Gallagher is 65 years. The journeyman outfielder made his way into 23 games for the O’s in 1990.
- The late Roric Harrison (b. 1945, d. 2023) was born on this day. He had a really solid rookie season with the Orioles in 1972 and was then traded to the Braves in the offseason.
This day in O’s history
1958 – Hoyt Wilhelm no-hits the Yankees and Gus Triandos smacks a home run in a 1-0 win for the Orioles.
1998 – For the first time in 2,632 games, Cal Ripken Jr. is not in the Orioles lineup. The future Hall of Famer takes himself out of the game, deciding the time was right.
2002 – Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick sets an MLB record with his 102nd straight errorless game at the position.
