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BOSTON – Those moments during the season when it felt like the Orioles were scrambling to fill out their roster have disappeared like one of Samuel Basallo’s home run balls in the minors.
The crab cake analogy fits again – less filler makes for a better product.
Manager Tony Mansolino has a plan, devised by the group, and it’s going to get Basallo, Dylan Beavers and Coby Mayo in the lineup on most nights. Mayo and Adley Rutschman sat last night because Basallo needed to catch and Ryan Mountcastle needed to get some reps at first base. Players can rotate into the designated hitter role, with Jeremiah Jackson taking his turn against the Red Sox.
“It’s exciting,” Mansolino said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
Much better than those constant headaches.
BOSTON – One day after the Orioles scored a dozen runs in a shutout in Houston and celebrated the infusion of young prospect talent and energy on the roster, Jordan Westburg limped off the field and reminded everyone that the 2025 season is a cruel mistress.
Take the good, and there’s much more of it lately, but prepare to get hurt again. It’s a package deal.
Westburg came out of the game with right ankle discomfort, but the Orioles didn’t let it spoil their evening. Trevor Rogers produced another gem with one run in seven innings and the Orioles prevailed 6-3 over the Red Sox at Fenway Park for their fifth win in six games.
Rogers lowered his ERA to 1.41 and WHIP to 0.80 with his 10th quality start in 12 appearances. Gunnar Henderson hit his 15th home run in the third inning to create a three-way tie with Westburg and Jackson Holliday for the team lead, and he added a run-scoring triple in the seventh. Samuel Basallo collected his first major league extra-base hit and added a two-run single in the ninth. Dylan Beavers had his first RBI and reached base four times.
Ryan Mountcastle returned to first base, singled three times and flied to the center field wall at 404 feet and 107.2 mph.
BOSTON – Orioles outfielder Tyler O’Neill started baseball activities today at Fenway Park as he works toward a return from a right wrist injury.
O’Neill went on the injured list retroactive to Aug. 6 due to the inflammation.
“Threw the baseball for the first time today,” he said while standing at his locker in the visiting clubhouse. “So now it’s buildup and baseball progression, and hopefully it goes quick.”
Rosters expand on Sept. 1, but O’Neill might be able to return later this month.
“I haven’t had a specific date set in mind,” he said. “I could see that being reasonable. Hopefully, things progress quickly and I’m back before that, but you never know during the buildup. It might be a little longer. But what I know right now is I’m feeling good, I’m pretty much pain-free. It’s just getting back to baseball shape now.”
BOSTON – The Orioles have won four of their last five games and are sending out another lineup tonight ripe with top prospects.
Samuel Basallo is catching his first major league game, with Adley Rutschman on the bench. Dylan Beavers is in right field.
Coby Mayo also is on the bench. Ryan Mountcastle gets the start at first base. Jeremiah Jackson is the designated hitter.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers has a 1.43 ERA and 0.808 WHIP in 11 starts. And it all began with his start at Fenway Park in Game 2 of a May 24 doubleheader, when he allowed two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
Hoyt Wilhelm (1.25 in 1959) is the only Orioles pitcher with a lower ERA in the first 11 starts in a season. Jim Palmer is third at 1.68 in 1975.
Anyone else want to play the outfield?
The Orioles aren’t holding tryouts but there’s a little experimenting with Jeremiah Jackson, who started in right again yesterday. Dylan Beavers will get plenty of starts in the corners – right Saturday and left yesterday. Interim manager Tony Mansolino said the organization’s No. 3 prospect isn’t here to sit.
Colton Cowser moves back to center field after being planted in left prior to his concussion. Greg Allen, Jordyn Adams, Daniel Johnson and Ryan Noda are gone. Tyler O’Neill is coming back, perhaps in early September.
(Adams had a triple and home run Friday night with Triple-A Norfolk and was ejected by the plate umpire after striking out. But we digress …)
Noda was listed as an infielder on the active roster, but he made three of his five career starts in right field with the Orioles.
The infusion of top prospects in the Orioles’ roster is reflected in today’s lineup for the series finale in Houston.
Samuel Basallo is making his debut at designated hitter. He’s batting sixth.
Basallo is the 62nd player to appear in a game, tying the franchise record set in 2021.
Dylan Beavers is in left field after collecting his first major league hit last night.
Colton Cowser returned from the concussion injured list this morning and he’s in center field, one spot ahead of Basallo.
One day after the Orioles selected outfielder Dylan Beavers’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk, introducing one of the organization’s top prospects to the majors, they did the same with catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo.
The top guy is here.
Basallo wasn’t in Norfolk’s lineup last night and he joined the team in Houston for this afternoon’s series finale. MLB Pipeline ranked Basallo eighth in its Top 100 and Baseball America has him seventh.
Basallo, who just turned 21, is batting .270/.377/.589 with 17 doubles, 23 home runs and 67 RBIs in 76 games. The contact is loud and violent. He sends baseballs sailing over scoreboards and stands.
“He’s grown a lot this year,” Norfolk manager Tim Federowicz said yesterday. “Obviously, he has a ton of power. He’s hitting the ball hard. Not sure on the timetable on that (promotion), but I’m sure it’s gonna happen at some point.”
Tim Federowicz is more than halfway through his first season replacing Buck Britton as manager of the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. He inherited a team and a specific responsibility.
Telling a player that he’s going to the majors.
And Friday night, informing one of the top prospects in the organization that he’s flying to Houston to join the Orioles. That it’s finally happening.
“Um, real quick,” Federowicz said in the visiting clubhouse at VyStar Ballpark in Jacksonville. “Got a lot of questions about this the last couple weeks, so I’m just gonna answer in front of everybody. Dylan Beavers, you’re going to The Show.”
The Orioles posted the video on social media, which showed Beavers stand up, tip his cap, walk through the celebratory gantlet of back slaps and embrace Federowicz.
Dylan Beavers is making his major league debut tonight, starting in right field and batting sixth in Houston. He’s the 61st player used by the Orioles this season, one short of the franchise record set in 2021.
Daniel Johnson is in center field and Dylan Carlson is in left.
Coby Mayo stays at first base, with Ryan Mountcastle serving as designated hitter. Get used to it.
One night after rookie Brandon Young tossed a perfect game for 7 2/3 innings, the Orioles are using Rico Garcia as an opener.
What a weird season.
One wait is over.
The Orioles are selecting outfielder Dylan Beavers’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk, one day after the date to retain his rookie eligibility for 2026.
Outfielder Greg Allen was designated for assignment to create room. Beavers will wear No. 12 and he could be in tonight’s lineup against Astros right-hander Jason Alexander.
Beavers could have bloodied his knuckles from the hard knocks on the major league door.
The 33rd-overall draft pick in 2022 is batting .304/.420/.515 with 14 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 51 RBIs, 68 walks, 74 strikeouts and 23 stolen bases in 94 games in his fourth professional season. He was the designated hitter last night in Jacksonville.
No pitcher in the history of the Baltimore Orioles has thrown a perfect game.
No one could have anticipated that a rookie carrying a 6.70 ERA in his first 10 major league starts would get within four outs.
Brandon Young is a big fan of classic rock. His outing last was an instant classic, and boy, did he rock. He retired 23 batters in a row before former Oriole Ramón Urías reached on an infield single in the eighth inning in the Orioles’ 7-0 victory over the Astros at Daikin Park.
Urías sent a chopper to the left side and Young made a barehand grab. He threw off his back foot and the ball sailed past first baseman Coby Mayo for a hit and error.
Young probably had time to plant and throw but understandably was in a rush.
The Orioles have been held to four hits or fewer 22 times this season, tied with the Pirates for second most in the majors behind the Rangers’ 25. They’ve scored five runs or fewer in 12 straight games since Aug. 1. But they won the last two against the Mariners, including their first walk-off, to complete the homestand.
They’re back on the road tonight to begin a three-game series in Houston, with no roster moves announced.
Coby Mayo stays at first base. Daniel Johnson is the center fielder and Jeremiah Jackson is in right.
Gunnar Henderson has an extra-base hit in a career-best five consecutive games. He’s batting .310/.384/.500 (70-for-226) with 18 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 36 RBIs and 37 runs scored in 64 games since June 1.
Henderson leads the majors with a .511 average (23-for-45) with runners in scoring position since June 1.
The first phone call came around 2 p.m. The Tigers informed pitcher Dietrich Enns that he was designated for assignment. The left-hander had lost his major league job.
The second call arrived about 3 ½ hours later with the deadline approaching. The Orioles had traded for Enns, consummating the deal under the wire. He was losing significant ground in the standings, going from first place to last, but he avoided a demotion to the minors.
“I probably took just a couple hours to process all of that stuff, I’m guessing,” he said yesterday morning. “I wasn’t sure if I was gonna stick around with Detroit or not, but it was a blessing to be able to get traded over here and have an opportunity here.”
That was merely the first part. Enns had to take advantage of it.
The first outing was rough, with Enns allowing a run and five hits in 1 2/3 innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He was scoreless in his next three appearances covering 3 2/3 innings, with two hits, no walks and nine strikeouts.
Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t allow a run today while he was on the mound and the Orioles kept manufacturing them.
They were able to control everything except the weather.
Sugano shut out the Mariners over 5 1/3 innings before a series of storms forced a stoppage that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes in the Orioles’ 5-3 victory before an announced crowd of 14,083 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are 55-66 overall and 7-14 in rubber games. They went 5-1 against the Mariners and are 13-5 since the beginning of 2023.
The 5-0 lead in the fifth inning represented the most runs scored since Aug. 6 in Philadelphia. They came on a wild pitch, double steal, single, double and sacrifice fly.
The Orioles will dip into their past for a celebration next month at Camden Yards.
They have to go back 30 years.
Another anniversary is almost upon us of the night that Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games streak. He reached 2,131 in a row on Sept. 6, 1995, and the Orioles are marking the occasion with a full slate of events before hosting the Dodgers at 7:05 p.m.
Ripken will be in attendance, but not in his usual seat in the first row behind home plate.
The club announced a list of confirmed attendees that includes Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Harold Baines and Mike Mussina, Orioles Hall of Famers Brady Anderson, Al Bumbry and B.J. Surhoff, and former teammates Ben McDonald, Rafael Palmeiro and Larry Sheets.
The Orioles complete their latest homestand this afternoon against the Mariners and fly to Houston for a three-game series, followed by two in Boston.
The roster will change again before they make it back home. Count on it.
My mailbag also changes with each massive dump. And this is probably a good place to stop, but let’s keep going.
You ask, I try to answer, and we have the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original that currently airs on Netflix. Or is it Amazon Prime? Anyway, it’s out there, just like so many of you.
Questions aren’t edited for clarity, style, length, brevity or bravado. And I wouldn’t tell you anyway, because, again, who cares?
With each passing start, Trevor Rogers offers further confirmation that what he’s doing isn’t a fluke. He isn’t going to fall apart at the baseball seams. This is how he pitches.
He can't control the bullpen, which stumbled again, but he can put his trust in a young hitter to make the mishap irrelevant.
Rogers completed seven innings again tonight and allowed only one run, and Jackson Holliday doubled with two outs in the ninth to score Dylan Carlson and give the Orioles their first walk-off win, 4-3, over the Mariners before an announced crowd of 17,290 at Camden Yards.
Carlson, who had two hits after ending an 0-for-35 slump last night, singled off Matt Brash with two outs and raced home on Holliday's first career walk-off. The Orioles were the last team in the majors to get one, and it came from Holliday, who was 5-for-41 this month before pulling a slider down the right field line.
"I knew he had a really good slider," said Holliday, who almost had his jersey torn off by teammates during the celebration. "Honestly, just trying to hit another line drive, hit a barrel. But I was kind of looking for that pitch and just trying to get it in a good spot to do something with and was able to do that.
Zach Eflin will undergo lower back surgery on Monday, which should lead to a four-to-eight month recovery period.
"I think it really all depends on how the post-op stuff goes, how everything responds and how my body's moving post-surgery," he said today. "I don't expect not to be ready for spring training. From what I've heard from the surgeon, after 12 weeks I'm able to have a normal offseason, so I'm pretty optimistic it's not gonna be a long thing."
Eflin said he’s experienced back pain randomly for the past five or six years and is looking forward to the lumbar microdiscectomy, which relieves pressure on a spinal nerve caused by a herniated disc.
“It’s just gotten progressively worse,” he said. “A couple months ago an MRI was a little worse than it was previously and just seems like the disc is in a place where it’s kind of pushing against my nerve and it’s just not going away. Tried an epidural, didn’t really work, so I think the next step is just to get it taken care of, and hopefully be ready for spring training.”
Eflin said “all signs” point to the surgery bringing a permanent resolution.
The Orioles gave up on wondering what else could go wrong a long time ago.
Their luck wasn’t going to change for the better. A horseshoe would come from the thoroughbred that trampled them.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson, starter Grayson Rodriguez and reliever Andrew Kittredge didn’t break camp with the team, and that should have provided a hint. The 2025 season was going to destroy everything in its path. It was going to break them.
Only nine players are on the active roster from the 26 who made the club on Opening Day. Seven are on the injured list, including utility player Jorge Mateo, who was questionable throughout camp after undergoing left elbow reconstructive surgery.
Remember when his status in Sarasota was worthy of daily updates?
Dean Kremer went with the high-socks look tonight, though he already stood out as one of the Orioles who’s stayed away from the injured list. Tonight marked his 24th appearance and 23rd start, the most of anyone in the rotation.
Durability is becoming a source of pride for Kremer.
He’ll also take the wins if they come to him, but it's much harder when your team doesn't score.
Kremer surrendered a run in the first inning and nothing else through the eighth in a 1-0 loss to the Mariners before an announced crowd of 19,356 at Camden Yards.
The eight innings were a season high for Kremer, who allowed five hits, threw 101 pitches and lowered his ERA to 4.17. He’s completed the seventh in seven of his starts.
