The constant glimpses into the future, where many of the Orioles maintain their gaze for as long as the days allow, isn't just for the 2022 season and beyond. It isn't just about where the finish line to the rebuild might be placed.
There's the task of figuring out which players to call up in September and in what increments with rosters expanding only to 28.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias tackled that subject yesterday while sitting in the dugout during batting...
Opportunities are rolled out like carpets, with the Orioles trying to keep teams from walking all over them.
Keegan Akin is in the rotation with Bruce Zimmermann perhaps done for the season and he's getting more starts beyond tonight. What he does with them could strengthen his case for the 2022 season.
The Orioles are just looking to win some games in 2021.
Akin surrendered a pair of home runs within the first three innings and worked into the sixth, allowing manager Brandon Hyde to stay away...
Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias spent about 25 minutes in the home dugout this afternoon for his latest media session. The 15-game losing streak, second-longest in club history, the path of the rebuild and the organization's prospects were among the many topics.
Elias said he senses the pressure that manager Brandon Hyde is feeling beyond winning games and offers encouragement in their discussions. That Hyde is the right man for the job and it's going to work out....
Anthony Santander remains out of the Orioles lineup tonight with a sore ankle.
Jorge Mateo has moved to right field for the series opener against the Braves.
Trey Mancini is the designated hitter and Ryan Mountcastle is playing first base. Austin Hays is in left field and batting cleanup.
Maikel Franco drops to ninth in the order.
Executive vice president Mike Elias said outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, has resumed workouts in Sarasota and is getting closer...
The Orioles made their latest bullpen move this afternoon, claiming right-hander Chris Ellis off waivers from the Rays and designating César Valdez for assignment.
Left-hander Ryan Hartman cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.
Ellis, 28, made his second major league appearance Tuesday night against the Orioles and earned the win with four scoreless innings in relief. He allowed three hits, walked one, struck out seven and was designated for assignment to create room for...
Moving below the Diamondbacks for the worst record in the majors has put the Orioles in front of everyone else for the No. 1 pick in the 2022 amateur draft.
There must be a reward for enduring such agony.
Baseball America's early mock draft, published last month, has IMG Academy outfielder Elijah Green as the top choice. It noted his "special combination of elite physicality, electric tools and an impressive underclass track record of hitting."
Former Orioles bench coach John Russell, a...
Jorge López walked to the mound today in the bottom of the second inning, still trying to process what happened in the first. Or perhaps wishing he could forget about it and treat his return as a fresh start. Something his teammates desperately need right now.
What came next, most unfortunate for the Orioles, represented what's happening to them this month.
There are no fresh starts or quality ones. Just more of the same, with the occasional sprinkling of intrigue.
And for López, an...
Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander have returned to the Orioles lineup this afternoon.
Mancini is the designated hitter and batting second. Santander, who pinch-hit last night, is the right fielder and batting sixth.
A loss today would push the Orioles to a season-high 15-game streak, the second-longest in franchise history behind the 21 in a row that opened 1988. It also will guarantee a fifth consecutive season below .500.
They aren't likely to run the table.
Their 38 wins are two fewer than...
Hunter Harvey moved closer to his reinstatement from the 10-day injured list by working the sixth inning last night with Triple-A Norfolk. The one run allowed won't matter as long as felt good afterward and this morning.
The Charlotte Knights loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive soft singles, beginning with former Orioles farmhand YermÃn Mercedes. Harvey induced three ground balls, getting a force at home on the first. A 4-3 putout plated the run.
Harvey threw 20 pitches, 13...
The Orioles bolted to an early lead tonight and lost their offensive touch. Their starter ran up a high pitch count that threatened his removal by the middle innings.
Manager Brandon Hyde tries to find new methods to pull the Orioles out of their old ways, whether it's with his personnel or how he gets them to the ballpark. Tonight's lineup underwent drastic changes based more on health than a hunch.
What's it going to take to form a congratulatory line after the final out rather than...
Is this going to be the night?
The Orioles' losing streak has reached 13 games, one short of their season high that closed out May. Rookie Spenser Watkins will try to be the stopper while making his third appearance against the Rays.
Watkins held them to one run in six innings and struck out seven batters on July 19 at Tropicana Field and allowed four earned runs (five total) and eight hits in six innings on Aug. 7 in Baltimore.
Yandy DÃaz and Nelson Cruz homered off Watkins in the rematch....
The Orioles already can plan ahead to 2022 spring training, with their first exhibition game played on Saturday, Feb. 26 against the Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. Fla. They travel to Port Charlotte the following day to face the Rays.
Pitchers and catchers are set to report to the complex on Feb. 15, with the full squad due five days later.
This is the Orioles' 13th spring training in Sarasota after moving out of Fort Lauderdale. More than one million fans have attended games at Ed...
Only the pitch count was threatening John Means tonight. At least for a while.
Means carried a two-hit shutout into the fourth inning at Tropicana Field, but he already threw 66 pitches - 12 to strike out Kevin Kiermaier in the third.
A bigger issue arose when Jorge Mateo's error led to three unearned runs, the last two coming on Mike Zunino's homer. Means was at 80 pitches heading into the fifth, Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer and the Orioles' losing streak reached 13 games with the Rays...
As the oddities of the 2021 season stack up like bar Jenga, though they never crash to the floor, I have to admit that I didn't anticipate how running out of first basemen would be one of the pieces.
I must have blocked it out.
The Orioles were criticized for having too many corner outfield/first base types. OK, perhaps. I've probably said it a few times. But Ryan Mountcastle goes on the concussion injured list, Trey Mancini suddenly is starting every night at first after settling in as the...
Trey Mancini is out of the Orioles lineup after fouling a ball off his left calf and left foot last night and leaving the game following his run-scoring double. Ryan Mountcastle is starting at first base after his reinstatement from the concussion injured list.
Mountcastle has an RBI in seven consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors and the second-longest of his career behind an eight-game stretch from May 31-June 9. He leads the Orioles with 15 RBIs since the All-Star break...
The Orioles will have a healthy first baseman on their roster for tonight's game against the Rays.
With Trey Mancini hobbling and Ryan Mountcastle moving past concussion protocol, the rookie has been reinstated from the injured list and likely will be in the lineup as the Orioles attempt to end a 12-game losing streak.
Outfielder Ryan McKenna was optioned again to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for Mountcastle, who left an Aug. 6 game against the Rays at Camden Yards after absorbing a hard tag...
Taking a lead has come easily to the Orioles over the past few games. It's holding the lead that's proven to be too difficult.
The offense goes cold again, a price is paid for pitches that miss their marks and a losing streak refuses to die.
Matt Harvey cruised into the fourth inning and by the fifth had allowed more than three runs for the only time since the All-Star break.
Kevin Kiermaier and Brandon Lowe homered off Harvey, who didn't complete the fifth. Brett Phillips had an...
On the same day that Baseball America upgraded the Orioles farm system to No. 2 behind the Mariners, their highest ranking since the publication began keeping count 37 years ago, the club announced a boatload of minor league promotions headed by 2021 first-round draft pick Colton Cowser moving up from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to low Single-A Delmarva.
Infielder Jordan Westburg advanced from high Single-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie, leaving behind infielder Gunnar Henderson.
They...
The Orioles begin a four-game series against the Rays tonight at Tropicana Field with Jorge Mateo at second base, Richie Martin at shortstop and Ramón UrÃas at third.
Mateo has hit safely in eight of his nine games since joining the Orioles, going 10-for-35 (.286).
Austin Wynns is catching.
Anthony Santander, who's the designated hitter, has registered a .378 average (17-for-45) in 12 games this month. He has a .318 average (21-for-66) with six walks in 18 games since the break.
DJ...
Rylan Bannon has been hearing the same message from his hitting coach upon returning to the dugout after launching another home run for Triple-A Norfolk.
"This is who you are."
This isn't how Bannon played earlier in the season, but the turnaround has picked up speed like a tornado.
Bannon came to the plate yesterday with the bases loaded in Game 1 of a doubleheader against Memphis and cleared them with a double. He had two hits and was 7-for-11 with five home runs and nine RBIs in his last...