Anthony Santander is having quite the season for a player about to enter free agency. He is a pretty invaluable player for the Orioles – productive on the field while being a leader in the clubhouse.

He is one heckuva Rule 5 draft pick. The O’s selected him from the Cleveland organization in the December 2016 Rule 5 draft.

Heading into Saturday’s game at Cleveland, over 106 games he was batting .246/.311/.534/.846 with 17 doubles, two triples, 32 homers and 75 RBIs.

He's on pace to finish with 47 homers and 109 RBIs. Chris Davis and Brady Anderson are the only Orioles ever to hit 50 homers. Tony taters has an outside shot.

We thought his June was great right, where he hit 13 homers. That month he batted .264 with a .960 OPS. But in July, he batted .303 with a .987 OPS and nine home runs.

From June 24-26, the Orioles lost two of three at home versus the Cleveland Guardians. This series at Cleveland has started with the O's losing the first two games of this series by 10-3 and 8-4 scores.

The Baltimore pitchers have allowed 18 runs and 11 walks at Progressive Field and the starters - Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer - have allowed nine runs and 12 hits over a combined 9 1/3 innings.

Cleveland, which holds the best record in the majors and best home record in the majors, leads the American League Central by six games over Kansas City and 6 1/2 games over Minnesota.

At 67-42 (.615), Cleveland is the only team in the major leagues with a current win percentage of .600 or better. The Guardians have won five in a row and eight of their past 10 games. They are 9-5 since the All-Star Game and 35-15 at home.

The Orioles (65-46, .586) began today tied for the third-best record in the majors, behind only Cleveland and the Philadelphia Phillies (65-44, .596).

As the Orioles added several players in deals at the trade deadline – including two starting pitchers and two for their bullpen – some promising prospects left the organization.

No doubt for coaches, managers, trainers and all staff on the O’s farm and in their player development system, some players they liked and worked hard to help improve, walked out that door. Relationships were developed and now continue, but the players are no longer with the Orioles.

The O’s traded Connor Norby, Kyle Stowers, Seth Johnson, Moisés Chace, Jackson Baumeister, Matthew Etzel and Mac Horvath, among others, during this process.

On a conference call to announce they had signed top draft pick Vance Honeycutt on Thursday, vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood was asked if some of the top draft picks the Orioles added this year somewhat offset losing some of the prospects they traded.

“I don’t think they’re related," Blood replied. "We’re just very excited to have been able to select Vance. He’s a player that we’ve liked for a long time. He’s a player that we know is a fantastic person and has a chance to make a big impact at the big league level.”

The Cleveland Guardians, the American League Central leaders who hold the best record in the AL, have been tough to beat for the Orioles. Both this year and in recent seasons.

Cleveland hit three homers accounting for eight runs last night as they beat Baltimore 10-3 to take the opener of this four-game series. David Fry and Bo Naylor hit three-run homers and José Ramírez added a two-run shot.

The Guardians are 3-1 this year versus the Orioles and have won seven of the past 11 games between the teams. In their last 45 games, Cleveland is 30-15 against Baltimore.

The Guardians are 66-42 and are 34-15 at home. They have won four in a row and seven of their past nine games. 

The Orioles are 4-2 in the last six games, scoring 42 runs. But over their past 12 games, they are 5-7. And since June 21, they are 16-20.

When the Orioles beat Toronto 10-4 on Wednesday and Jackson Holliday hit a grand slam, the high of that win got deflated postgame by the news that Jordan Westburg had fractured his right hand and would miss significant time.

When they got hammered 10-3 by Cleveland last night as lefty Trevor Rogers gave up five runs in his O’s debut, the gloom and doom of that loss was lifted by the news that Coby Mayo is joining the Orioles today in Cleveland.

The news was first reported here on MASNSports.com last night.

Mayo is ranked as baseball’s No. 12 prospect in the top 100 by Baseball America and No. 15 via MLBPipeline.com.

It seemed that when Westburg got hurt, that Mayo might replace him at third base. But Livan Soto was called up yesterday. However now, just like that, the team is turning to Mayo.

After a homestand during which they went 4-3, added seven players to their 26-man roster via trades, added two starting pitchers, recalled Jackson Holliday and lost Jordan Westburg to a fractured right hand, the O's hit the road tonight.

They begin a four-game series at Cleveland to start a 10-game trip that also includes stops in Toronto and at Tampa Bay. 

The Orioles went 3-1 in the Toronto series and they are 4-1 in the last five games, scoring 39 runs with a team OPS of .977 in that span. Over the last eight games, in which they went 5-3, the Orioles have scored 54 runs, batting .295 as a club with an .896 OPS. They are scoring 6.8 runs per game in this span.

Baltimore scored at least one run in the first inning in every game of its four-game series against Toronto. Since the All-Star break, the Orioles own the best first-inning run differential in the majors, outscoring opponents, 14-1.

The Orioles (65-44, .596) and Cleveland (65-42, .607) hold the top two records in the American League. The O's begin play tonight leading the AL East by just a half-game over the New York Yankees and by seven games over Boston. Cleveland leads the AL Central by six games each over Minnesota and Kansas City. Cleveland holds the best record in the bigs right now, with Philadelphia (65-43, .602) second.

The Orioles this morning announced that they have signed their top draft pick, University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, taken No. 22 overall in round one. Today is the final day for clubs to sign 2024 MLB Draft selections.

According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Honeycutt signed a $4 million dollar bonus. The listed slot amount for the No. 22 pick was $3,802,200.

Orioles vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood, said the club has signed 20 of 21 drafted players.

The lone unsigned selection is 17^th rounder, Cowley County (Kan.) Community College lefty pitcher Iziah Salinas.

“We have one more to go,” said Blood on a team Zoom call, with the deadline to sign picks at 5 p.m. ET today. “Our goal is to sign as many players as we can. We’ll see what happens here.”

It’s been said that “baseball is a game of inches.” Sometimes it’s less than that.

To hear Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser tell it, a ½ inch is making a difference for him. He cites two things that have helped turn his bat around. He is raking now with a 13-game hitting streak since the All-Star game.

A nice mental reset at the break helped and so too has using a bigger bat, one a bit heavier and one that is 34 inches. A bit longer than the 33 ½ inch model he previously used.

Going into the All-Star break, Cowser was 4-for-31 (.129) with 12 strikeouts his last 10 games.

Coming out of the break he's been on a roll and his hitting streak was extended Wednesday afternoon with a homer and single. Over the 13 games he is batting 19-for-50 which is .380/.429/.660/1.089 with two doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs.

For the Orioles, the high they felt of winning 10-4 today at Camden Yards as Jackson Holliday hit a grand slam to lead the O's past the Blue Jays lasted briefly. The attention immediately turned to Jordan Westburg, who was hit in the hand with a fastball.

A team that has lost pitchers Tyler Wells, John Means and Kyle Bradish for the year and hopes to get Danny Coulombe back late in the year, and recently saw Jorge Mateo also get hurt, lost infielder Westburg. He will miss significant time after getting hit in the right-hand today by a 95 mph fastball in the fifth inning from righty reliever Yerry Rodríguez. He fractured his right hand.

Westburg, who has made starts at second and third, has batted .269 with 25 doubles, five triples, 18 homers, 58 RBIs and a .815 OPS in 101 games.

“All-Star player,” said manager Brandon Hyde, who hopes Westburg can make it back before the end of the regular season. “So, injuries are a part of the game. We have to pick up the pieces for him. We’ve got to play well. He is a huge part of our lineup, our culture, really everything. He’s right in the middle of everything and so we have to have other guys kind of step up in his place and fill the void.”

During the same series when catcher James McCann was hit in the face by a pitch Monday suffering multiple nasal fractures, now the O’s lose Westburg.

On the first full day after the trade deadline, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias expressed optimism that his roster was “fortified,” his pitching staff improved and that his team has “as good a shot as anybody.”

This morning the O’s began the process of retooling their roster after the flurry of deadline trades for the stretch run and trying to turn a recent small stretch of winning into a larger one.

With three wins in their past four games scoring 29 runs, the O’s took the field amid the Baltimore sunshine today looking for yet another American League East series win.

Ryan Mountcastle’s two-run triple to right in the last of the first got the Orioles off to a good start. They built an early 3-0 lead.

The deadline deals opened the door for Jackson Holliday’s return to this team. He electrified the crowd today when his first major league homer was a grand slam in the last of the fifth. It opened an 8-3 lead and led to a Holliday curtain call. The crowd was on its feet and roaring for Holliday, who went 2-for-34 with the Orioles in 10 April games.

The Orioles, still a work in progress with their roster after the trade deadline, take the field today with Jackson Holliday back in the lineup as they host Toronto to wrap up the four-game series.

The Orioles (64-44) lead the American League East by 1/2 game over the Yankees and by seven games over the Red Sox after last night's 6-2 win. They have taken two of three in this series, are 22-10 in division games and have scored 29 runs in winning three of the past four games.

The Orioles, now 7-6 the last 13 games, are hoping they are in the beginning stages of an extended stretch of winning as the playoff push is on now post-trade deadline.

The Orioles are 11-13 this month, so they are about to have a losing month for the first time since September of 2022. The nine consecutive winning months were the longest active streak in the majors. 

Today's roster moves included the recall of Holliday from Triple-A. In other moves, lefty Gregory Soto was activated after being acquired yesterday. In corresponding moves, catcher Blake Hunt, who was added to the active roster right before the game last night, and infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra, who had his contract selected from the Tides yesterday, were optioned to Norfolk (Hunt stayed in Baltimore on the taxi squad).

Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday is back with the team today and about to play in a big league game for the first time since April 23. He said he feels more prepared this time around and his arm is fully ready after a bout with right elbow inflammation.

The 20-year-old Holliday went 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts in 10 games in his first time in the bigs.

“Just going to enjoy it,” Holliday said this morning in the Baltimore clubhouse which gets an influx of new talent after the trade deadline. “Enjoy being here and being present. Feel like last time it was all a blur. Just glad to be up here and enjoy every moment with these guys and have fun.

“It was obviously sad to go back down. But got to go down there and make some adjustments and improve a little bit and set myself up for the second time around. Glad to be here.”

Holliday indicated the adjustments he made were minor. He told me he has not eliminated his high leg kick, which some questioned whether that would impact his ability to hit premium velocity. That part didn’t change.

In the end Garrett Crochet was not traded to the Orioles or anybody. Neither were Tarik Skubal or Blake Snell.

The O’s added four pitchers – two starters and two relievers – one each throwing left and right. But they didn't get any of the big three.

There were no blockbuster deals and no elite prospects were moved. The highest-rated prospect they traded was infielder Connor Norby, ranked No. 5 by MLBPipeline.com.

The O’s rotation, in some order, now likely consists of Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer and lefty Trevor Rogers.

The O’s added Rogers yesterday for Norby and Kyle Stowers who went to Miami where reportedly Stowers will get a lot of playing time and Norby went back to the farm to work on playing third base.

The Orioles and Blue Jays play the third game of their four-game series tonight after splitting a doubleheader Monday. The Orioles won the opener 11-5 and lost the nightcap 8-4.

The Orioles (63-44) lead the American League East, but now just by a half-game over the Yankees, who have won their past three games. The Orioles have not been in second place since June 26. They would be tonight with a loss and another Yankees win.

While the Orioles are 3-3 their past six games, in longer stretches they have lost six of their past nine, 12 of 19 and 13 of the last 21 games.

Since June 21 when they began a series where they would be swept in Houston, the Orioles are 14-19 with a -42 run differential. In those 33 games, they have a team ERA of 5.37 allowing a team batting average to opponents of .270 with an .800 OPS in that span. Opponents are scoring 4.5 runs per game with 48 home runs in this stretch.

After the doubleheader, the O’s have now allowed five or more runs in eight straight games, seven times allowing six or more. In the eight games, they have allowed 91 hits with a 5.45 team ERA.

Orioles rookie Heston Kjerstad was a part of the Triple-A Norfolk team last year that ended up winning the Triple-A championship. He was with the Orioles when the Tides won that title in late September, but the lineup that night for the Tides included infielder Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers, who were traded today to the Marlins for lefty pitcher Trevor Rogers.

That lineup also included Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo and Joey Ortiz.

It's easy to see how that team won a title.

Today Kjerstad is still an Oriole, but the other two are not.

“Norby and Stowers have been awesome. Not only great friends to me but great baseball players,” Kjerstad said this afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse. “They’re going to go on and have great big league careers. They’ve been fun to watch play.

Right-hander Zach Eflin started for the Orioles in Game 1 yesterday. He threw well and got the win against Toronto in his O's debut. He also did something unusual for him. He fanned seven batters to tie a season-high and had six strikeouts after just four innings.

Thirteen times this year in his 20 starts, Eflin fanned five or fewer. He's mostly a control artist and a pitch-to-contact guy.

He is much more of that style pitcher then one with a premium fastball and a big strikeout rate.

Eflin can be a strikeout pitcher. And last year when his ERA was 3.50 and he finished sixth for the AL Cy Young award, he averaged 9.4 strikeouts per every nine innings. But the year before, in 2022, he averaged 7.7 K/9 and this year his average is 7.1 K/9.

There was a day in this game when 7.1 strikeouts per 9 was a lot. For instance, Jim Palmer for his career averaged 5.0 strikeouts per nine and yet won three Cy Young Awards. Today 7.1 per nine is below average.

A straight doubleheader is coming up today at Oriole Park as the Orioles (62-43) host Toronto (49-56) to begin a four-game series.

The Orioles beat San Diego 8-6 on Sunday to avoid being swept three in a row as they snapped San Diego's seven-game win streak.

Even with that win the Orioles are 1-4 their past five series. They have lost five of seven, 10 of 15 and 12 of their past 19 games. They improved to 13-18 the last 31 games.

The Orioles had lost eight of their past nine home games until taking the win on Sunday.

Orioles pitchers have allowed six or more runs for six consecutive games, allowing six, six, six, six, nine and six runs. That is the longest such streak since eight straight games allowing six or more runs from Aug. 12-19, 2021.

When it comes to O’s infielder Connor Norby, ranked as the club’s No. 5 prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 7 via Baseball America, there are differing opinions on his defense.

Baseball America provides Norby a slightly below average 45 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale for his fielding and a 40 for arm. MLBPipeline goes 50 and 50 for both - essentially big league average.

In the early innings Saturday, Norby looked like a plus defender.

He made a fantastic play in the first inning Saturday. He ranged up the middle sliding onto the outfield to field a Manny Machado grounder and then he got a lot on the throw from the seat of his pants for the out. Two innings later he made another nice play and cut down a runner at home with an off balance throw with the infield in.

There was nothing below average about those plays. Both were big and provided a chance for Norby to show he has improved a lot with his second-base defense.

The Orioles have been swept this year three in a row by St. Louis, Houston and the Chicago Cubs. Today the San Diego Padres, winners of seven in a row, will try to add their name to the list.

San Diego (57-50) has won the first two games of this series by 6-4 and 9-4 scores. The Padres have won these last seven versus Cleveland, Washington and the Orioles. They have outscored their opponents 43-12 in this stretch, pitching three shutouts.

Their team ERA is 1.57 during the seven games as they have allowed a .143 batting average, a .443 OPS and just four home runs.

Their hitters are scoring 6.1 runs per game in the win streak, batting .308 with an .832 team OPS in the seven games.

San Diego is 12-3 in its last 15 road games, and that is the best road record in the major leagues since June 19.

This stat has been pointed out a few times, but even in going 12-18 the last 30 games, the Orioles gained ground on the Yankees. Yes, that is crazy.

On June 20, before the last 30 games, the Orioles were 49-25 (.662) yet a 1/2 game out of first place. Since June 21, even in losing 18 of 30, the O's still lead the American League East by one game after their loss yesterday and the Yankees' 10-inning victory last night.

The games, beyond the stats, tell us that the Yankees have played poor ball for a long time too. But the Orioles' play has fallen. here is a statistical look:

Here are some O's team stats through June 20 and where they ranked in the major leagues:

* 5.27 runs per game (1)
* OPS of .769 (2)
* Slugging .456 (1)
* Home runs per game 1.61 (1)
* Team ERA 3.13 (tied for 1st)
* OPS against .632 (1)
* 0.83 HRs allowed per nine innings (2)