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TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is new to this whole managing thing, carrying his interim tag into every major league ballpark and a few of the minor league fill-ins, but he’s a quick study and knows that he can’t control the narrative.
The media’s gonna media.
The pressure of the approaching trade deadline could be impacting the Orioles, who are predicted by some outlets to be the most active team with a bundle of pending free agents on the table and hopes of contending fading like old jeans.
Or it isn’t. The blame might fall instead to deficiencies in the rotation, a slumping offense and an injury bug that could devour an entire city. The Orioles had 25 different players on the injured list in the first half to tie the White Sox for most in the majors. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets were next with 22, which is an important note because they seemed to cope better than the others.
“I’m an optimist in every which way, so I’ve never gravitated toward the feel sorry for me or everything’s terrible or everything’s negative,” Mansolino said. “I tend to look at the opportunity that somebody else gets and look at the possibility of doing great.
“In terms of how the players handle it, I think most of the guys in there, they see it as a challenge and they take the challenge head-on. I don’t think you become a good major league player unless you have that type of mindset.”
Injuries can linger but the trade deadline arrives July 31. Everyone in the clubhouse is aware of it.
"We need to start winning more,” Jackson Holliday said last night, “and obviously, we don’t want anyone in this room to get traded because I love every guy in this room.”
Asked after Friday night’s 11-1 slapdown whether the deadline is having an adverse effect, Mansolino politely but pointedly said, “Well, it’s just whatever stories you guys want to write.
“So if you guys want to write the story that they’re feeling the pressure, then so be it,” he said. “But for me, I think they’ve felt that pressure for two months, again, because we were up to 18 games under .500 and so these guys have been playing under a ton of pressure for a while now. So if it’s the trade deadline pressure, then so be it. If it’s trying to get back in the pennant chase pressure, so be it. If it’s all the other pressure they have, then so be it.”
We can just refer to it as the pupu platter of pressure. Don’t order it for the table.
Last night’s 4-3 loss left the Orioles 11 games below .500 and 8 ½ back for the last Wild Card. For fans who aren’t optimistic about the postseason chances, what else is there to track?
Well, for starters …
Who stays and who goes.
Nothing has changed regarding the most obvious candidates or how they’d rather stay. Teams keep checking on Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Ramón Laureano, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge, to name more than a few. Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano also are possibilities, with Eflin needing to prove that he’s past his latest injury.
Catcher Gary Sánchez lost value with his second injury, this one to his right knee. And the Orioles seem less likely, though they made an exception with reliever Bryan Baker, to trade a player who’s controllable beyond 2025.
I’ll say again that they intend to contend in 2026, which is catchy and belongs on a T-shirt. They aren’t going to strip the roster and start over. That’s anti-contending. And that likely means holding onto Félix Bautista, Ramón Urías, Trevor Rogers and the ones viewed as important core players moving forward.
What Coby Mayo can do with regular playing time.
Let’s assume that he actually gets it, that the reasoning behind sitting him is removed if the team’s out of the playoff chase.
Mayo wasn’t in last night’s lineup, and Friday’s start was his third in the last 13 games. Ryan Mountcastle is working his way back from a strained hamstring, which in theory cuts into Mayo’s opportunities, but trading O’Hearn would clear a path.
The Orioles need to get a more detailed read on Mayo, which can’t happen if he’s on the bench. They know it, too, but again, the importance of posting the most competitive lineups has been a deterrent.
The hope, of course, is that Mayo becomes a presence in the middle of the order and the Orioles benefit from it.
Whether we see Heston Kjerstad and Cionel Pérez in the second half.
To be specific, without making the drive to Norfolk.
They broke camp with the team as expected, but Kjerstad was optioned June 10 in a flurry of moves that also removed Mullins and Jordan Westburg from the injured list, and he’s batting .165 with a .527 OPS for the Tides. Pérez was outrighted May 31 and has a 7.43 ERA and 2.325 WHIP.
They’ve moved past the reset stage.
Kjerstad slashed .192/.240/.327 with four home runs, a 3.6 percent walk rate and a 26.9 percent strikeout rate in 167 plate appearances. Pérez was designated for assignment after posting an 8.31 ERA and 2.123 WHIP in 19 games. He walked 18 batters in 21 2/3 innings.
The bullpen has two lefties with Grant Wolfram returning to the team. The Orioles usually go with three, but Keegan Akin is on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation.
Whether Tyler O’Neill can salvage his season.
O’Neill signed a three-year, $49.5 million deal with an opt-out clause after 2025. He’s gone on the IL with neck inflammation and a left shoulder impingement and is batting .179 in 31 games.
This isn’t close to how the Orioles expected O’Neill’s first season to play out, but the Blue Jays feel the same way about Anthony Santander, who’s batting .179/.273/.304 with six home runs in 50 games after signing for $92.5 million over five years and hasn’t played since May 29 due to left shoulder inflammation.
Exercising the opt-out seems highly unlikely for O’Neill, but he’s got a few months to bust loose. He doubled in the ninth inning last night but is 4-for-26 this month.
Whether Grayson Rodriguez pitches in 2025.
We don’t know if he can avoid surgery. It starts there.
Rodriguez has been shut down with a sore elbow, triceps and lat. Now, the elbow is barking again.
The poor guy is dogged by injuries.
The Orioles expect to have more information “in the next week or so,” Mansolino said. Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since July 31, 2024. He was throwing his breaking stuff in bullpen sessions but can’t be counted on to contribute later this summer.
Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.
Eflin could start later this week, maybe in Cleveland. Cade Povich threw 62 pitches last night with Norfolk and shouldn't be too far from reinstatement. Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are trending toward returns next month. But Rodriguez is on the shelf again and threatening to miss an entire season.
