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One of the most predictable qualities of Orioles teams is the unpredictability of the daily lineup postings.
Pitching splits might influence some decisions or they can go largely ignored. Players rarely camp out in the exact same spot in the order. Hit first in one game and maybe seventh or eighth in the next. A few starts in a row can be followed by a few nights spent leaning on the dugout railing and waiting to spit water after a double.
The Orioles have used seven leadoff, No. 2 and No. 3 hitters this season, nine cleanup, No. 5 and No. 9 hitters, and 10 No. 6 and 7 hitters. Dylan Carlson last night became the 12th player to bat eighth.
The manager has the final say, but the crafting is a collaborative effort with the analytics and advance scouting departments providing data and input. Tony Mansolino, working under the interim tag, isn’t going to be the exact same as Brandon Hyde. He’ll get the same information but try to find ways to stir up a stagnant offense.
Mansolino’s first lineup on Saturday had three left-handed hitters in the first three spots – Jackson Holliday, Ryan O’Hearn and Gunnar Henderson. Hyde wasn’t always comfortable having that many players in a row batting from the same side.
Ramón Laureano batted cleanup last night for only the second time this season and finished with three hits, including a home run, and Carlson was in left field – two right-handed hitters against Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester, who doesn’t have reverse splits in his career. Carlson was 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts, but 2-for-2 as the only Oriole to face Priester and a defensive upgrade with Dean Kremer coaxing fly balls.
Maverick Handley, another right-handed batter, was behind the plate while switch-hitter Adley Rutschman went to the bench.
Left-handers were hitting .316 with a .982 OPS against Priester before last night and right-handers were hitting .239 with a .682 OPS.
Mansolino told the media in Milwaukee that it was a planned day off for Rutschman. He also attempted to explain his early lineup decisions.
“There’s a lot of information,” he said. “I don’t think you want to overthink a thousand pieces of information. I think as I do this job a little bit longer, I’ll get it down to the things that I think are really important.”
In other words, don’t read too much into them right now. Mansolino is still getting his bearings.
He indicated on Sunday that he’s open to trying different things, like the three left-handers atop the order. But Mansolino also is sensitive to any suggestions that the old approach didn’t work.
“I’m not quite there to wrapping my brain around that,” he said. “We’ll continue to do things similar to how they’ve been done. How they’ve been done has been really good in a lot of different ways. I’m sure you’ll see some small changes as we go that would have probably happened whether I was sitting in the seat or Brandon was sitting in the seat, so things continue to evolve.
“It’s a group process and there’s a lot of smart people that collectively get together and try to do the best thing they can for the organization every day.”
Maybe this tidbit from STATS will be useful: Henderson had a .628 slugging percentage before last night when hitting third this season, third best in the majors behind Aaron Judge and Freddie Freeman in a minimum 40 at-bats. In all other spots, Henderson has a slugging percentage of .411.
* Before last night, Henderson had 75 doubles, 76 home runs and 19 triples in 381 career games. Why does this matter?
According to STATS, Henderson had a chance to become the sixth player in American League history with at least 75 doubles, 75 homers and 20 triples through 400 career games. The others are Hal Trosky, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Nomar Garciaparra and Mike Trout.
Some familiar names there.
* Oh hey, more Henderson. He went into last night’s game with only 13 RBIs in 38 games, but one reason for the paltry total was that he had runners in scoring position in only 26 of his 165 plate appearances.
Among qualified hitters, his 15.8 percentage was the second-lowest in the majors behind CJ Abrams’ 15.4.
* Keegan Akin will be the opener tonight. Chayce McDermott, on the taxi squad, will be recalled and follow Akin.
A corresponding move must be made for McDermott. Reliever Kade Strowd is expected to be optioned.
* A leftover: The Orioles were swept by the Nationals at home despite collecting 33 hits in the three games. They hadn’t been swept in a three-game series with 33 or more hits since August 2021 against the Rays (35).
The more you know …
