The Orioles lost yesterday for the eighth time in 10 games. They will try today to avoid being swept at home by the Oaklamento Athletics.

Their 17-23 record sank them into last place, with a minus-42 run differential that’s second worst in baseball. They’re on a 69-win pace.

That’s naughty, not … That’s really disappointing.

The streak of allowing three runs or more in 25 consecutive games is their longest since  2019. The last stretch longer is a team-record 32 straight in 2011.

On the other hand, Samuel Basallo is batting .404/.417/.681 with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, nine RBIs and five runs scored over his last 13 games. Stop your complaining.

Let’s dig into the mailbag.

Will the Orioles just hang on to a negative WAR player like Tyler O’Neill for years because he is owed money? Or are they trying to win MLB games?
They’re trying to win games and believe that a healthy Tyler O’Neill improves their chances. O’Neill had a really good spring and a hot stretch in April before going on the concussion injured list. He isn’t playing every day, but he went into the weekend with a career .356 on-base percentage and .513 slugging percentage against left-handers. He has a cumulative 12.3 bWAR in nine major league seasons, though it’s negative with the Orioles. It can’t be debated whether the Orioles are getting exactly what they expected from O’Neill after signing him to a three-year, $49.5 million contract. They are not. He could have opted out in the offseason but obviously stayed after going on the injured list three times and appearing in only 54 games. The Orioles didn’t make this kind of commitment to just bail on him after one season. And O’Neill isn’t blocking anyone from playing every day in right field. Dylan Beavers usually sits against lefties. Heston Kjerstad cooled off in spring training, injured his hamstring and finally began his rehab assignment last night. He had a 103 mph opposite-field single. Kjerstad is going to be reinstated at some point and optioned to get more at-bats and work on his defense. Also, he hits from the left side like Beavers and Colton Cowser. So the Orioles will keep using O’Neill against lefties and at times as a defensive replacement in right. And they’ll hope to win games while doing it.

Any chance we call up another catcher? Would love to get Adley and Big Sam’s bat in our lineup at the same time.
Manager Craig Albernaz has used them both in the same games many times this season, including yesterday against the Athletics. He hasn’t needed a third catcher to put one behind the plate and the other in the role of designated hitter. Sam Huff was around for a brief period, but this team doesn’t really have the luxury of carrying a just-in-case catcher. And wait until Jackson Holliday is reinstated and playing second base. It’s bound to happen. Every lineup with Rutschman and Basallo is a roll of the dice, but also worth any risk. And Blaze Alexander probably would love to slip on the gear and set the target. He’s the next man down, in a squatting position, in a catching emergency.

About time to sacrifice a chicken?
Don’t take any chances. Make it a virgin chicken.

Every team deals with injuries, but the O’s seem like they’ve been routinely among the top teams in innings missed due to injuries for several years. Some freaks injuries happen, but it seems like we get more than our share of oblique and lat/teres injuries. What, if anything, is the organization doing to try to identify a reason for this?
There isn’t much more than can be done. The athletic training staff and strength and conditioning coaches aren’t to blame. The same methods and precautions are evident throughout baseball, and teams still deal with the same issues. The Dodgers rank at or near the top of players on the IL but have the talent and depth to win championships. So much of it is luck. Why does Adley Rutschman avoid the IL until straining both obliques last season and having left ankle inflammation this year? Jackson Holliday breaks his hamate bone while hitting in Sarasota. Dean Kremer is working out between starts and strains his quad. Heston Kjerstad stretched before an exhibition game and strained his hamstring running to first base. I don’t know how Jordan Westburg could have avoided his oblique injury prior to discovering the small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Ryan Mountcastle broke a bone in his foot while running to second base on a double. No contact, didn’t slip. The bone just fractured. I don’t think you can blame it on a curse, but these mishaps make you want to do it.

Any early thoughts on how the base coaches have been this year? Seems like Buck has been pretty cautious sending from third base.
Not to minimize the responsibilities, but I don’t really know how to judge a first base coach. As for Buck Britton, that’s an interesting observation because I’ve seen some really aggressive sends from him. I’ve written those exact words. Guess I’d need some examples of runners being held in key situations. There are two sides to it if runs are scarce. Be aggressive because you can’t count on the next batter coming through in the clutch, or be careful because a team struggling to score can’t afford to give away outs. Buck Showalter told the story of a Triple-A coach bragging that he didn’t get anyone thrown out at home. Showalter replied, “Well, you didn’t have a good year.” In other words, he was too cautious and it might have cost the team some games.

Why haven’t we had any updates on Kjerstad? I thought he had a very minor strain. Is the club hiding something about him?
This question came to me before yesterday’s news about the rehab assignment at Double-A Chesapeake. The strain was a Grade 1, according to president of baseball operations Mike Elias. The lengthy absence was a bit puzzling, but I’m not an expert on hamstrings. The weekly updates don’t contain timelines. When asked about him Kjerstad on April 24, Elias said, “Kjerstad’s doing well. Full baseball activities, hitting and throwing. He’s in Florida. Not ready to announce rehab assignment dates with him, but I feel like it’s right around the corner.” That corner was May 9.

Do you view the Orioles as a playoff team?
I do. It doesn’t hurt that the league is infested with mediocrity. The Orioles began last night tied for last place but only one game out of the playoffs. They also had a bunch of teams ahead of them, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only May. They’ve got to play better. I think they will. They’ve got to get healthier. I think they will – though losing Jordan Westburg again is a huge blow at the plate and at third base. The defense is hurting them and I don’t know how much improvement can be expected. It’s got to get better. Is Jackson Holliday an answer at third? Pete Alonso is heating up and that’s a huge lift. Adley Rutschman looks like his old self. Fantastic. Samuel Basallo is the real deal. Also fantastic. Taylor Ward might be Most Valuable Oriole over the first two months. Gunnar’s gonna hit. He won’t be a left-handed Dave Kingman. Rico Garcia is now the greatest reliever of all time and should have the award named after him. Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish must become the 1-2 punch we predicted, and other starters need to step up. I mean, really step up. I’m not giving up on this team playing in October, but as always, check back with me later.  

Is there anything to the idea that Gunnar possibly turning down an extension has him pressing?
I’m not buying it. Henderson isn’t a free agent until after the 2028 season. He isn’t stepping to the plate, tugging on his batting gloves and thinking, “Another strikeout is costing me millions.” He doesn’t aggressively toss his bat after a walk because there’s more money in home runs. He’s pressing, trying to do too much while the team flounders, trying to see and track the ball better. None of this is tied to a new contract. The topic reminds me of Bud Norris’ admission during the 2015 season that his looming free agency got into his head and negatively impacted his performance. He went 15-8 with a 3.65 ERA in 28 starts in 2014 and won Game 3 of the Division Series. He slumped to 2-9 with a 7.06 ERA in 18 games (11 starts) the following season and was released in August. “We couldn’t find a trade partner. We canvassed the market thoroughly,” said executive vice president Dan Duquette. “We tried for weeks and couldn’t identify a trade partner.” Yeah, it got that bad. And yeah, I digress. Henderson isn’t going through the same thing.

Is a dandelion a weed or a flower?
Yes. They are scientifically classified as flowering herbaceous perennials. So, flower. But they spread on lawns and are hard to remove, and most homeowners try to eradicate them. So, weed. I hear that the greens are tasty in salads. That’s fine and dandy.

How long do we have to watch Coby Mayo struggle? Any chance he is sent down when Jackson Holliday returns?
Mayo is getting lots of attention for the wrong reasons. Some mistakes in the field, struggling at the plate. He was a nice spring training story and we’ll always remember the 452- and 439-foot home runs in Kansas City. He seemed to turn a corner – and not the kind that Elias eluded to with Kjerstad – but he’s in another offensive funk. Three at-bats yesterday resulted in three strikeouts to lower his average to .158 with a .495 OPS. Third base is available because Westburg remains on the IL and is shut down again. If there’s a time to take an extended look at Mayo, this is it. Blaze Alexander is better defensively but was batting .232/.284/.280 yesterday. And he needed an 8-for-20 stretch this month to improve those numbers. Weston Wilson was 5-for-19 but had some misplays at third. Manny Machado isn’t walking through that door. Wilson and Mayo would appear to be most vulnerable when Holliday is reinstated, but that’s above my pay grade. The Orioles made those decisions. Wilson is out of options. Mayo is not. Maybe a reset at Triple-A would prove beneficial to Mayo, or it would further chip away at his confidence. Arguments can be made on both sides – the reset or continuing to run him out there and make a full evaluation while also keeping in mind that he’s been yanked from third to first and back to third. No one is outworking him. I can confirm it.

Is Melanie Newman married? And would she have interest in a short, fat, 44-year-old dude like me?
Melanie married Andrew Dunlap on Nov. 2, 2024 in Savannah. Really nice guy. He’s a firefighter who looks like he stepped out of a calendar. I don’t like your chances.

What area do you think the Orioles can improve the most: Offense, Defense or Pitching?
The defense gets better if Jordan Westburg avoids surgery and eventually comes off the injured list. That’s far from a certainty. The lineup and pitching are capable of much more. Henderson isn’t going be a sub-.200 hitter with a ton of strikeouts. We’ve covered this ground already. They won’t keep wasting bases-loaded rallies. Kyle Bradish provided a nice reminder Friday that he can be an impactful starter again, that he can be an ace and spare the bullpen. Rogers wasn’t a fluke last year. Baz and Bassitt definitely can give the Orioles more than their output so far. Why it isn’t happened right now is puzzling. Dean Kremer will come back from his strained quad, and we pretty much know what to expect every five or six days.

I’ve asked this before during the Hyde years about who actually sets the day-to-day lineups. You responded that Hyde did, but SOR posters insisted it was still Sig. Alby has hardly repeated a lineup. Do you know if he setting it or is it the mad scientist Sig, which is the popular opinion on here? SOR needs a scapegoat.
I don’t recall our exchange, but I’m sure that I meant Hyde has the final word when posting it. He was fed the data, went over matchups, read reports from the advance scouts, listened to his coaches. Same with Albernaz. Is it wrong to use different lineups? Another topic with two sides. Managers don’t want to bury players on the bench. Teams that aren’t hitting lose the privilege of keeping the same players in the lineup. And you’re not gonna get duplicates when the opposing starters go from being right-handed to left-handed.  

According to that Last Manager book, Earl would sit in the nude and chat with beat writers after each game. What would you do if you walked in to ask Albie about a pitching change and he was just naked as a jaybird?
The postgame manager sessions are held in the interview room, not the office. Those days are gone. Why is it jaybirds that are naked but no other species? (I’m stalling here.) OK, next question.

If we were looking to get a pitcher via trade, like Sandy Alcantara, do we have viable trade chips?
The Orioles can offer some good young pitching. I’ve talked to scouts who love outfielder Nate George. But here’s the thing: The organization feels the same way and might not be keen on trading him. It might want to hold onto the best starting prospects because of the risks associated with spending big on pitching. And it’s hard for anyone to predict possible trades without knowing which players are attractive to the Marlins, for example, and which ones are untouchable. Does this help?

How many Tupac bobbleheads did you grab?
One per costumer. And no, it isn’t for sale. … but make me an offer.

Any updates on Ryan Helsley?
Not much. We haven’t seen him in the clubhouse this weekend. He was on the last trip. He can’t return before Thursday. The last injury report on Monday said Helsley had started treatment and would be re-evaluated for throwing later in the week.

Will there be a Jada Pinkett bobblehead next year?
I’m lobbying for Julie Bowen. The bobblehead, I mean. Yeah, the bobblehead. And this seems like a good place to stop.