The Orioles continue their homestand tonight against the Rays, and this time, the teams get to play in a major league ballpark.
They split the four-game series at George M. Steinbrenner Field, losing an 8-0 lead on June 18 in one of the season’s low points. The Rays are in second place in the division, a half-game behind the Yankees. They hold the top Wild Card.
Some of the Orioles talked again about getting a reset yesterday. Maybe this one will stick. The others haven’t led to the kind of streak that thrusts a team into a thick of a pennant race. Seven teams remain ahead of the Orioles for the final spot. Five weeks remain until the trade deadline.
Think this is a big series? Every single one feels like baseball life or death. Just wait until Texas and Atlanta on the next road trip, and a homestand that begins with three games against the Mets.
The offense needs to break out, which is one of the more obvious statements ever made about any team. The Orioles have been shut out in three of the last five games and one-hit in two. Opposing starters have carried a no-hitter through the seventh inning twice and the sixth once. The team ranked 24th in runs scored yesterday with 315, 23rd with a .236 average, .302 on-base percentage and .691 OPS. They’re hitting .224/.291/.391 with runners in scoring position and .218/.291/.302 against left-handers.
The Orioles will face three right-handed starters this weekend – Ryan Pepiot, Zack Littell and Taj Bradley. Pepiot held them to one run in eight innings in Tampa and struck out 11 batters.
The rotation had one quality start out of 11 games before Trevor Rogers tossed eight scoreless innings against the Rangers. Charlie Morton followed with three runs in five innings and Brandon Young with four runs in four-plus. The pitching staff has a 4.88 ERA that ranked 27th yesterday. The starters’ 5.21 ERA was last in the American League and 28th overall. The bullpen’s 4.49 ERA was 24th.
It's never one thing.
Cade Povich made his first injury rehab start yesterday with Triple-A Norfolk and allowed three earned runs and five total with seven hits, one walk and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He threw 75 pitches, 46 for strikes. He’s getting close to reinstatement from the injured list, eligible to do it on Tuesday. We don’t know how many starts the Orioles require on the assignment.
Povich is one of 11 players on the injured list, which also includes infielder Jorge Mateo, who’s played in two games with Norfolk and hit a home run and singled, and Tyler O’Neill, who’s playing at Double-A Chesapeake. A healthier roster may not reverse the Orioles’ season, but it can’t hurt.
The unfortunate part is the previous expectation that getting back Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suárez in the second half would strengthen the playoff push – additions past the deadline that come from within the organization. Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle have joined them. But it might not matter anymore in the standings unless the Orioles get scorching hot and teams ahead of them plummet.
The roster is going to keep changing because it always does, and a new curiosity involves reliever Yennier Cano, who was optioned Sunday. He hasn’t pitched for the Tides since making three appearances in 2023, before becoming an All-Star set-up man for the Orioles. Is he the next man up when the Orioles need a fresh arm? He’s got some work to do with the pitching instructors down below and needs to face some hitters before he’s a consideration.
Many of us expected left-hander Cionel Pérez to make it back to the majors after the Orioles outrighted him on May 31, but he’s registered a 6.23 ERA in eight games. He tossed a scoreless inning yesterday to lower his ERA from 7.04, but he allowed a hit and walked two batters. The day began with his WHIP at 2.217. He doesn’t have a clean outing and was charged with four runs in two-thirds of an inning on June 19 in Memphis while pitching on back-to-back days.
* Heston Kjerstad went 0-for-4 with a strikeout yesterday with Norfolk and is batting .152 with a .555 OPS.
The Orioles want to get him rolling so they can recall him and provide those regular at-bats again, abiding by the plan visualized over the winter. Or at least create a tough decision with Dylan Carlson, who’s done a nice job as an extra outfielder but has options.
* I wrote yesterday about Ryan O’Hearn and Jackson Holliday being finalists at designated hitter and second base, respectively, in All-Star voting after Phase 1. No other Oriole finished higher than seventh.
Catcher Adley Rutschman and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle were seventh. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson was a surprisingly low eighth considering his past production and fan popularity. He started at shortstop last year, participated in the Home Run Derby and finished fourth in Most Valuable Player voting, and also was a unanimous selection as Rookie of the Year in 2023. He’s hitting .271/.346/.422 this season after a slow start.
To me, eighth with 450,730 votes is a shocker.
Ramón Urías was ninth among third basemen. None of the outfielders finished in the top 20 after Cedric Mullins and Ramón Laureano made brief appearances at the bottom.
* Baseball America released its latest mock draft yesterday and it has the Orioles taking Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy with the 19th pick.
Aloy, a native of Hawaii, hit .350/.434/.673 with 19 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs and 68 RBIs in 65 games this season. His college career began at Sacramento State, and he’s batted .332/.406/.609 overall in three years.
Aloy won the Golden Spikes Award this year, presented by USA Baseball to the best amateur player in the country.
* It wasn’t a misprint in Wednesday night’s Norfolk box score. Catcher David Bañuelos entered the game at second base.
Seeing this immediately led me to two thoughts: Why is he playing second and when did he leave the taxi squad at Camden Yards?
Mateo started at shortstop and was replaced late in the game, which led to some creative shuffling.
Bañuelos actually had made one other appearance at second base in his professional career, also off the bench for a total of 10 innings.