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The events of March 18 seemed like a much bigger deal in spring training compared to the final week of the 2025 season.
Time passed can bring a new perspective.
The Orioles made seven cuts in camp, and catcher Samuel Basallo and first baseman Coby Mayo were the most noticeable names on the list. Basallo was reassigned to Twin Lakes Park, as expected, and Mayo was optioned.
Basallo knew that he’d begin the season with Triple-A Norfolk at age 20, but Mayo expressed his disappointment at a return trip after dominating International League pitching and having 151 games of experience over the previous two years. He spoke at his locker about the difficulty in going back and a “lose-lose” situation, with success expected and failure overblown.
The Orioles called up Mayo on May 3 while placing infielder Ramón Urías on the injured list. He had three hits in his first 25 at-bats and five in 36, but the production improved with more experience and consistent starts. Also, settling at one position removed a distraction.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino notices another important change in Mayo. The comfort he’s exhibiting goes beyond the field. The latest example came Sunday morning inside a quiet clubhouse, when Mansolino sat down at a table with Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle for what appeared to be a casual conversation.
Mansolino often passes through the room during the 50-minute media access, but he doesn’t linger.
“The conversation with Coby, the way he kind of navigated it with me, was way more mature than probably how he would have navigated the conversation when he first got here,” Mansolino said. “It’s just the way he looked me in the eye, the way he was comfortable with me.
“A lot of times when you’re sitting in the manager’s seat, you walk in a room and players put their heads down. They’re worried because they see the manager. They don’t know where that thing’s going. And for Coby, super comfortable, super relaxed, giving me a hard time, maturely navigated the conversation with Mounty and I, and it gave me a really good feeling just kind of talking to him.”
Mayo is batting .283/.358/.483 this month in 18 games, with three doubles and three home runs. He slashed .136/.208/.261 (12-for-88) last month.
* The O's have used 41 different pitchers this year, including position players, and need one more to tie the franchise record set in 2021, but they’ll probably fall short of the mark.
They could make another move this week with Colin Selby, who’s recovered from a strained left hamstring, but he’s already appeared in nine games this season.
Right-hander Jose Espada became the 41st on Saturday with his second major league appearance, the first coming in 2023 with the Padres. He shut out the Yankees on one hit with four strikeouts over the last three innings, which gives him four scoreless in the majors.
Twenty-one of Espada’s 29 pitches were strikes.
“What a good story,” Mansolino said. “Kind of go through the journey that he has to get back to the big leagues and kind of everything. He walked out and I think it was under 30 pitches. That’s wild, to do what he did against that lineup and handle it the way he did.
“I was looking in their dugout and their reactions were very affirming for what he was doing. … Just proud of him, and that was a big boost for us.”
Espada is no relation to Astros manager Joe Espada, but they have a connection. Joe managed Jose in Puerto Rico.
* The Yankees’ six-run 10th inning Sunday marked the sixth time that the Orioles allowed six-plus runs in a single inning past regulation, per STATS. The club record is nine in the 13th inning of an Aug. 16, 2009 game against the Angels at Camden Yards.
The teams were tied 8-8 before Brian Bass was charged with four runs and six hits in the 13th and Matt Albers was charged with five runs and four hits. Bass tossed a scoreless 12th after loading the bases with one out and getting a double play, but he couldn’t record an out in the 13th and it got worse.
Jeremy Guthrie started and allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3. The Orioles’ record fell to 48-69.
Also on the list are the seven runs allowed in the 10th inning on July 12, 1972 against the Royals, seven runs in the 10th inning on Sept. 7, 1959 against the Senators, six runs in the 10th inning on Aug. 3, 1995 against the Blue Jays, and six runs in the 11th inning on Sept. 8, 1986 against the Red Sox.
* The Rays are in town for a three-game series that concludes the home portion of the Orioles’ schedule. Three games separate the teams in the standings, but the Rays have a plus-49 run differential and the Orioles are at minus-104.
The teams have split 10 games this season, with the Orioles winning two of three from June 27-29 at Camden Yards. They won 22-8 in the opener after trailing 6-0 in the second inning and lost 11-3 the following night.
Ryan Pepiot started the first game and allowed four runs in 1 2/3 innings. He’s on the mound again tonight. The Orioles fell behind 9-0 in the next game and didn’t have another rally in them.
Dean Kremer makes his final start, his 29th, along with one bulk relief assignment. His 164 innings rank first on the club.
Kremer won’t reach his career highs of 32 starts and 172 2/3 innings in 2023 – OK, the latter is mathematically possible – but his durability and dependability are impressive in a season with so many injuries.
Wins are overrated for pitchers, but Kremer is .500 at 40-40.
Yandy Díaz is 3-for-22 against Kremer.
Gunnar Henderson is 5-for-14 with a double and home run against Pepiot, who also faced the Orioles on June 16 in Tampa and allowed one run with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, and on July 20 in Tampa and allowed five runs with eight strikeouts in six innings.
