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Center fielder Slater de Brun, chosen by the Orioles with the 37th overall pick in this year’s draft, draws comparisons to Arizona’s two-time All-Star Corbin Carroll based on his tools and stature.
There’s also got to be a musical comp for de Brun, who’s a duel threat as a baseball player and musician/producer.
The 5-foot-10 de Brun carries big aspirations on and off the field. He goes by “Lil Slayyy” when he’s in music mode, putting out country singles like “Break My Heart” and “Find Me a Bar” – the irony, of course, being that he’s too young to get served.
“Music is like an outlet for me, it’s a creative outlet for me, and it helps me get my thoughts not on paper but out of my head,” he said last week at Camden Yards. “Also, I like when people listen to my music because it shows that I’m like a vulnerable person. I’m not just a baseball player but I’m more than that. So I think it probably brings more people around me, I would hope, and that’s why I like music.
“We have time on our hands right now in the afternoons in Sarasota, so there’s a lot of extra time in professional baseball and you’ve got to fill that doing productive things, and for me, that’s a very productive thing.”
TORONTO – The O’s bullpen doesn’t have set roles.
More often than not, you’ll see arms like Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia in the later innings. Unproven names like Grant Wolfram and Kade Strowd are working to gain trust, but aren’t quite established yet.
It leaves Baltimore, and interim manager Tony Mansolino, playing the matchup game more often than not, trying to win with finesse and tactics.
That chess match becomes far more interesting in a bullpen game.
This afternoon, the O’s bullpen didn’t come out on top in the game of chess, and Baltimore fell 11-2.
TORONTO – On a given day in 2024, you never knew what you would see from Albert Suárez.
On May 22 of last year, he tossed two-thirds of an inning against the Cardinals in high-leverage bullpen work. Three days later, he started against the White Sox, tossing four scoreless.
It was the same story later that season. To kick off August, the right-hander came out of the bullpen for an inning and two-thirds only to follow it up with five shutout innings with six strikeouts against the Toronto Blue Jays.
That’s exactly what the O’s are hoping for out of Suárez this afternoon, who starts in Toronto after appearing in the 10th inning in his last outing.
“If you get him up to five, I think you’re probably doing a pretty good job right there,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said of Suárez’s upcoming outing. “I think he got up to five in one of his rehab starts. That’s a while ago. He hasn’t built up that high. I think here with us, probably, three innings is what he’s got. Albert has a tendency to be efficient at times and he can get some outs quick. If all goes well and he gets to the fifth, that would be great. If something went crazy and somehow he got into the sixth, it would be incredible.”
Jeremiah Jackson is the cleanup hitter today for the first time with the Orioles, who try to avoid a sweep this afternoon in Toronto.
Jackson is starting at third base. He’s hit in every spot in the lineup except third.
Dylan Beavers is in right field and batting second again. Samuel Basallo is the designated hitter and batting fifth.
Coby Mayo moves up to sixth after homering yesterday and producing his first multi-hit game since Aug. 6.
The Orioles lost yesterday for the 10th time when leading through seven innings and the third when ahead entering the ninth.
The Orioles brought up another new pitcher this morning, recalling right-hander Carson Ragsdale from Triple-A Norfolk and placing Shawn Dubin on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort.
Ragsdale will wear No. 83. He’s waiting to make his major league debut after posting a 3.47 ERA and 1.157 WHIP in seven games (five starts) with Norfolk.
Ragsdale, 27, began the season with Triple-A Sacramento in the Giants’ organization. The Orioles claimed him on waivers Aug. 3.
If Ragsdale gets into a game, he’ll be the 68th player used by the Orioles this season.
Dubin made seven relief appearances and allowed three runs in eight innings. He pitched Friday and was charged with three runs and four hits in 1 2/3.
The Orioles didn’t map out an extensive offseason plan for Ike Irish, their first pick in the 2025 amateur draft. He was able to determine necessary areas of improvement just by visiting Camden Yards last week.
Put a bunch of major league players around a 21-year-old in his first professional season and it becomes clear.
“I think it’s the big things, like you’ve got to get more physical,” he said during a media scrum in the Orioles’ dugout. “Just for myself, standing around these big leaguers, I’m a little smaller than they are, so get a little more physical. And then just fine-tune the talent and get better in all aspects of the game, because I have to.”
Irish obviously didn’t let his draft status go to his head.
The Orioles had four draft picks within the top 37 and chose Irish 19th overall out of Auburn University, thrilled that one of the top hitters in the draft fell to them.
TORONTO – For the last few weeks, the Orioles had been the ones doing the walkoffs.
In fact, Baltimore had won four consecutive games in that fashion back at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
This afternoon in Toronto, though, Baltimore was on the other side of things in a 5-4 loss.
The Gatorade was far less cold.
Alejandro Kirk was the hero for the Blue Jays with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth as Toronto stormed back with four runs in the final two innings of play.
TORONTO – The legacy of three active pitchers in Major League Baseball towers above the rest.
Between them, they have combined for nine Cy Young awards and two Most Valuable Player awards, the last pitchers not named Shohei Ohtani to win that honor since Dennis Eckersley in 1992.
They’re the only active pitchers in the game with over 200 career wins. They’re also the only trio to each accumulate over 3,000 strikeouts over their Hall of Fame careers.
Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer have another thing in common, too: They’re the last three starters to oppose Tomoyuki Sugano.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Sugano is set to become the second pitcher in O’s history to face a 200-game winner in three consecutive outings, joining Dave Schmidt in 1987, who faced Bert Blyleven twice and Joe Niekro. So, Sugano will actually become the first Oriole to face three different 200-game winners consecutively.
Dylan Beavers moves up to second in the Orioles’ lineup today, the first time he’s hit higher than fifth in the majors. He’s in right field, with Jeremiah Jackson on the bench.
Tyler O’Neill is the designated hitter again and is batting cleanup. Coby Mayo returns to the lineup at first base and is batting ninth.
Samuel Basallo is catching. Dylan Carlson is in left field and Emmanuel Rivera is at third base again.
Tomoyuki Sugano takes his turn today after leaving his last start with a sore right foot. He was hit by a sharp one-hopper and limped to the dugout.
Two of his first three starts in the U.S. came against the Blue Jays. He allowed two runs in four innings in his debut in Toronto and three runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 at Camden Yards.
Various worlds were rocked back in May with manager Brandon Hyde’s firing in his seventh season on the job. It began with Hyde, of course, who learned of his fate the night before the team’s announcement and returned to his home in Sarasota County. Major league field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins, a close friend of Hyde’s since they were teenagers, also was dismissed.
Tony Mansolino thought he’d remain third base coach, his role since the 2021 season, but the Orioles named him interim manager. His move out of the box prompted Buck Britton’s switch from major league coach.
Britton managed Triple-A Norfolk for the past three seasons. He barely had time to get acclimated to the majors, a level he never reached as a player, and he already was inheriting a new title.
“I’ve been in the big leagues for, what five months? It feels like I’ve been here for two years,” Britton said this week, smiling at the accelerated pace of his professional life.
“I never expected to be thrown into the fire. Very thankful and blessed that I was the guy to go over to third base and do that. It’s been a wild ride.
TORONTO – Trevor Rogers’ early exit from tonight’s game due to left toe discomfort, and the subsequent questions that followed in the brief absence of that injury update, perfectly summed up his recent stretch of dominance.
The lefty wasn’t his sharpest tonight in Toronto. He walked four batters, contributing to more traffic on the basepaths than we’re accustomed to seeing, and had to work through lengthy innings.
He didn’t allow an earned run in five innings of work.
And yet, given Rogers’ standards and the level to which he’s raised the bar, many were left pondering what went wrong.
That’s the luxurious viewpoint that we’re able to have on Rogers, whose mastery on the mound has made elite outings commonplace and merely good outings surprising.
TORONTO – On Aug. 1, the Orioles’ outfield no longer included Cedric Mullins, a mainstay in center field since his breakout 2021 campaign. The next day, right-fielder Tyler O’Neill was a late scratch from the lineup due to illness. And a few days later, after a collision with the wall, O’Neill hit the injured list with wrist inflammation.
On Aug, 1, Jeremiah Jackson was called up to the big leagues after hitting a staggering .377 in 40 games with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. Most anticipated that Jackson, who played 35 of those 40 games in the infield, would fill the role vacated by Ramón Urías.
Instead, through 35 games with the Orioles, Jackson has spent 27 days in the depleted outfield and has mostly been patrolling right field, a position that he had played on just seven occasions as a minor leaguer.
Today, Baltimore’s primary right fielder, O’Neill, returns from a rehab assignment. But don’t expect Jackson and his .829 OPS to just hit the bench.
“We’ll see kind of where it goes,” Tony Mansolino said of his lineup upon O’Neill’s return. “It’ll be very day-to-day, and we’ll do the best we can with the lineup and get people in the right spots.”
Tyler O’Neill is serving as the designated hitter tonight and batting sixth, as the Orioles begin their three-game series in Toronto.
O’Neill was reinstated from the injured list earlier today.
Ryan Mountcastle is the first baseman, which puts Coby Mayo on the bench.
Dylan Beavers is in left field and Jeremiah Jackson is in right. Samuel Basallo is catching.
The Orioles’ five walk-off wins in the second half are tied with the Rangers and Mariners for most in the majors.
Tyler O’Neill will give it another try and hope to make it through the rest of the month.
The Orioles reinstated O’Neill from the 10-day injured list this afternoon and optioned outfielder Daniel Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. O’Neill hasn’t played since Aug. 5 in Philadelphia due to right wrist inflammation. He just finished a rehab assignment that ended with Triple-A Norfolk.
O'Neill has made three stops on the injured list this season. He's appeared in 43 games in his first season with the Orioles and slashed .210/.293/.434 with six doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 23 RBIs. He homered and went 3-for-3 with three RBIs on Opening Day at Rogers Centre. He also homered against the Blue Jays on April 13 in Baltimore.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers makes his 16th start after posting a 1.51 ERA and 0.868 WHIP in 95 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Dodgers in his last outing, the first time that he surrendered more than one since July 20 in Tampa.
Rogers’ 1.51 ERA through 15 starts is an all-time low among Orioles pitchers.
Tony Mansolino wrote out his lineup again yesterday, confirmed the plan for starter Dean Kremer in Toronto and tried to guide the Orioles to a series sweep against the Pirates before boarding the team charter for another road trip.
The season is down to the final 16 games. The Blue Jays are in first place in the American League East, fighting to stay ahead of the Yankees. The Orioles play them, too – four games at Camden Yards and three in the Bronx to close out 2025.
Mansolino dismissed a suggestion yesterday that he isn’t managing under any pressure based on the team’s last-place residency and being outside the heat of a playoff chase. That maybe the job is different for him. He recalled some advice he received many years ago from former Cleveland manager Terry Francona.
It still applies with the Orioles as Mansolino related the question to managing in the majors versus the minors.
“He told me at the time, ‘Make Lynchburg your Cleveland,’” Mansolino said.
The Orioles looked like they were trying to maintain their run of walk-off wins this afternoon. Tie the game, take a lead and be tied again within the first three innings. Get in and out of jams. Pin the opposing pitcher on the ropes and let him escape.
Just get them to the ninth or past regulation, when something magic happens.
Dylan Beavers was last night’s hero with his bases-loaded single in the 10th. He delivered the go-ahead run again today, but it came from an infield hit in the seventh inning to propel the Orioles to a 3-2 win before an announced crowd of 13,957 at sunny Camden Yards.
Four of the previous five games ended with walk-off wins, but wild celebrations aren’t promised.
The Orioles (69-77) have won eight of their last nine games and nine of 11. Twelve more victories guarantee a .500 finish or better.
The Orioles will expand their offseason searches beyond deciding on a manager and coaching staff. They have more on their plate than improving the roster.
Mike Elias was promoted from executive vice president/general manager to president of baseball operations, according to a source. The switch was made last winter.
A replacement for Elias is on the docket.
The team's staff directory still lists Elias with his former title, which he held since his hiring from the Astros organization on Nov. 16, 2018.
A painfully slow start to the season cost manager Brandon Hyde his job on May 17, with third base coach Tony Mansolino replacing him on an interim basis. Speculation swirled around Elias pertaining to his own job security, with his bump remaining quiet until today.
The Orioles are planning on a bullpen game for Sunday in Toronto, an adjustment made to their rotation after skipping Dean Kremer’s turn.
Albert Suárez is a candidate after working three innings Saturday. He also earned the win last night with a scoreless 10th inning.
Keegan Akin also could be under consideration. He’s served as an opener three times. Dietrich Enns has opened in one game.
“Kind of whoever we have available after the first two,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.
Trevor Rogers starts Friday night and Tomoyuki Sugano on Saturday.
Exceptions have the power to cloud judgements and cast doubts about a specific trend.
What the Orioles are getting from their bullpen this month is crystal clear.
Yennier Cano blew the save Tuesday night when Tommy Pham homered in the top of the ninth inning, but another look reveals that he strung together six scoreless appearances in a row.
Lean in and you’ll also see that Rico Garcia retired the side in order in the eighth and Dietrich Enns earned the win with two hitless innings beyond regulation, twice stranding the automatic runner before Samuel Basallo’s walk-off fly ball down the left field line.
Actually, on the left field line.
Tyler Wells isn’t in a band and he isn’t interested in playing second fiddle.
He knows how to conduct himself against a phenom.
Wells was the other starter tonight opposite the Pirates’ Paul Skenes, the former first-overall draft pick and reigning National League Rookie of the Year who naturally drew most of the attention. Wells didn’t care. He’s just glad to be back on a mound.
Skenes shut out the Orioles for five innings before manager Don Kelly removed him from the game as part of a planned ramp down. Wells kept going, lasting 6 2/3 innings with one run and one hit allowed, and the Orioles produced their fourth walk-off win in five games, 2-1, over the Pirates before an announced crowd of 18,210 at Camden Yards.
Jackson Holliday’s two-out RBI single off former Orioles reliever Isaac Mattson tied the game in the eighth. Albert Suárez didn’t let the automatic runner score in the 10th, the bullpen’s exceptional month continuing with 3 1/3 scoreless innings, and Dylan Beavers pulled a full-count 98 mph fastball down the left field line to score pinch-runner Jorge Mateo and ignite another celebration.
