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TAMPA – A fast start tonight by the Orioles would have to set a pace that didn’t let the Rays pass them. It was a dangerous little game that was destined to cause a crash.
Three of the first four batters reached and the Orioles scored twice before the bats were tamed again, with no runs over the next seven innings.
None were surrendered by Dean Kremer through the sixth and only one through the seventh for another quality start, but it proved to be no match for the Orioles’ failures in the clutch.
Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three runs, two earned, in the bottom of the eighth and the Rays rallied past the Orioles 4-3 before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
The losing streak grows to four games and the Orioles are 11 under again at 43-54.
TAMPA – The Orioles got on a serious draft signing roll today, with two more players entering the organization.
The club reached agreements with left-hander Joseph Dzierwa, a second-rounder out of Michigan State, and right-hander JT Quinn, a Competitive Balance B Round selection out of Georgia.
Five of the Orioles’ first six picks have signed professional contracts.
Catcher Caden Bodine, the 30th-overall pick out of Coastal Carolina, will report to the Sarasota complex on Sunday and meet up with 19th-overall selection Ike Irish, a catcher/outfielder from Auburn.
Bodine, who began switch-hitting when he was 4 years old, wasn’t fazed by the Orioles taking another catcher before him.
TAMPA – Zach Eflin is nearing a return to the Orioles’ rotation, perhaps next week in Cleveland.
Eflin tossed four innings yesterday in the Florida Complex League, allowing five unearned runs in the fourth. He threw 68 pitches, 40 for strikes, and said he felt “great” and “ready to go.”
The Orioles put Eflin on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 29 with lower back discomfort and he's itching to rejoin the club.
“I’ve been eager,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been ready. More so just to prove I can kind of do it yesterday. Back feels great.”
Eflin went on the IL earlier this season with a low-grade lat strain. He said the back discomfort has “kind of popped up the past couple years, like once a year, and typically takes like seven days to clear up and I’m pretty much good to go after that."
TAMPA - The Orioles signed another first-day draft pick today, Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, the 31st-overall selection.
Aloy receives the full slot value of $3,042,800, as reported by MLB.com’s Jim Callis.
The club already inked catchers Ike Irish and Caden Bodine, the 19th and 30th selections. The deadline for signings is July 28 at 5 p.m.
Aloy, 21, fell to the Orioles and they pounced. A native of Hawaii, he won the Golden Spikes and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year awards this year by slashing .350/.434/.673 with 19 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and 81 runs scored.
In three seasons, Aloy hit .332/.406/.609 with 43 doubles, seven triples, 49 homers and 170 RBIs in 181 games.
The Orioles today signed shortstop WEHIWA ALOY, the No. 31 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft.
Aloy, the Wailuku, Hawaii native and University of Arkansas product is the third of 24 Orioles draft picks to agree to terms, along with catchers IKE IRISH (No. 19 overall) and CADEN BODINE (No. 30 overall). The deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft selections is Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. ET.
TAMPA – Coby Mayo remembers the conversation he had last year with outfielder Kyle Stowers and the question posed to his friend.
“I asked him, ‘Would you rather be in the big leagues and not playing much or be down in Triple-A and playing every day,” Mayo recalled, “and he’s like, ‘I think being in the big leagues is very valuable, even if you’re not playing, just learning.’ Being able to watch the game and being around the coaches.”
The Orioles must agree because they’re carrying Mayo on the roster and sitting him much more than he plays.
Last night’s start against the Rays was only his third in the last 12 games. An 11-for-36 stretch over 11 games to finish June didn’t create a regular spot for him in the lineup.
Stowers made his first All-Star team with the Marlins and hit his 20th and 21st home runs last night, including a walk-off, to give him five blasts in his last two games.
TAMPA – Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino gathered his players today for a post-break meeting, a “good talk” with details that he wanted to keep private.
“I’m not gonna tell you the message, but it was multiple things,” he said this afternoon during his media scrum inside the visiting dugout at steamy George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Just a lot of the things kind of surrounding us, the challenges that kind of lay ahead, and also the opportunities that lay ahead.”
Mansolino wants his team to block out the distractions, including trade deadline talk, and to keep pushing. Play up to the level of talent. Treat the second half like a fresh start.
The Rays took all of the air out of an uplifting speech, busting it like a balloon.
Junior Caminero hit a three-run homer off Charlie Morton in the bottom of the first inning, Danny Jansen followed with a solo shot in the second, and the Orioles saw the game go from bad to worse in an 11-1 loss before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046.
TAMPA – The chances of Grayson Rodriguez facing batters in 2025 just took another hit.
Rodriguez is shut down again for an indefinite period due to the same elbow soreness that kept him from pitching in spring training after a March 5 game against the Twins in Fort Myers.
The injury report lists Rodriguez with right elbow inflammation but he initially was sidelined with a strained lat that forced the cancellation of an April 17 bullpen session. Rodriguez spoke earlier of triceps tendinitis.
Rodriguez had advanced to throwing breaking balls in his bullpen sessions but clearly was behind other pitchers on the IL, including Kyle Bradish, who’s recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery last June and will log two innings Saturday against live hitters in Sarasota before beginning a rehab assignment.
“We had to pull back a little bit on Grayson,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “There’s a little bit of elbow discomfort from the issue he had in spring training, same spot, so we’re gonna kind of pull back, we’re gonna reevaluate and we’ll probably have more information on that in the next week or so.”
TAMPA – The Orioles filled the opening on their 26-man roster by signing reliever Corbin Martin to a one-year major league contract.
Martin was designated for assignment Sunday before the Orioles knew that reliever Scott Blewett would go on the injured list with right elbow discomfort. Martin declined an outright assignment, became a free agent and signed a new contract.
The 40-man roster is full.
Zach Eflin’s rehab assignment was transferred to the Florida Complex League and he could be reinstated from the injured list if he gets through it without any setbacks.
Catcher Chadwick Tromp begins his rehab assignment at Class A Delmarva.
TAMPA – Less than a week after drafting catcher/outfielder Ike Irish in the first round, the Orioles got his signature on a contract.
Irish, 21, signed earlier today in Baltimore after passing his physical. The Orioles made him the 19th overall pick Sunday night out of Auburn University.
Irish, a left-handed hitter and Michigan-native climbed draft boards after slashing .364/.469/.710 with 13 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs, 58 RBIs, 33 walks, 37 strikeouts and 11 steals in 12 attempts over 55 games this season. In three college seasons, he slashed .350/.435/.625 with 48 doubles, five triples, 39 homers and 167 RBIs in 160 games.
Adding to the Irish intrigue is how he batted .325/.438/.433 last summer in the Cape Code League.
“First and foremost, we love his bat,” vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood said late Sunday night. “He’s a very polished bat, both on, really on all aspects of how you would want a hitter to be. Contact, power, swing decisions. Just really, really exciting hitter. He has the ability to catch, he has the ability to play corner outfield, he has the ability to play some first base, and we’re pretty big on defensive versatilities, so we’ll probably explore all those options.”
The Orioles today signed catcher IKE IRISH, the No. 19 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft.
Irish, the Hudsonville, Mich. native and Auburn University (AL) product, is the first of 24 Orioles draft picks to sign. The deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft selections is Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. ET.
Ryan O’Hearn came close to facing future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw tonight in his first career All-Star Game at-bat.
Kershaw was a “Legend Pick” by commissioner Rob Manfred, marking his 11th All-Star selection. The three-time Cy Young Award winner retired Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, the Home Run Derby champion, on a liner to left and struck out Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
On the verge of a tough left-on-left matchup, O’Hearn instead got Padres right-hander Jason Adam and struck out looking at a 2-2 slider that nicked the outer half of the plate.
O’Hearn pulled a changeup foul on the previous pitch – an almost double.
The American League put runners on the corners against Mets left-hander David Peterson with two outs in the fourth, and O’Hearn grounded a first-pitch slider back to the mound. Peterson jogged to first base and flipped the ball for the out.
Tony Mansolino is carving his own path since the Orioles named him interim manager on May 17. It usually happens twice a day in the auxiliary clubhouse, where he meets with the media before and after games.
Former manager Brandon Hyde would veer to the right, around the rows of metal folding chairs, to reach his seat at the table, and he’d go back out the same way. Reporters knew the routine and how to avoid slowing or bumping into him.
Mansolino paused on his first day to wait for a public relations official and crossed up everyone by walking down the middle of the room. More fullback than halfback, though his build doesn’t offer the same comparison.
In one sense, Mansolino is following in Hyde’s footsteps because of the role unexpectedly thrust upon him. He’s got the office now and usually stands in the same spot at the dugout railing, to the far left. But he’s also figuring out on the fly how to make it job his own, for however long it belongs to him.
“I didn’t ask for this, so that morning when that happened, that was as big of a shock to me as it was you guys,” he said earlier this week. “So I think when you just kind of get thrown into the fire, you’re trying to get your feet settled and adapt.”
The Orioles made 17 selections on the final day of the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, completing rounds 4-20. This year, Baltimore selected 24 players overall: 13 pitchers and 11 position players, with 21 of the selections being college athletes and three from the high school ranks. The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, five left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, five infielders, and two catchers.
ROUND | PLAYER |
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Here’s the latest with the Orioles from Day 2 of the draft:
Fourth round (124th): Colin Yeaman, shortstop. University of California-Irvine.
Yeaman, 21, was the Big West Player of the Year after batting .336/.447/.591 with 16 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 56 RBIs, 38 walks and 53 strikeouts in 60 games. He played two seasons at the College of the Canyons, batting .405 and .443 in a combined 56 games. He also underwent two surgeries on his left shoulder.
A lack of quickness and range, and average arm strength, could lead to a change in positions.
MLB Pipeline ranked Yeaman as the No. 97 prospect in the draft. His best tool is his bat, with a 55-grade hitting.
The Orioles didn’t stray from their preference for college bats in the first round of the 2025 draft. Only their season can be described as unpredictable.
With the 19th overall pick tonight, the Orioles selected Auburn catcher Ike Irish.
Irish, a 21-year-old left-handed hitter and Michigan-native, homered six times in his last eight games. He slashed .364/.469/.710 with 13 doubles, two triples, 19 homers, 58 RBIs, 33 walks, 37 strikeouts and 11 steals in 12 attempts over 55 games this season.
In three college seasons, Irish hit .350/.435/.625 with 48 doubles, five triples, 39 homers and 167 RBIs in 160 games. He batted .325/.438/.433 in the Cape Code League last summer.
Irish, listed at 6 foot 2 and 210 pounds, also plays the outfield. He caught in only 12 games this year, compared to playing 41 in right and four in left.
The Orioles couldn’t conclude the unofficial first half of their season until downing a few more shots of misfortune.
Another player went on the injured list. The start was delayed 1 hour and 38 minutes due to rain. And a former teammate homered three times as part of a five-hit, six-RBI day.
It kept getting incrementally worse for the Orioles, who lost to the Marlins 11-1 before an announced crowd of 17,759 at eventually sunny Camden Yards. They were outscored 17-1 in the last two games but avoided their 11th shutout on Ramón Laureano’s 426-foot home run in the eighth.
The chance to win three straight series for the first time this season disappeared along with four baseballs thrown by rookie Brandon Young.
Kyle Stowers produced a solo homer and a pair of two-run shots within the first five innings, and he also singled twice to further celebrate his return to Baltimore. Otto Lopez also went deep, and the Orioles were down 7-0 before the bottom half of the fifth.
Tonight, the Orioles have a whopping four picks in the top 37 of the MLB Draft.
Baltimore will select at No. 19, numbers 30 and 31 as compensation for losing Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander in free agency, and at No. 37, which they acquired in a trade that sent Bryan Baker to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Years ago, the O’s farm system was seen as the best in baseball, and one of the best that the game has seen in recent memory. Through promotions and trades for big league talent, though, the prospect talent has thinned out. Four high draft picks can certainly change those fortunes.
While the O’s have had the luxury of the No. 1 overall pick in Adley Rutschman and Jackson Holliday, they haven’t always needed it to select great players. Jordan Westburg was drafted 30th overall, Gunnar Henderson was a second-round pick, and Coby Mayo was a fourth rounder. There’s talent to be found everywhere if you know where to look.
There is a chance, now with four picks, that the Orioles use one of those selections on a pitcher. The general consensus and chatter throughout the industry, though, seems to be that the O’s will select a position player at No. 19. There haven’t been much tying Baltimore to an arm with their first pick.
The Orioles are ending the first half of the season today with Coby Mayo staying on the bench and the club sticking to its reasoning that winning games is the priority.
Mayo has started twice in the last 11 games and is 0-for-6 this month.
“I’ve talked to him a few times about it, just trying to communicate with him as good as I can, but a lot of it was the roster, and the addition of (Jordan) Westburg and T.O. (Tyler O’Neill) kind of take away spots,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.
“Every day you have a scenario with four outfielders that you want to play – (Cedric) Mullins, (Colton) Cowser, T.O. and Ramón (Laureano) who, when Ramón got here earlier in the year, I don’t think he was expected to become what he’s become. He’s been a really good player. And then, you have three corner infield guys, essentially, and the fourth would be Mayo. You have (Ramón) Urías, who’s in the lineup, who I think everybody in the room would agree needs to play more. But who do you play Urías over? Do you play him over Westburg? Do you play him over (Ryan) O’Hearn on the corners? When you’ve got the four outfielders, one of them is going to run through to the DH, and you have Coby, too.”
Mayo went through an 11-for-36 stretch over 11 games to finish June but isn’t benefiting from Ryan Mountcastle’s extended stay on the injured list with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. The sudden roster crunch hurts him. And the Orioles aren’t ready to use the majors as an extension of player development while fighting to make up ground in the Wild Card chase.
The Orioles tweaked their bullpen again this morning, recalling left-hander Grant Wolfram from Triple-A Norfolk and designating right-hander Corbin Martin for assignment.
The 40-man roster remains full.
Wolfram tossed two scoreless innings as the 27th man in Thursday’s doubleheader and earned his first major league win. He joins Gregory Soto as lefties in the ‘pen.
Soto only threw five pitches yesterday while letting an inherited runner score, but he also was used in Game 2 of the doubleheader.
The Orioles are 43-51 with one game remaining before the All-Star break. Yesterday’s loss left them 6 ½ back for the last Wild Card, with seven teams still ahead of them.
