-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
Winning matters to Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino and the players who remain in the clubhouse. Time cards aren’t punched. Flight reservations aren’t made in advance. They intend to compete every night.
The games still count.
It’s just a whole lot harder to claim them.
This is the life of a seller, a role which the Orioles haven’t portrayed in the past few years. They didn’t expect to do it in 2025, but they were torn apart again by injuries, underperformed, fired their manager and eventually began to make trades that wouldn’t impact the club this year or probably next.
Bryan Baker going to the Rays brought back the 37th-overall pick in the draft, who became Oregon prep outfielder and aspiring musician Slater de Brun. “Lil Slayyy” will have his dayyy, but it won’t be anytime soon.
Being sellers doesn’t always equate to being losers. A team can hit four home runs in the first two innings and pretend that stripping the roster of key players isn’t a detriment.
And it can blow a lead and fall to the worst team in baseball, a reminder of why the front office is punting on 2025.
The Rockies overcame a four-run deficit, were tied in the seventh and got a solo homer from Ezequiel Tovar off Andrew Kittredge in the eighth to defeat the Orioles 6-5 before an announced floppy hat crowd of 25,090 at Camden Yards.
Alex Jackson doubled against reliever Jake Bird with one out in the seventh and scored the tying run on Jackson Holliday’s single. Kittredge entered in the eighth, struck out his first batter and surrendered his fourth homer in 28 appearances. Two more Rockies struck out.
"That's a bitter one right there," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "It feels like here lately we've thrown up some good numbers early in games on that last road trip, and we just haven't been able to hang on. Part of that is pitching and part of that is not adding more runs as the game goes on. We have to add more runs. We had a couple spots we could have. We didn't get it done, unfortunately, tonight. Got to add more runs and got to hold leads."
Another reliever walked out the door today when the Orioles traded Gregory Soto to the Mets for minor league pitchers Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster. Seranthony Domínguez knows that he could be the next one.
The bullpen is a hot spot in trade discussions.
Domínguez and Soto came to the Orioles is separate trades with the Phillies last summer, the latter on deadline day. Domínguez texted Soto earlier today after receiving the news.
“It’s part of the business,” Domínguez said. “We do what we have to do. I wish him the best and good luck to him.
“It’s hard when you get traded. You’ve got to move from somewhere to another (place) and get new teammates. But I wish the best for him and wait for what happens.”
The Orioles are selecting infielder Jeremiah Jackson’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk and will be short one reliever after trading left-hander Gregory Soto to the Mets.
Jackson, 25, is batting a combined .311/.340/.538 with 30 doubles, 15 home runs and 41 RBIs in 83 games between Norfolk and Double-A Chesapeake. He’s never played in the majors.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said he won't have an update on closer Félix Bautista (shoulder) until next week.
The Orioles return to Camden Yards for a six-game homestand that begins with three against the Rockies.
Gunnar Henderson is on the bench. He’s leading the Orioles in hits, doubles and triples for the second straight season. Brooks Robinson was the last player in franchise history to do it in consecutive seasons from 1960-62, per STATS.
The Orioles acquired reliever Gregory Soto at last year’s trade deadline. Today, they’ve moved him to another team.
Soto is going to the Mets for a pair of pitching prospects, according to a source.
The left-hander is the second player moved after reliever Bryan Baker, traded to the Rays on July 10 for the 37th-overall pick in the draft. The Orioles will receive 20-year-old right-hander Wellington Aracena and 26-year-old right-hander Cameron Foster in exchange for Soto.
Aracena is the Mets’ No. 19 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The Dominican native had a 2.38 ERA and 1.135 WHIP in 17 games (eight starts) with Single-A St. Lucie in the Florida State League. He didn’t surrender a home run in 64 1/3 innings and averaged 4.9 walks and 11.8 strikeouts.
Over four minor league seasons, Aracena has a 4.53 ERA and 1.497 WHIP in 57 games (34 starts) and has walked 123 batters and struck out 214 in 173 innings. He’s surrendered only six home runs.
Make it 26.
That’s how many different Orioles have gone on the injured list this season, two more than the total in 2021, seven more than in 2012 and 2008, and nine more than in 2024, 2018 and 2015. And we’re not taking into account the repeat visitors like Tyler O’Neill, Zach Eflin and Gary Sánchez.
Félix Bautista became the 26th yesterday, retroactive to Monday, with right shoulder discomfort. The only good news is that his surgically-repaired elbow is fine.
Trying to put a positive spin on 2025 can create shoulder and elbow pain. What else can possibly go wrong?
Don’t answer.
The Orioles have signed all of their 2025 draft picks within the first 10 rounds.
The overall total grew to 14 out of 24 today with center fielder Slater de Brun, the 37th selection out of Summit High School in Oregon.
de Brun, 18, was the fourth of seven first-day picks for the Orioles, and his selection was lauded by the draft media experts. He batted .370/.586/.603 with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 26 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in 29 games during his senior season.
The Oregon native is a left-handed hitter, 65-grade runner and 60-grade fielder, and the Corbin Carroll comps were prevalent leading up to the draft.
Only one of them can claim to be an aspiring musician who goes by Lil Slayyy” and has put out country singles like "Break My Heart" and "Find me a Bar.” de Brun can afford to buy a round for the house, but he isn’t old enough to partake.
The Orioles couldn’t go more than a day with only 14 players on the injured list.
Félix Bautista joined it this morning for the first time this season. He’s on the 15-day IL with right shoulder discomfort.
Reliever Kade Strowd was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.
Bautista alerted the dugout in the seventh inning last night that he was unavailable. Interim manager Tony Mansolino told the assembled media later that “something didn’t feel right” and the club would have more information today.
Bautista threw a season-high 34 pitches Sunday in Tampa after going 10 days without appearing in a game. He earned the save but it was a struggle, with Bautista allowing a run and walking three batters.
Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy doesn’t possess a broad knowledge of the team that drafted him 31st overall earlier this month. He grew up in Hawaii and attended college at Sacramento State and Arkansas. He won’t nail a quiz on the Orioles, though he’s probably done some homework since hearing his name called.
Here’s what he does know, which he shared yesterday in a video call with the local media:
“Just the development of players that have come through here. Seen it for a long time now and it’s just getting better every day.”
That’s what the Orioles expect Aloy to do.
They were linked to him at No. 19 in some mocks, but he fell to their third pick of the evening. The first round wasn’t in doubt. The only mystery was where he’d land, and the answer came while he sat on a couch with his parents, grandmother and sister.
Zach Eflin was reinstated from the injured list earlier today and is making tonight’s start in Cleveland, as the Orioles try to rebound from back-to-back losses to the Guardians. They’ve dropped six of their last seven games.
Brandon Young was optioned to make room for Eflin. Young has posted a 7.34 ERA and 1.761 WHIP in seven starts, and he failed to complete the fifth inning in six of them.
Catcher Maverick Handley was moved from the seven-day concussion injured list to the 10-day IL with a sprained right wrist. And left-hander Keegan Akin had his injury rehab assignment transferred from the Florida Complex League to Triple-A Norfolk.
Eflin hasn’t pitched for the Orioles since facing the Rays on June 28 and allowing four runs and five hits in one inning. He was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in three innings at Yankee Stadium in his previous start and for seven runs and 12 hits in five innings in Tampa on June 16.
Eflin has a career 7.71 ERA and 1.714 WHIP in two starts against the Guardians, with eight runs and 14 hits in 9 1/3 innings. But his lone start at Progressive Field resulted in two runs allowed in 6 1/3.
There are times when it must feel like manager Christian Frias and his players are operating under a cloak of anonymity.
The higher-level affiliates usually get the most attention as players inch closer to the major league roster. The Orioles have three teams in the state of Maryland with Double-A Chesapeake, High-A Aberdeen and Class A Delmarva, and Triple-A Norfolk is a relatively easy drive. But down in Sarasota, the Florida Complex League entry plays in intense heat and out of sight except for some locals.
The regular season is winding down, with only two games left and plenty of drama. The FCL Orioles split a doubleheader yesterday with the Twins, the team that they trail by two games for first place in the South Division and face two more times this week. They lead the FCL Blue Jays by one game for the Wild Card.
Developing players is the No. 1 priority, but victories also count in the minors, even on one of the lowest rungs of the organizational ladder.
“It’s development first, and if you happen to win while doing it, I mean, we’ll take it,” Frias said.
Catcher Adley Rutschman began his injury rehab assignment this afternoon with Triple-A Norfolk and went 1-for-3 with a double and walk at Lehigh Valley.
Rutschman, who served as the designated hitter, hasn’t played for the Orioles since June 19 because of a strained left oblique. Interim manager Tony Mansolino told the assembled media in Cleveland that Rutschman will catch for the Tides on Wednesday and could be reinstated this weekend.
Samuel Basallo, the top prospect in the organization, remains out of the lineup with a sore oblique. He didn’t play over the weekend, but is beginning a hitting progression and could return this weekend.
Basallo, who turns 21 next month, is batting .264/.383/.591 with 11 doubles, 19 home runs and 48 RBIs in 62 games.
Catcher Chadwick Tromp, on the injured list with a lower back strain, had his rehab assignment transferred to High-A Aberdeen.
The roster makeover that’s anticipated at the trade deadline could create a stiffer challenge in selecting a Most Valuable Oriole.
Players must be in the organization to remain eligible in voting by media that covers the team, or at least talks about it, with maybe the occasional stops at the ballpark.
(I want transparency in the voting because each season brings at least one ridiculous ballot. But I digress …)
Ryan O’Hearn, the lone All-Star on the team, profiles as the favorite. However, he could be gone by July 31. He’s generating the expected interest and he’s a pending free agent, which makes him a strong candidate.
Ramón Laureano deserves to be on the three-man ballot. He gave the Orioles a 5-3 lead last night with his 12th homer, a two-run shot in the third inning. He certainly qualifies as one of the season’s biggest surprises, ranking second with a 2.2 bWAR, but will he get moved later this month?
Reliever Vinny Nittoli is coming back to the Orioles organization.
Nittoli, 34, signed a minor league deal and is reporting to Triple-A Norfolk after opting out of his contract with the Brewers last week.
Nittoli posted a 3.86 ERA in 27 games with Triple-A Nashville, striking out 37 batters in 28 innings. He tossed four scoreless innings with the Orioles over two games in 2024.
Left-handed reliever Keegan Akin began his injury rehab assignment today in the Florida Complex League and tossed a scoreless first inning against the FCL Rays with one hit and two strikeouts.
Akin is on the injured list retractive to July 1 with left shoulder inflammation. He’s appeared in 39 games with the Orioles and posted a 3.32 ERA and 1.421 WHIP in 38 innings. He’s started three times as an opener.
TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is willing to talk about the weather and how miserably hot it gets in Florida. He loves to share stories about his two young sons, learning the sport through his father, Doug, and pretty much any topic that isn’t a guarded club secret. But just like his predecessor, Mansolino knows that most of the media sessions begin with injury and rehab updates.
There’s no escaping it – just like the heat.
The interim manager was happy to pass along the latest positive report on Kyle Bradish, who is following his two innings of live batting practice over the weekend with his first rehab start Thursday at High-A Aberdeen.
Bradish made his last Orioles appearance on June 14, 2024 against the Phillies, allowing two runs in five innings and coming out after only 74 pitches. The red flag was raised and flapped in the breeze. A pitcher who received a platelet-rich plasma injection in January after his diagnosis of an ulnar collateral ligament sprain was on borrowed time, and the clock struck 12 on a Baltimore evening.
We’ll assume that it was muggy.
TAMPA – The Orioles took a quick lead again this afternoon with Jackson Holliday’s leadoff home run. They built on it in the third inning with Alex Jackson’s first homer since last July. They keep playing to win, as reflected by the lineups, but there’s no escaping the reality of their situation.
Today’s 5-3 victory over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field featured a 2-hour, 36-minute rain delay – longest of the season - prevented a sweep and left the Orioles 10 games below .500 at 44-54. They’re playing four this week in Cleveland before returning home. And each day that passes makes them wonder how much the clubhouse will change.
If it’s a distraction, the Orioles pushed it aside today. They led 4-0 by the third on Henderson’s 109.2 mph, two-run double off Ryan Pepiot. The only losses came later in the inning when plate umpire James Hoye ejected Ramón Laureano and interim manager Tony Mansolino.
Laureano thought he checked his swing on a strikeout, flung his helmet and protective padding at home plate and was tossed. Mansolino picked up the argument after Laureano walked away and received his first career major league ejection.
Ramón Urias entered the game at first base and Ryan O’Hearn moved to right field.
TAMPA – Kyle Bradish will begin his injury rehab assignment Thursday with High-A Aberdeen, staying on track for a second-half return to the Orioles’ rotation.
Bradish had two ups yesterday during live batting practice in Sarasota.
Adley Rutschman (oblique) will start his rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s getting at-bats today against Tyler Wells, who’s nearing his own assignment.
First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (hamstring) will join Rutschman later in the week.
Left-hander Cade Povich (hip) starts Thursday or Friday at Norfolk.
TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is new to this whole managing thing, carrying his interim tag into every major league ballpark and a few of the minor league fill-ins, but he’s a quick study and knows that he can’t control the narrative.
The media’s gonna media.
The pressure of the approaching trade deadline could be impacting the Orioles, who are predicted by some outlets to be the most active team with a bundle of pending free agents on the table and hopes of contending fading like old jeans.
Or it isn’t. The blame might fall instead to deficiencies in the rotation, a slumping offense and an injury bug that could devour an entire city. The Orioles had 25 different players on the injured list in the first half to tie the White Sox for most in the majors. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets were next with 22, which is an important note because they seemed to cope better than the others.
“I’m an optimist in every which way, so I’ve never gravitated toward the feel sorry for me or everything’s terrible or everything’s negative,” Mansolino said. “I tend to look at the opportunity that somebody else gets and look at the possibility of doing great.
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."
