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SEATTLE – The Orioles will go for back-to-back series sweeps today and run their winning streak to six straight games with Colton Cowser getting a rest day and Jorge Mateo playing center field.
Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter. Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base, with Coby Mayo on the bench.
Heston Kjerstad gets another start in right field. Emmanuel Rivera is at third base.
Zach Eflin has a 4.46 ERA and 1.091 WHIP in 40 1/3 innings. He shut out the White Sox over seven innings in his last outing after surrendering seven home runs in the previous two.
Eflin has never pitched in Seattle.
The Orioles handed out bowling shirts today to the first 15,000 fans. Zach Eflin didn’t spare the White Sox, but when would the offense strike?
It took until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs and scored twice on a sacrifice fly and double steal. They didn’t offer much support and little was needed.
Eflin shut out the White Sox over seven innings and the Orioles began the series with a 2-1 win before an announced crowd of 22,108 at Camden Yards.
Félix Bautista surrendered two doubles in the ninth inning, the second by Andrew Benintendi with two outs. Luis Robert Jr. walked with the count full in an eight-pitch at-bat before Bautista nailed down his ninth save.
Disaster didn't strike.
The Orioles hired former major league outfielder/first baseman and coach John Mabry as senior advisor. The announcement came this afternoon.
The current coaches will remain with the club for the rest of the 2025 season.
Mabry played in the majors for 14 season and was a coach with the Cardinals, Royals and Marlins over a span of 12 seasons. He spent the 2024 season as Miami’s hitting coach after being an assistant the previous year.
Utility player Cooper Hummel, who declined an outright assignment last night and became a free agent, has signed another one-year major league contract with the Orioles. He’s replacing center fielder Cedric Mullins, who goes on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.
Mullins was out of the lineup in three of four games before Wednesday. Today’s move is retroactive to yesterday.
The Orioles didn’t play yesterday and got some good news. Colton Cowser had his injury rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Norfolk, led off and played center field yesterday in Game 1 of a doubleheader after back-to-back rainouts, and finished with three doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Jordan Westburg began his rehab assignment, batted behind Cowser as the designated hitter and had an RBI single and walk.
Cowser is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day IL today and he’s played in four games, the first three with High-A Aberdeen. The Orioles must decide whether that’s enough. Westburg was eligible on May 7, but the left hamstring hadn’t healed and his assignment was delayed.
Bringing back important players is a much-needed shot in the arm because the roster is riddled with holes. Ramón Laureano, Tyler O’Neill and Gary Sánchez will be next in some order. Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells are plowing through their bullpen progressions, making them expected contributors after the break.
The unfortunate development for the Orioles and their fans is the 19-36 record, 16-game separation from the first-place Yankees and 11-game separation in the Wild Card chase. Is it too late?
They lost two “winnable” games against the Cardinals, going a combined 4-for-31 with runners in scoring position, but the White Sox are in town this weekend.
BOSTON – The Orioles led 2-0 yesterday and lost 19-5. They took a 2-0 lead today in the first inning in Game 1 of a doubleheader, it began to pour again, Jarren Duran homered on Zach Eflin’s second pitch, and play was paused so the grounds crew could spread a drying compound on the field, mound and around home plate.
Players walked to the dugout and waited about six minutes. Eflin returned, retired Rafael Devers on a ground ball and surrendered a game-tying home run to Wilyer Abreu.
Teams talk about the value in getting a reset. Can an entire series be eligible for one?
Eflin tried to demolish the built-in excuse for a poor outing by carrying a lead into the sixth inning. The Orioles lost it, and eventually the game when Devers singled up the middle off Gregory Soto in the 10th to give the Red Sox a 6-5 walk-off victory at Fenway Park.
A three-run fifth inning appeared to fuel the Orioles’ second win in 11 games and fourth in 19, but the Red Sox scored twice in the sixth to tie the game, with Gunnar Henderson’s throwing error a big contributor. Greg Weissert tossed a scoreless 10th, with Jorge Mateo striking out to strand two after entering the game earlier as a pinch-runner.
Tony Mansolino stood on the top step of the Orioles’ dugout this afternoon with his arms folded. He extended them while leaning against the railing with his fingers locked. He pulled out a card from his back pocket. He did all of it within about a minute in the top of the second inning, while another game got away from the team he now manages.
Like his players, he couldn't get comfortable.
The Nationals hit four homers off Zach Eflin on four different pitches in 1 1/3 innings to tie his career high. They hung seven runs on the board through the second. And they became the latest opponent to sweep the Orioles with a 10-4 victory before an announced crowd of 37,264 at Camden Yards.
The loss is the sixth in a row for the Orioles, 12th in 14 games and 19th in 25 to lower their record to 15-30. They didn’t lose their 30th game last year until June 25.
"I don’t think there’s really any words I can tell you," Eflin said. "It’s frustrating, it sucks. Losing is not fun by any means. We’re not necessarily having fun right now. We want to go out and win every single game that we play, and it’s just not happening right now. Don’t really have much more to elaborate on that."
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill is back on the injured list, this time with a left shoulder impingement.
The Orioles recalled outfielder Dylan Carlson to replace O’Neill, who was out previously with inflammation in his neck.
O’Neill is batting .188/.280/.325 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs in 24 games. He hasn’t played since Thursday and was scratched from Friday’s lineup.
This is O'Neill's 16th career trip to the IL.
Carlson is recalled for the third time, the last two for O’Neill. He was on the taxi squad this weekend. He’s 0-for-15 with eight strikeouts.
A 2-4 road trip through Minneapolis and Anaheim isn’t cause for celebration. Lockers weren’t covered in plastic yesterday. And to be clear, last-place teams don’t have soft spots in their schedules, especially one with a worse record than the opponent.
However, Zach Eflin’s return to the rotation, Cedric Mullins’ emergence from a slump and Gunnar Henderson wearing a pirate hat while drinking from the homer hose created a more festive mood for the Orioles heading into the off-day and return home.
Being swept at Target Field felt like a death blow, though it’s only May, but the Orioles claimed two of three against the Angels and won their first Sunday game. They improved to 3-9 against left-handed starters.
“Gotta start somewhere,” manager Brandon Hyde said in his media scrum.
“Today was a good day."
ANAHEIM – The Orioles needed a bounceback in the worst way.
After being swept in three games in Minnesota, the Birds flew to Anaheim in search of answers. Perhaps they found some in a 7-3 victory that wrapped up a series win.
The sun was shining brightly on a beautiful Mother’s Day in Anaheim. It was a bit too bright, perhaps, for Taylor Ward.
Gunnar Henderson led off the game with a left-on-left double into the right-center field gap. A few batters later, it appeared as if the O’s had stranded another runner in scoring position when Adley Rutschman flew a ball with a 99 percent catch probability to left. Instead, Ward lost the ball in the Sunday sun and it dropped safely onto the outfield grass for a Rutschman triple. Henderson scored, and the Birds had given Zach Eflin an early 1-0 lead.
That advantage quickly dissipated.
The Orioles are facing a left-hander today, the Angels’ Tyler Anderson, which again puts them at a statistical disadvantage.
The team is hitting .178/.257/.245 against lefties this season.
Manager Brandon Hyde lowered Cedric Mullins to eighth and is batting Gunnar Henderson leadoff.
Mullins moved down to sixth in the order last night and went 0-for-4 to increase his slump to one hit in his last 34 at-bats. He’s 0-for-19.
Mullins still needs one RBI for 300 in his career. Henderson needs one for 200.
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill was reinstated from the injured list yesterday and Zach Eflin should follow on Sunday to start the final game of the road trip. Reliever Andrew Kittredge made his second rehab appearance on Thursday. Infielder Ramón Urías is trending toward a return perhaps by Tuesday or Wednesday after the latest break in the schedule.
Unable to get on a roll that moves them out of last place, the Orioles are implementing a new tactic this month - subtracting from the IL instead of adding to it.
Can’t hurt to try it.
Fifteen different Orioles have gone on the IL this season, only two fewer than in 2024. That’s the most in the American League and second in the majors to the Dodgers’ 17.
The White Sox and Reds have 15 different players, and the Marlins and Mets have 14.
MINNEAPOLIS - Zach Eflin threw a bullpen session today and is ready to be reinstated from the injured list.
Eflin is scheduled to start this weekend in Anaheim in his first appearance since April 7. He’s allowed six runs in 18 innings, giving the Orioles three quality starts.
Finally, the Orioles are taking from the IL instead of adding to it.
Eflin made one rehab start and tossed four scoreless innings at High-A Aberdeen. He’s recovered from a mild lat strain and can slip into come-to-rescue mode for a rotation that ranks last in the American League and 28th in the majors with a 5.75 ERA.
Charlie Morton is starting tonight after three relief appearances, and Dean Kremer gets the ball Thursday afternoon to finish the series. Cade Povich started last night.
MINNEAPOLIS – Zach Eflin accompanied the Orioles to Minneapolis and will throw a bullpen session tomorrow afternoon at Target Field as a follow-up to Sunday’s rehab start with High-A Aberdeen.
Eflin will make his return this weekend against the Angels in Anaheim. He’d be on normal rest Friday night if that’s the chosen date.
“I’m feeling great, obviously, here traveling with the team,” he said. “As close as I can be to being ready and kind of just waiting to get back out there.”
Eflin made three starts with the Orioles, completing six innings in each appearance and posting a 3.00 ERA. He went on the injured list with a right lat strain after holding the Diamondbacks to one run on April 7 in Arizona, vowing to make it a short stay and doing everything possible to get back quickly.
“I’d like to say so, but at the same time I have to listen to the training staff,” he said. “It’s an amazing training staff and if it was my way, I would have liked maybe a day or two extra and then not even go on the IL, but I understand there was something there in my lat and I had to listen to the trainers, I had to listen to my body. Nothing that you ever want to do, go on the IL. You just don’t feel like you’re a part of the team. You want to be out there kind of in the trenches with the guys every day, so it’s hard to kind of have that reality, but at the end of the day, I think it’s what my body needed to be able to go out and make every start for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
April wasn’t the Orioles’ month.
After entering the season with lofty expectations, Baltimore has fallen flat to kick off the new campaign. The Birds won just 9 of their 25 contests in April, bringing more showers than flowers. Maybe that’s what May is for.
The O’s went 17-9 in May of 2024, and they would love a repeat performance in 2025 to turn their season around.
Here, let’s break down five factors that could propel them in the right direction.
Zach Eflin
The Orioles lost one of their most versatile players and productive hitters in the latest injury to strike the club.
Ramón Urías is on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain that manager Brandon Hyde described today as “mild.” The move is retroactive to Thursday, making Urías eligible to return on May 11.
Coby Mayo, the No. 2 prospect in the system and 12th in baseball per MLB Pipeline, was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move.
Urías played Wednesday night and went 2-for-4 with a home run. He reached on an infield single in the eighth inning.
The Orioles had Urías starting at third base yesterday but he was scratched due to the sore hamstring. Emmanuel Rivera replaced him, had an RBI single in the seventh inning and is at third base again tonight.
Orioles executive vice president Mike Elias spent about 15 minutes in the dugout today talking about the state of his 12-18 team and why he thinks it can get back to playoff form and meet the high expectations carried into the season.
He blames injuries and inconsistencies among players. And he continues to take responsibility for the record based on his role in the front office.
“It’s been really disappointing for all of us in the organization,” he said. “It’s been very difficult and we have not performed to expectations, so we all feel that. I feel that. I look at the team, look at things, and with the offense, the position player group, I think we’ve had obviously a lot of health issues. We’ve had some guys individually with just literally tough luck on the balls that they’re hitting. And then we’ve got a lot of players and guys with long major league track records who just aren’t performing to their norms. So all those being the case, I’m really optimistic and we’re optimistic that we’re gonna work out of that and things are gonna get better.
“With the starting rotation, having injuries and also starting so poorly and putting us in a bad spot because of that, it is difficult to contend with that level of injuries. But even that aside, they’ve had a poor start and that’s my responsibility and I’m in charge of baseball operations and when we have a bad record to start the year, that’s my responsibility. But we are all working very hard and we have a lot of faith in this very talented group, and piece by piece, step by step, we’re gonna get guys healthier, we’re gonna get guys performing more to their norms.
“If there’s something we can fix with a player, we’re working on that. And I’m very optimistic and confident that we have a lot better baseball ahead and we’re gonna play like the way that we should be this season.”
DETROIT – The Orioles couldn’t wait any longer on Tyler O’Neill.
Prior to today’s doubleheader, the Orioles placed O’Neill on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his neck and recalled outfielder Dylan Carlson from Triple-A Norfolk.
The move is backdated to Thursday and O’Neill is eligible to be reinstated on May 4.
“He’s been dealing with that probably since last week,” said manager Brandon Hyde.
“When he’s able to come off the IL, we’re expecting him to not miss any more time.”
The news was good in the way that Orioles manager Brandon Hyde presented it yesterday.
How high you choose to raise your hopes is up to you.
Grayson Rodriguez sought additional opinions after undergoing imaging on his sore right shoulder, which always leads to the worst assumptions. I said it, too. Athletes don’t normally contact other physicians or surgeons if the first appointment brought positive results.
Hyde told the assembled media yesterday in D.C. that Rodriguez has a “mild lat strain,” and that he improved “quite a bit this last week.” He also described Rodriguez as “symptom-free.” Sadly, I’ve become optimism-free based on the number of times that mild has led to months-long absences from the active roster.
Rodriguez won’t begin throwing again for a couple of weeks, so the Orioles aren’t getting him back anytime soon. He’s starting over again with flat ground tossing, bullpen sessions, live batting practice and a rehab assignment in the minors. Meanwhile, the rotation must hold up with Zach Eflin also sidelined by a lat strain.
Heston Kjerstad walked into the clubhouse this morning with his right elbow wrapped in white tape and a smile on his face.
He seemed fine last night after leaving the game with a bruised elbow from the 99.5 mph fastball from the Reds’ Hunter Greene that slammed into his arm in the first inning. He swung both arms while walking to his locker and fist-bumped a teammate. And he went out to the field today to do a health check.
Fortunately for Kjerstad, the ball hit part of the protective elbow gear and part of the arm, which caused some numbness in his hand. He wasn’t able to bat in the third inning, and Ramón Laureano hit two home runs off the bench.
X-rays came back negative.
The timing for Kjerstad is unfortunate. He began the game slashing .353/.389/.941 with a double, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs scored since April 12.
The Orioles have come up short on victories early in the season, but they aren’t running low on reasons why and theories on how to turn it around.
Having nine players on the injured list, including top two starters Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez, outfielder Colton Cowser and relievers Albert Suárez and Andrew Kittredge, set up the club to begin slowly. The depth took a hit, especially with pitchers Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott also on the IL.
The rotation posted a 5.54 ERA that ranked last in the majors before Dean Kremer held the Guardians to one run in 5 1/3 innings, and 79 2/3 innings from the unit were tied with Cleveland for 29th. Bullpen usage is tricky with Félix Bautista unable to work back-to-back days or go multiple innings, and with left-hander Cionel Pérez carrying a 14.21 ERA and 3.158 WHIP in six appearances. The offense sputters. The defense breaks down randomly, offering the best and worst last night.
The problems don’t go ignored.
“We’re talking about it every day and trying to figure out how we can help these guys, give them confidence. Be honest about how we’re playing. Nobody’s hiding from it,” manager Brandon Hyde said before a 9-1 win.
