The Orioles haven’t come close to meeting preseason expectations. Two weeks since Brandon Hyde was fired as manager, Baltimore has played marginally better baseball but is still one of the worst teams in the big leagues.
The on-field performance hasn’t been good, with the Orioles sitting at or near the bottom of the American League in key hitting and pitching categories. But they’ve also been incredibly plagued by injuries. Whenever a player comes off the injured list, a new one goes on seemingly simultaneously.
That makes a season turnaround even more challenging. Not only do the Orioles have to battle on the field, they’re fighting another one just to stay healthy.
“There’s no sympathy in this game,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “With whatever we have, whoever we have, we’ve got to go give our best effort and try to win the game.”
The Orioles have 12 players either on the 10- or 60-day injured list, the most in the American League. The Blue Jays, Astros and Guardians are all next closest with 10 players. Baltimore’s most recent injury additions are Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins, both placed on the 10-day list this weekend.
Mountcastle rebounded from a rough March and April by slashing .298/.320/.394 in May. He went 7-for-12 with three extra-base hits in his last three games before suffering a right hamstring strain in Friday’s 2-1 win against the White Sox. Mansolino said before Saturday’s game that the Orioles are hopeful the injury isn’t severe.
Mullins had been a mainstay as Baltimore’s everyday center fielder and the team’s leader in home runs and RBIs ahead of suffering his own right hamstring strain. Mansolino said Mullins will likely stay on the injured list only for the minimum 10 days, retroactive to May 29.
Mullins’ injury is especially damaging because the Orioles now don’t have a clear center fielder on the roster.
Jordyn Adams, who played all three outfield positions for Triple-A Norfolk, had his contract selected ahead of Saturday’s game but is a career .176 hitter in 74 big league at-bats. Ramón Laureano, Jorge Mateo and Dylan Carlson have all played in center this year, but that position isn’t the best fit for any of them. Carlson and Laureano are primarily corner outfielders, while Mateo is a middle infielder turned occasional center fielder.
Laureano has been on the injured list since May 24 with a left ankle sprain. That came less than a week after fellow outfielder Tyler O’Neill was placed on the injured list with left shoulder impingement. O’Neill started baseball activities a few days ago but still needs to go on a rehab stint.
While the injuries have piled up, O’Neill still has optimism for the rest of the season.
“It sure added up this year,” O’Neill said. “A lot of our key players have been hurt. And it sucks. But it’s part of the game; things happen. It’s a 162-game season for a reason. Hopefully we all get back and healthy soon enough.”
Baltimore has been without Colton Cowser for almost the entire season. The Orioles’ opening day left fielder hasn’t played since the fourth game of the year after injuring his left thumb sliding into first base.
Cowser and infielder Jordan Westburg are on a rehab assignment with Norfolk. Westburg missed all of May with a left hamstring strain.
Three Baltimore starters — Grayson Rodriguez (elbow, lat), Tyler Wells (elbow) and Kyle Bradish (elbow) — have yet to pitch this season. The pitching has monumentally been hurt because of it.
The third wild card team in the American League has won 86 games in two of the three full seasons since the postseason format change. The Orioles will need to go 65-40 for the rest of the season to reach that number.
They need better play to do that. Fewer injuries also will help.
“It’s definitely been challenging,” Cowser said. “It’s definitely been tough with how things have gone this year.”
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