Does it start to feel “real” to you now?
Of course, I recognize that we’re talking about baseball here. As significant as the Orioles’ three-game sweep of the Blue Jays was, this is a sport in which your highest highs can quickly become entangled with your lowest lows. By the time you discover this column after it is shared by PressBox’s social pages midweek, we could be furious about a deflating loss to the Yankees. Such is baseball.
But there feels to be a rather seismic shift during the course of the last two-plus weeks. Starting on May 5 against the Braves, the Orioles entered what appeared to be a rather brutal stretch of their schedule in which they’d be more consistently facing quality opposition. They’re still in the throes of the brutal stretch — there isn’t another sub-.500 team on the schedule until the Guardians come to Baltimore May 29 — but through the first 16 games, they’re 10-6.
Sweeping the Blue Jays, the team many considered to be the preseason AL East favorite, in Toronto? That just makes everything feel so much more important.
You understand what I’m saying, right? While oddsmakers and the proverbial “national media” expected regression from the Orioles this season, most of us believed things were still looking up. But even our bullishness had limits. We weren’t talking about the Orioles winning the World Series or anything. We just kinda thought that a team with more talent coming from the minors and a more fairly balanced schedule probably wouldn’t drop under .500.
Crazy, right? I’ll allow you a second to pause and give yourself an appropriate pat on the back. Don’t hurt yourself.
But let’s also be fair. We truly were measured in our beliefs about what this team was capable of. But now, we’re kinda wondering if we weren’t quite bullish enough, aren’t we? Like, why couldn’t a team that has the second-best record in all of a baseball be a viable threat to do seriously significant things? While we wrote off the Orioles’ chances (or those of any other team not named the Rays) of winning the AL East some time ago, they’re just 2.5 games back all of a sudden!
Everything is starting to feel very real. And everything is starting to feel super important.
My friend (and former Orioles pitcher) Steve Johnson and I were texting this weekend about the Orioles’ overall situation and the significant pending decisions they need to make regarding Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, potential extensions and trades. We were talking specifically about the idea of acquiring a pitcher when he said, “These young pitchers are battling their asses off though … just glad I don’t have to make those decisions.”
That hit me … hard. The biggest reason for the Orioles’ strong play against those top teams this month has been the sudden turnaround of the starting pitching. So while we clamor for a Corbin Burnes, who exactly is it that we’re ready to bump out of the rotation right now? We thought it was Dean Kremer a few weeks ago … and suddenly he’s maybe the team’s best starter. We were afraid it might be trending toward it being Grayson Rodriguez before his strong start against the Jays … but we certainly didn’t want it to be him.
And keep in mind, we’re still expecting John Means to return and provide a boost and we would kinda like an answer on DL Hall too.
So even if there’s an injury between now and then, someone would need to be booted for a deadline acquisition. As Steve Johnson said, these guys are “battling their asses off.” He’s right!
I’ve long held that I didn’t believe the Orioles could win a World Series this season because the profile of a World Series winner typically includes two legitimate top-of-the-rotation types of pitchers. That wasn’t as big of an issue when I didn’t believe they were a World Series contender. The Orioles could spend this season getting answers on their starters, separate who was real from who wasn’t and then acquire the “ace” they needed this offseason.
But now … things are real. Now there’s a chance that if they don’t make that type of acquisition at the trade deadline, it could prove to be the difference for a team that otherwise had a legitimate chance at winning a title.
Admittedly, I’m starting to wonder if perhaps Westburg might prove to be the best trade asset. While Orioles fans might prefer the team try to move Joey Ortiz and/or Connor Norby to land a frontline pitcher, those players just simply aren’t as valuable as prospects. Given what’s otherwise already here and what’s still to come among middle infield and third base prospects, it’s hard feel confident in what Westburg’s role might definitively be for the club long term. Even if the Orioles move on from Jorge Mateo as an everyday player, the allure of playing Gunnar Henderson at short (or committing to Ortiz given his defensive prowess) might be particularly appealing.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m ready to run Westburg off, either. You know, there’s no guarantee one pitcher will make the Orioles a World Series winner, and Westburg could prove to be a special player.
Still, something has to give soon, right? Things have gotten too real. But how does “real” become “championship-contending?”
Like Steve said, I’m “just glad I don’t have to make those decisions.”
Photo Credit: Scott Sears