This week I will share a few observations from watching our 37-22 Baltimore Orioles before getting into my power rankings.
1. Aaron Hicks may still have something left.
There used to be a saying back in the glory days under Earl Weaver: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Of course, Weaver merely borrowed it from the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. And now we’ll borrow it from Weaver to describe how this team keeps on winning.
Of course, now we’ll find out just how important Cedric Mullins was to this club. He’s likely out for several more weeks with a strained groin. The club moved decisively to replace him with Aaron Hicks, a former first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins. Had uber prospect Colton Cowser not been just returning from an injured list stint himself, perhaps this would have played out differently.
The fact that Cowser would need some games to ramp back up led the Orioles to Hicks. It was my initial feeling that Hicks would make a very short stay here, a la Brett Phillips acquisition at the 2022 trade deadline. That still could be the case, but let me look at the flip side of how this might work out.
Hicks, who signed a seven-year, $70 million deal with the New York Yankees back in March 2019, has been injured for much of his time since signing that contract. But perhaps it all snowballed for Hicks, like we’ve seen for so many Yankees in the past. Once injuries become a factor and the New York fans start booing, that ballplayer begins to put an inordinate amount of stress on himself. It creates a psychological environment that greatly curtails his ability to maximize his performance.
So far, Hicks has looked more than capable of manning the center field position and he has shown an ability to be a tough guy to pitch to. The better Hicks performs — and he is still owed $27 million by the Yankees — the better it is for the Orioles, even when Mullins can lace up the cleats again.
2. There has been a not-so-subtle change to the batting order against right-handed starters.
Have you noticed that since Mullins got hurt, Adam Frazier has become the leadoff batter and then as usual Adley Rutschman is second and Anthony Santander third? Have you also noticed that manager Brandon Hyde has made a not-so-subtle change in the dynamics of the batting order against right-handers by having Austin Hays bat cleanup, Gunnar Henderson fifth and Ryan Mountcastle sixth?
I hardly describe myself as being an analytics guy when it comes to all the new metrics. But, as Bob Dylan once said in his “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Mountcastle is batting .235/.273/.436. He has nearly five times the amount of strikeouts (59) as walks (12).
He’ll have an occasionally good or even great game, and then his 11 home runs and 39 RBIs actually look pretty good. But in reality, Mountcastle in the cleanup spot is never going to work if the Orioles are really serious about winning games. All the good that Mullins and Rutschman do in getting on base is quickly undone by so many unproductive at-bats.
Clearly, along his path to the big leagues, it wasn’t impressed strongly enough in him that he can’t help the pitcher get him out. Maybe he’ll get the message and try to really develop a plan for his at-bats, but I have my doubts.
3. The Cole Irvin situation gets more curious by the day.
One last thing, and that is the strange case of Cole Irvin. You remember him. He was the veteran lefty acquired from the Oakland Athletics for promising infielder Darell Hernaiz.
Irvin seemed a perfect fit to play second banana to Kyle Gibson. Both were brought in to eat innings. Gibson signed a one-year, $10 million deal.
After three poor starts, Irvin was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. At the time it was thought it was just to just be for a fresh arm, but Kyle Bradish (right foot contusion) returned from the injured list a week later to take Irvin’s spot in the rotation.
Irvin was brought up briefly about two weeks ago and then was shipped back to Norfolk. The timing was odd, because after Irvin went down a second time, Grayson Rodriguez was given one more start and then was optioned back to the farm.
Irvin couldn’t come right back up to take his spot in the rotation because he had to stay down in the minors. Pitchers must remain in the minors for 15 days after being optioned unless they are replacing an injured player.
Rodriguez’s rotation spot came around against the Cleveland Guardians on May 31. The Orioles opted to do a bullpen game, with Keegan Akin giving way to Austin Voth after one inning. That game got away from the Orioles, who lost the game and series to the Guardians.
Now, with off days before and after the Giants series, the club will briefly go to a four-man rotation. And Irvin? He’s pitched well for the Tides. He is 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.
It sure gets more curious by the day. And with John Means’ setback, it would be nice to have a savvy, veteran lefty in the middle of this rotation.
Click here for my power rankings.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox