In late May, the Orioles were 34-19 and they were flying high, even if the Rays were flying higher at 39-16. If you fast forward to now, the Orioles have just about run down the Rays. The Rays are 58-35 and just broke a seven-game losing streak. The Orioles are 54-35, tied with Tampa in the loss column.
The Orioles have played four fewer games at the break. Sounds as if it’s been all smooth sailing, right?
Well, the Orioles had been playing really well through those first two months of the season before going 15-16 in their next 31 games. That included one really jittery stretch, when they lost two of three to the Reds, two of three to the Twins and then the first two of a four-game series in the Bronx. If you add that up, that was a stretch of six losses in seven games.
Then, a switch was flipped. The Orioles rolled in the last two games in the Bronx and then swept the Twins at Target Field. Suddenly that 15-16 mark turned into 20-16. The Orioles will come back from the All-Star break riding a five-game winning streak.
The problems started on Memorial Day, when center fielder Cedric Mullins hit a tough grounder to the left of shortstop Amed Rosario late in a game against the Guardians. It was going to be a bang-bang play until Mullins pulled up just before the bag with a strained groin.
At the time of his injury, Mullins was quietly the MVP of the team. He was hitting .263/.353/.479 with eight home runs, 39 RBIs and 26 runs scored. He had been successful on 13 of 14 stolen base attempts.
Surely, the Orioles would call up outfielder Colton Cowser or infielder Jordan Westburg, both top prospects. However, Cowser was recovering from quad tightness at the time. Elias surprisingly grabbed Aaron Hicks, who had been designated for assignment by the Yankees after two-plus seasons of injuries and poor performance.
Hicks more than held his own and played an important part of keeping the Orioles’ offense afloat. In 32 games, Hicks has hit .263/.373/.495 with six home runs and 17 RBIs. Always a tough at-bat, he has also walked 18 times.
The signing of Hicks also took some of the heat off a really struggling first baseman in Ryan Mountcastle, who would ultimately be placed on the injured list with vertigo. The Orioles took much of the 20 days allowed on a position player’s rehab assignment to try to get Mountcastle back in a rhythm.
Mountcastle’s slide and IL stint perhaps proved to be the impetus for Elias to push the Westburg button and begin to reshape the infield. That has hurt Jorge Mateo the most, with Gunnar Henderson now getting the bulk of the time at shortstop.
Westburg has played 11 games in the black and orange. While he hasn’t hit a home run, he is batting .325/.400/.500 with three doubles, two triples, six RBIs and eight runs scored. He has been pretty much flawless in the field.
And finally, with the Orioles’ overall offense being in a malaise and Austin Hays, Hicks and Westburg all dinged up during the six-out-of-seven stretch, Elias pushed for his most recent offensive button — recalling outfielder Colton Cowser.
Ryan McKenna was manager Brandon Hyde’s Ryan Flaherty, but replacing him with a first-round pick who had earned a promotion with his play at Triple-A Norfolk was really a no-brainer.
To date, Cowser has demonstrated a keen eye at the plate who works every at-bat to maximize the effort of the opposing hurler. He is a smart baserunner. He has the ability to play all three outfield positions. Since he has arrived, the team is 5-0.
Cowser and Westburg are here to stay.
So, what’s next? The pitching buttons are what’s next. Grayson Rodriguez is pitching very well for Norfolk. In seven starts since his demotion to Triple-A, Rodriguez has struck out 54 hitters and walked 15 in 37.1 innings.
So, here’s the deal. Rodriguez is ready for the big leagues. But I propose a different role for him once he comes back considering he is at 86.2 innings for the season between the Orioles and Tides. Remember, Rodriguez totaled just 75.1 innings in 2022 due to a lat muscle tear. While there was not a hard limit set for 2023, most agree it’s probably in the 125-135 inning territory.
If he is simply plopped into the major league rotation, Rodriguez could easily be in line for 15-17 starts. Let’s just say he goes an average of five innings per start. That’s 75-85 innings in the second half of the season. That would take him up in the 160-170 range for the season, and that isn’t taking any postseason innings into account.
I say it makes much more sense to use Rodriguez as a weapon out of the bullpen. When Kyle Bradish, Kyle Gibson, Cole Irvin, Dean Kremer or Tyler Wells come up short of a six-inning outing, who would you rather come into those games with the result in the balance — Grayson Rodriguez or a pitcher like Bryan Baker, Mike Baumann or Keegan Akin?
It says here that the next buttons to push in order to really provide a full-fledged liftoff for a pennant chase and a shot at the team’s first World Series appearance since 1983 are:
1. Recall Grayson Rodriguez and use him in the 2022 Austin Voth role.
2. Make a meaningful trade or trades for middle relief help.
Look, for any of us who watch how the World Series is played now, the days of Bob Gibson or Jim Palmer pitching into the seventh inning and beyond are gone. In fact, most of the time starters seem to be removed in the fourth or fifth inning.
It’s all about having seven or eight lethal arms out of the bullpen … not just Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista. Postseason baseball is a brave new world.
Mike Elias is intimately familiar with what it takes. I have every confidence he’ll figure it out and give this team an opportunity to be alive late in the postseason.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox