The Orioles team we thought we knew hasn’t shown up of late, but the good news is the O’s are still in a first-place tie with the Yankees and still have just about as good a chance as anyone to get to the World Series. And if they do that, they are only four wins away from a championship.
After winning 101 games last season and acquiring Corbin Burnes, the sky seemed to be the limit. The Orioles were once 24 games above .500 at 49-25, but they are now 21 games over .500 at 67-46. That means the O’s have gone just 18-21 in their past 39 games, with two five-game losing streaks being the main culprits.
After winning two of three at Yankee Stadium in mid-June, the Orioles were swept by the Astros in a weekend series at Houston, then came home and lost the first two of a three-game set against the Guardians.
A couple weeks later, the Orioles were swept at home by a slumping, sluggish Cubs team just before the All-Star break. Then the O’s lost the first two of a three-game series against the Yankees. The Birds hit the break at 58-38.
In the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the quality of the Orioles’ play began to suffer on every level. With Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all lost for the season, the club tried to hold the rotation together with the likes of Cole Irvin, Chayce McDermott, Cade Povich and Albert Suárez. A stellar defense began to slip. The bullpen struggled with the loss of valuable lefty Danny Coulombe. The offense went missing at times.
The trade deadline saw GM Mike Elias skillfully plug some holes. He added two starters, two high-velocity bullpen arms and a wild-card DH in one-time top prospect Eloy Jiménez.
It was disappointing to lose Jordan Westburg the day after the deadline, the same day the Orioles brought Jackson Holliday back up. It was disappointing to watch the club in those first two games in Cleveland, but the last two games brought back some hope.
The club’s next eight games — three in Toronto, three in St. Petersburg and two back home against the Nationals — are an opportunity for the club to regain some of the mojo it had for a season and a half heading into that Houston series.
Here without further ado, here are my power rankings.
1. Baltimore Orioles (67-46, No. 3 last week): The Orioles have gotten a bit of a jolt from their deadline acquisitions. Zach Eflin is 2-0 in two starts. Seranthony Domínguez has been solid late in games. Eloy Jiménez — yes, I said Eloy Jiménez — has contributed a couple of big hits in back-to-back games. Jackson Holliday now resembles the player the Orioles invested so heavily in. He doesn’t wipe away the terrible loss of Jordan Westburg, but with the way Holliday is playing, it takes some of the sting out of that loss.
2. New York Yankees (67-46, No. 4): Carlos Rodón has stepped up his game for now, which helps a lot with the issues Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes are having. The pickup of Jazz Chisholm Jr. has paid huge dividends with his versatility and power. But in perhaps an unintended consequence, he may be lifting the doom-and-gloom feeling the Yankees had entered into.
3. Cleveland Guardians (67-44, No. 5): Manager Stephen Vogt is trying to shorten games. If his underrated offense can get leads, he has Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith to lock down those games. The pickup of Lane Thomas adds another solid bat to join Steven Kwan, José Ramírez and Josh Naylor. They are for real. If Alex Cobb can grab a rotation spot, the Guardians are really going to be a tough out come October.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (66-45, No. 1): The Phillies are just 4-11 since the All-Star break. A couple of starters have been less than fantastic lately. Is that regression to the mean or could they be running out of gas?
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (65-47, No. 2): The Dodgers got a couple valuable arms in Jack Flaherty and Michael Kopech at the deadline. They gave up very little to get Kopech in particular. Mookie Betts is due back in roughly two weeks, but they now have two former Gold Glove shortstops in Nick Ahmed and Tommy Edman.
6. Minnesota Twins (62-48, No. 6): The Twins are a very solid 28-17 in their past 45 games. It’s too bad that ownership only picked up lefty reliever Trevor Richards from Toronto. Payroll constraints inhibited the club’s ability to do anything more significant.
7. Kansas City Royals (63-50, No. 11): Royals GM J.J. Picollo had a very solid deadline, acquiring power right-handed relievers Hunter Harvey and Louis Erceg along with starter Michael Lorenzen. More importantly, Vinnie Pasquantino has started to give Bobby Witt Jr. a bit of help.
8. Milwaukee Brewers (62-49, No. 7): The Brewers are just 7-7 since the break and still missing Christian Yelich. Management’s only answer at the deadline was acquiring Frankie Montas. Not real inspiring stuff. Yet, the division lead seems safe.
9. Boston Red Sox (59-51, No. 9): No bold moves at the deadline, but GM Brian O’Halloran did make a couple necessary moves in picking up catcher Danny Jansen from the Jays and relievers Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia from the Reds and Angels, respectively. They also brought back lefty starter James Paxton, who had been designated by the Dodgers. It’s a basic low-risk, medium-upside depth move for the rotation.
10. San Diego Padres (61-52, No. 10): Padres GM A.J. Preller brought in power lefty reliever Tanner Scott from the Marlins at the deadline, but there is one question Scott has to answer: Is the pressure of high-leverage situations different when the games mean something? In Scott’s two other situations (Baltimore and Miami), that wasn’t the case.
11. Arizona Diamondbacks (60-52, No. 15)
12. Atlanta Braves (60-51, No. 14)
13. Houston Astros (57-54, No. 8)
14. Seattle Mariners (59-54, No. 13)
15. St. Louis Cardinals (57-55, No. 12)
16. New York Mets (58-53, No. 16)
17. Pittsburgh Pirates (56-55, No. 17)
18. Tampa Bay Rays (57-54, No. 18)
19. Texas Rangers (53-59, No. 20)
20. San Francisco Giants (56-57, No. 21)
21. Detroit Tigers (53-60, No. 19)
22. Cincinnati Reds (53-58, No. 22)
23. Chicago Cubs (55-59, No. 23)
24. Toronto Blue Jays (51-61, No. 24)
25. Washington Nationals (51-61, No. 25)
26. Los Angeles Angels (49-63, No. 26)
27. Oakland Athletics (45-67, No. 27)
28. Miami Marlins (42-70, No. 28)
29. Colorado Rockies (41-72, No. 29)
30. Chicago White Sox (27-87, No. 30)