Before the Cubs came to town for a three-game series in early July, the Orioles were 57-33. In the 29 games since that series began, the Orioles are 13-16.
If you think this stretch has been tough, wait until what I’ll refer to as the S-T-R-E-T-C-H begins.
I’m sure the Orioles were not exactly thrilled with their June schedule, which included just one scheduled day off. But after a two-game series with the Nationals, the Orioles will start a 14-game stretch — yes, with a day off — against over-.500 teams, each with a desperate need to win:
Aug. 15-18: Red Sox
Aug. 19-21: at Mets
Aug. 22-25: Astros
Aug. 27-29: at Dodgers
We could blindly love and believe in the Orioles when the season started, but the club all too often has come up holding the short end of the stick of late.
The Orioles’ recent play doesn’t totally define the team and mean they can’t win. At the deadline, the O’s became a vastly different team in short order. They could still catch fire with a new dynamic fueled by Zach Eflin, Seranthony Domínguez, Eloy Jiménez and Jackson Holliday.
Or it could become a team that has had too many important, serious injuries to fight through this.
This coming stretch could well be the most important run of games this season. While this is a tough gauntlet, there is some good news that mitigates the 14 toss-up games. The O’s will play two games against the Nationals on the front end and three apiece against the Rockies and White Sox on the back end. However, those Rockies games will be played at Coors Field, where anything can happen.
So, if you catch my drift, a really difficult 14-game stretch could become a less difficult 22-game stretch if the Orioles take care of business.
It’s imperative that the Orioles win two against Washington and then five of the six against Colorado and Chicago. That would give the Orioles a 7-1 record around the tough 14-game stretch. Let’s not get greedy here, but let’s say the O’s can go 8-6 in those tough 14 games. Suddenly, 8-6 turns into 15-7.
Making matters worse is that the Yankees play a softer schedule during the same period:
Aug. 12-14: at White Sox
Aug. 16-18: at Tigers
Aug. 20-22: Guardians
Aug. 23-25: Rockies
Aug. 26-28: at Nationals
Aug. 31-Sept. 1: Cardinals
Sept. 2-4: at Rangers
Clearly, both the Orioles and Yankees have flaws. Neither is a perfect team. But this really could come down to a series in the Bronx from Sept. 24-26.
Here are my latest MLB power rankings.
1. Baltimore Orioles (70-49, No. 1 last week): The Orioles are 12-11 since the All-Star break, but they’ve actually been pretty pedestrian since about mid-June. The club’s issues have mostly come on the pitching side. The O’s lost Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells for the season. They were down Dean Kremer for about 45 days earlier this year. Now, the club has lost Grayson Rodriguez for at least a month with a shoulder issue. The O’s are also down infielders Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg. It’s actually amazing the club has held it together. This many injuries can break some teams.
2. New York Yankees (70-49, No. 2): Think the Yankees are feeling the pressure? Closer Clay Holmes threw nearly 50 pitches on Aug. 11 to nail down a four-out save against the Rangers. Can two MVP candidates keep a team afloat? We’ll find out. Carlos Rodón looks like he has a solid chance to win 20 games.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (69-49, No. 5): I don’t know what other teams saw in Jack Flaherty’s medicals, but the Dodgers have seen a hell of a pitcher in two starts so far. The big news is they should have Mookie Betts back by this coming weekend, when he’ll once again be the best right fielder in the league. The Dodgers are 16-8 since the break, but shockingly they don’t have much wiggle room with both San Diego and Arizona hot on their tail.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (69-49, No. 4): This was the best team in baseball at the All-Star break, but they’re just 7-15 in their past 22 games. Surprisingly, the starting rotation has had a significant downturn.
5. Milwaukee Brewers (67-50, No. 8): The Brewers are just 12-8 since the break, but rather than call them lucky, we’ll call them fortunate that all of their NL Central mates have lost steam. It’s hard to imagine the Brewers not winning the division.
6. Cleveland Guardians (69-49, No. 3): A seven-game losing streak proved the Guardians and manager Stephen Vogt were human after all. I am sure their staff liked what they saw when Alex Cobb was rehabbing with the Giants, but his first start the other day was pretty ugly.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (66-53, No. 11): People forget the D-Backs got to the World Series last year. They got off to a horrid start that made all the experts get off the bandwagon, but a 17-5 mark since the break has the bandwagon filling up fast. Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodríguez are back to help out the rotation. Justin Martinez has been super at the back end.
8. Kansas City Royals (65-53, No. 7): The Royals have been playing some solid baseball of late. They’ve been aggressive within the limit lines of the dollars they can spend. They got hit with bad luck on Hunter Harvey, who stayed healthy with the Nationals but is now on the injured list with a back issue. Conversely, Lucas Erceg has given the ‘pen a nice lift. Bobby Witt Jr. is in the conversation for AL MVP.
9. San Diego Padres (66-53, No. 10): The Padres are hitting on all cylinders right now, as evidenced by a 16-4 mark since the All-Star break. The bullpen is their ace in the hole. Robert Suárez, Tanner Scott and Jason Adam are tasked with locking down ballgames.
10. Minnesota Twins (65-52, No. 6): The Twins were handcuffed by financial limitations at the deadline, and an 11-10 mark in their last 21 says it all about a club that can’t seem to create enough steam to go anywhere.
11. Houston Astros (62-55, No. 13)
12. Seattle Mariners (63-56, No. 14)
13. Boston Red Sox (61-55, No. 9)
14. Atlanta Braves (61-56, No. 12)
15. St. Louis Cardinals (60-58, No. 15)
16. New York Mets (61-57, No. 16)
17. San Francisco Giants (61-59, No. 20)
18. Tampa Bay Rays (59-58, No. 18)
19. Chicago Cubs (59-60, No. 23)
20. Cincinnati Reds (57-61, No. 22)
21. Pittsburgh Pirates (56-61, No. 17)
22. Detroit Tigers (56-63, No. 21)
23. Texas Rangers (55-63, No. 19)
24. Toronto Blue Jays (54-64, No. 24)
25. Washington Nationals (54-65, No. 25)
26. Los Angeles Angels (52-66, No. 26)
27. Oakland Athletics (50-69, No. 27)
28. Miami Marlins (44-75, No. 28)
29. Colorado Rockies (44-75, No. 29)
30. Chicago White Sox (28-91, No. 30)