Shortly after the Orioles’ four-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees — which was a total ass-kicking by the Pinstripers — a buddy texted me, “Might be one of the five worst series in Orioles history.”
Why so indecisive? The Orioles were outclassed by the longest of miles in a series they lost by a collective score of 39-10. The Orioles never once led in the series. Dating back to last season, they now have lost 12 of their last 13 against the talented juggernaut from The Bronx.
The wounded Birds left New York on a five-game losing streak with their fan base reeling. We’ll find out the character of this team as they try to right the ship. A 9-7 win against the Marlins in Miami on Tuesday was a good start.
As early as it is, in sports it can get late awfully early if you cannot stem the tide when things are going poorly. Right now, the tide has a lot to do with how the team is playing in every facet of the game. Take Monday’s loss, for instance. A failure to challenge a first-inning ball call led to a two-run blast by Aaron Judge.
Two innings later, when Trent Grisham hit a one-out double, Leody Taveras threw the ball back in to Gunnar Henderson. The ball was muffed by Henderson, allowing an alert Grisham to end up at third. After intentionally walking Judge, Cody Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly. A game that quite easily could have still been 0-0 saw the O’s trailing 3-0.
After the Orioles put a run on the board and they chased Cam Schlittler, the Yankees were again gifted a run on a wild pitch by Shane Baz. After Jasson Domínguez was initially called out, a video review was triggered by a challenge from the Yankees. The call was overturned to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. The Yankees added two more insurance runs in the sixth when manager Craig Albernaz opted to leave Baz in to face two left-handed batters with Keegan Akin ready in the bullpen.
The Orioles then brought in newly signed reliever Lou Trivino, who couldn’t even make it out of the eighth, allowing six runs on three free passes and four hits.
The area the team needed the least help was the bullpen, so you have to question how long the 34 year-old veteran right-hander will hang around in Baltimore.
Trust me, I know how hard it is to find starting pitching once a season begins, but the fact that three of these past five losses were started by Brandon Young, Cade Povich and Trey Gibson is an indictment on how president of baseball operations Mike Elias’ pitching decisions have left this team exposed.
Baz pitched reasonably well on Monday night’s loss, but he has a 4.99 ERA.
There is an expression in baseball that your momentum is only as good as your next day’s pitcher, which explains the Orioles’ nightly problem. Their momentum is thwarted on an almost daily basis with a starting staff that has, for lack of a better word, been putrid.
While I have a major problem with how Elias has attacked building a pitching program almost since his first draft in 2019, no one could have written a more nightmarish script for a horror movie early this season.
First, there was so much perceived depth that Dean Kremer was ruled excess at the end of spring training, with the top five being Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Chris Bassitt and Zach Eflin.
The scary stuff started when Eflin was lost for the season after just 3.2 innings. Suddenly, Rogers started to look a lot more like the 2024 version for three starts, leading to a 15-day IL stint with the flu. Not long before that, Dean Kremer went on the 15-day IL and will miss at least a month with right quad strain.
Bradish has made seven starts totaling just 34 innings with a 5.03 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. Bassitt may still help out, but a 5.91 ERA and 1.91 WHIP keep us on edge. Baz has now made seven starts, totaling 41.2 innings with that 4.99 ERA.
Young, Povich and Gibson have not been what the doctor ordered, either.
The Orioles are now in Miami facing a Marlins team they looked much better than entering the season, but the pitching matchups don’t suggest that any longer.
Chris Bassitt vs. Sandy Alcantara
Brandon Young vs. Eury Pérez
Cade Povich vs. Max Meyer
I am not quite sure how they will get it done, but the O’s desperately need to find a way to win a series, and they need it now.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox