The Birds went .500 this week, which felt about as plain as it sounds. We had a few performances worth highlighting, but some of the problems with this team are starting to rear their heads. Inconsistency at the plate, inconsistent middle relief (at best). Mike Elias is surely balancing his aggression and patience while considering potential reinforcements for this year and beyond. It's going to be very interesting to see how the we approach the trade deadline.
Until then though...
Record since Last Orioles Report: 3-3
Overall Record: 44-27
Toronto in Town for a Trio
Game one against the Blue Jays was as incredible as it was frustrating. The O's jumped out to an 8-1 lead by the fourth before extending it to 11-2. Gunnar went 3-5 with a grand slam, continuing his hot June. Aaron Hicks, Adam Frazier and Ryan O'Hearn also contributed two hits and a home run of their own, as the team cumulatively tallied 17 hits.
Unfortunately, the pitching staff also gave up 15. Austin Voth and Cionel Perez combined for 1.2 innings of late relief work, allowing five hits, walking three and giving up four earned runs. Michael Baumann had to inexplicably come in to record the final out with the bases loaded and an 11-6 advantage. How can Drew Rom or Nick Vespi not be worth a look over one of these two guys at this point? A win that leaves a terrible taste in your mouth.
Jose Berrios owns the Orioles. On his career, he's 10-0 in 13 starts against the organization with a 2.66 ERA and 72 strikeouts (Stat Muse). He did it again Wednesday, not giving up a run in 7.2 frames of domination. He's been very good for Toronto, acquired by absolute train robbery from the Minnesota Twins for Simeon Woods-Richardson and Austin Martin. SWR has an 8.08 ERA at AAA right now, while Martin's hitting a career .254 in mostly AA action. Surely some buyer's remorse on the Twins' end.
I digress, Blue Jays win 3-1.
Tyler Wells was on the bump for the rubber game and was flat-out excellent. 6.2 innings, five hits, two earned runs and eight strike outs against a vaunted Jays lineup. He currently leads the league in WHIP and has really solidified himself in a rotation that didn't initially feature him. Adley Rutschman and Austin Hays provided bombs as Baltimore notched a big series win. 4-2 Orioles.
Three in Wrigley
Cole Irvin was back to form Friday. Things were going okay until the fourth inning, when he served up three taters that Miguel Amaya, Dansby Swanson and Christopher Morel each absolutely smoked to the bleachers. Batting practice... Cionel Perez and Reed Garrett didn't fare much better in futile relief efforts, giving up seven more runs. 10-3 Chicago victory.
Another steady showing by Kyle Gibson to start off the weekend, allowing three hits and three earned runs over six frames of action. Most days, especially with a fairly potent offense like Baltimore's, that'd be more than enough. Alas, Justin Steele was locked in for the Cubbies over five, passing the baton to the bullpen to close out a 3-2 win. Tough loss Birdland, nice seeing Adley go yard though.
Dean Kremer showed up for the guys on Father's Day, salvaging one win from the Cubs series. He was shaky out the gate, but really settled in from there, only surrendering three hits and two walks while racking up seven K's. He's quietly amassed an impressive 8-3 record. Danny Coulombe, Michael Baumann, Yennier Cano and Mount Felix would not give up another hit or run over the final four innings of the game, as Ramon Urias, Frazier, Jorge Mateo and Adley tacked on an RBI each to give Baltimore 6-3 dub.
Farm Report
-Bombs away for Heston Kjerstad on the Tides, going 8/21 at the dish with two solo dingers. His smooth adjustment to AAA has been really encouraging
-Bruce Zimmermann was outstanding Tuesday, tossing a complete game, six hit shutout. He struck out nine in the rare one-man minor league CG
-Per Roch Kubatko, DL Hall was sent to Sarasota to, "intensify his deliberate physical training while also continuing to keep his arm going in back field and live game situations." Doesn't sound good to me...
-Coby Mayo homered in three straight games this week. He's been absolutely torrid of late, improving his stat lines to .295/11/34 with an OBP of .417
-Billy Cook had his best week of the season, going 9/25 (.360) with two long balls and five RBI
-Hadn't heard much about Wandisson Charles before this week's promotions, but he was quietly dominant for the Baysox, posting a 26:5 K:BB ratio in 15.1 innings of work with a 2.35 ERA
-Speaking of promotions, they were abound this week! Cesar Prieto and Justin Armbruester will also be moving up with Charles to Norfolk, Alex Pham, Jean Pinto, Keegan Gillies and Jud Fabian are on to Bowie and Juan Nunez will be in Aberdeen for the foreseeable future. More talent creeping toward the big leagues
-Big week for Dylan Beavers, posting a .315/2/8 stat line
-Going back to Alex Pham, he twirled another gem Saturday: six innings, one hit, two walks and nine strikeouts. His 36.7% strikeout rate leads all Orioles minor leaguers
-Despite Pham's strong start, the Ironbirds 5-0 loss happened to fall on Teacher Appreciation Day. I'll try not to take that personally
-Nice start for Jared Beck in the second game of a Wednesday double header, going four scoreless with seven K's
-Carter Young staying productive at the plate, going 6-19 in five games
-Samuel Basallo closed out the series with a 3/4 showing with his sixth long ball of the year. He hadn't gone yard since June 2nd
Concluding Thoughts
After this week, it feels like middle reliever has become the primary need for this team if they want to legitimately contend in the postseason, surpassing starting pitcher. A reliable bat has probably climbed to #2 on this list, with recent injuries to Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle really hampering the offense. Replacements Aaron Hicks and Ryan O'Hearn have performed more than admirably, but how much longer is that sustainable?
In that same vein, I'd rather pay up big time for a guy with a couple of years of arbitration left rather than shell out for any rentals this year. As awesome as this team has been, it feels like their true arrival won't be until next season. A few cheap moves may be prudent to bolster the lineup for the playoff push, and in turn providing a vote of confidence to our current roster.
Can't divest belief in this team having potential to win a World Series, but also need to have a realistic, long-term approach to getting it done practically and sustainably.
Rays, Mariners and Reds on deck. Let's get it done boys.
------
@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
Comments
Post a Comment