MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
The Baltimore Orioles don’t hit, they don’t pitch and they don’t play defense very well. Other than that, it looks good.
Through 13 games, the Orioles have scored 55 runs, an average of more than four a game, but that’s deceiving. Thirty-seven of those runs have come in four of the five Orioles wins. They’ve scored just 13 runs in their eight losses.
The Orioles have 12 home runs, just under one per game, but they hit a team record six on Opening Day, and 10 in their first three games. They’ve hit only three in the last 10 games.
The starting pitchers’ ERA is 5.37, one of the worst in baseball. The bullpen has been better at 3.35, but has yet to have a save opportunity, which, of course, is not the bullpen’s fault.
The Orioles, of course, didn’t re-sign Corbin Burnes, their top starter from last season, and because of injuries only two starters from last season are in the rotation.
Orioles pitchers who are on the injured list are Zach Eflin, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, Albert Suárez, Trevor Rodgers, Andrew Kittredge and Chayce McDermott.
The ERAs of the Orioles’ four healthy starters: Tomoyuki Sugano 2.89, Cade Povich 6.10, Dean Kremer 8.16 and Charlie Morton 8.78.
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson has played just six games after missing nearly all of spring training with a right intercostal strain and is just 4-for-25 (.160) with 10 strikeouts during what is effectively still his spring training.
The Orioles are without Colton Cowser at least until June because the second-year outfielder continues to do not-very-bright things on the field that continue to hurt himself and, bigger picture, the team. He often leaves you with no choice than to wonder what exactly it is that runs through his head.
Third baseman Jordan Westburg was rested again on Wednesday with an “upper-body injury,” and as we found out last year, when Westburg is not in the lineup, the offense does not exist and, true to form, the Orioles managed just four hits in a 9-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondback.
The Orioles lost two out of three to Kansas City and to Arizona on the just-completed road trip and have yet to win a series (0-3-1). For that matter, they have yet to win consecutive games.
As of now, centerfielder Cedric Mullins and second baseman Jackson Holliday have been the best players on the team, though Holliday has gone hitless in his last 10 at-bats; but his defense has been excellent at both second and shortstop.
Catcher Adley Rutschman has reached base in all 12 games he’s played in. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill is hitting over .300 and, and along with Mullins, has an OPS over .900. Still, it’s difficult to get a full read on him just 13 games into the season.
He has gotten on base, but his range seems very limited in the outfield. In the Orioles’ 4-3 loss on Tuesday, O’Neill was in the middle of the two biggest turns in the game, hitting into a double play in the first to end a potential big inning, and then not tagging at second to be doubled off to end another potentially big inning in the seventh.
Yes, it’s true, the umpiring crew of Laz Diaz that worked the series was awful (per its norm) and created much confusion on a bases-loaded one-out play that turned out to be a fine catch by Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a sinking liner by Holliday.
Third base umpire Mike Estabrook failed to make a call on the play and, as it turns out, O’Neill was watching him halfway between second and third and, thinking the ball dropped in, was tagged out at third to be doubled off. Yet not before Mullins tagged from third and scored the Orioles’ third run.
Point being: If Mullins had the good baseball sense to tag on the play, why didn’t O’Neill? Just 13 games into the season, that has yet to be determined. But it hasn’t been a good look so far.
All of which could be immaterial, as the Orioles open their longest homestand of the season tonight, given the absolute mess of the starting pitching.
Earl Weaver, the father of baseball analytics (he used index cards) always said the number of wins you have in the season is determined by what you did in the offseason.
What say you, Mike Elias?
Truth is, since 2023, the three winningest teams in MLB are the Dodgers, the Orioles and the Yankees at 208, 197 and 183 respectively.
There are eight Orioles pitchers on the IL. It’s only 13 games. But it is ugly.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT