It really doesn’t feel like a whole year ago, does it?
I’ll remember the Orioles clinching a playoff spot last year for a few things, and the delayed gratification is high on that list. Not just due to the years of waiting after their late-2010s collapse and subsequent painful rebuild, but the on-the-day waiting. The Orioles found out they were playoff bound, a year ago today, in the middle of their own game thanks to a Cleveland loss.
They still had to finish a pivotal division game against the Rays first, and in fitting fashion for last year’s club, came from behind to do so. They left Baltimore that Sunday afternoon with a two-game division lead instead of tied with those Rays. And though they hadn’t really planned to — instead hoping to reserve their greater celebration for that anticipated division win — they celebrated like crazy after that extra-innings, walk-off win.
It was as typical an Orioles win as last year’s club could have. Reading Danielle’s game story — full of we’re-never-out-of-it quotes, Brandon Hyde calling Adley Rutschman a special player, the manager toasting and saying the celebration would be the first of many — reminded me of all of that.
And it reminded me of the joy that, let’s be honest, has been lost somewhere along the way.
This group is going to have the opportunity to celebrate again soon, perhaps as early as Thursday, and toast a playoff berth that doesn’t feel nearly as triumphant because, after a fantastic start, they have tread water for nearly three months. Every win counts equally, and the goal is to get to October with a chance. There’s no shame in that.
There’s also not been a lot of happiness in it.
All the things that have caused angst over the Orioles’ stop-start summer are well documented. The injuries to the rotation finally took their toll as June turned to July. Craig Kimbrel spiraled in the last few weeks of July, and the bullpen has been out-of-sorts as a result. As August went on, the pitching stabilized but the hitters started to hit the injured list, with Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías on the shelf and the lineup feeling much lighter without them.
For those who remain, the weight of all that feels so evident. The pressure to do more in their stead feels very real to me, and I chalk up a lot of what we’re seeing at the plate over the last few weeks to that.
In a way it never has before, it feels like the losing — at-bats and games — is living with these Orioles. Last year’s team had the opposite experience — they won late so often that they never felt out of a game, and that came to define them.
So did all the fun: the dong bong and all the attendant water-related celebrations, the Bird Bath, those fantastic jumpsuits the boys wore, and all the big bear hugs Félix Bautista would wrap Rutschman in after wins. That all felt special because it was, and that’s why I remember it.
There are still two weeks of regular season play and a potential long October to manifest what could make this year’s Orioles special. At this point, it’s that they’re going (barring an absolute disaster) to win around 90 games and make the playoffs with a rotation that was decimated by injuries early and a lineup that was significantly diminished by them late.
And that is worth celebrating, for those in the clubhouse who will goggle up and let loose a bit and even the most agitated and online Orioles fan. I don’t know what level of joy will come of it, only that it will be hard to match last year’s.
But as we know now, this is a far different team in a far different season. They have different expectations, different circumstances and different challenges. And let’s not forget, even if it’s been easy to lately, that there’s still a chance at a different outcome in October as well.
Ballpark chatter
“Seranthony is relishing the role. We’re going to keep rolling Seranthony out there in the ninth.”
— Brandon Hyde on Seranthony Domínguez
Home runs are not the kind of thing you want your closer to be struggling with, but of the options the Orioles have available, Domínguez seems like a logical choice for the ninth inning on this Orioles staff. It’s too basic to talk about trusting or distrusting him; full trust is reserved for peak Zack Britton or Félix Bautista. What I will say is a 1.034 WHIP and 12.1 strikeouts per nine, which is what Domínguez has provided in an Orioles uniform, is the type of underlying data that can lead to a really good scoreless run when it matters most.
The talent pipeline
Outfielder Dylan Beavers is joining Triple-A Norfolk for the final week of the season, and over parts of two seasons, his production at Double-A Bowie was pretty good: 17 home runs with a .789 OPS. It feels like the power dried up a bit as this season wore on, and that’s an area where Beavers is aiming to improve. I think him spending the entire season with the Baysox is a good indicator that the rapid rises we saw in the first few post-pandemic years on the Orioles farm aren’t as common anymore. It’s normal for a 22-year-old to spend as much time at Bowie as Beavers has, and he’s still going to be age-advanced at Norfolk next year. Things are just happening at a different pace for Orioles prospects now.
By the numbers
.464
The Orioles’ combined production from first base, second base and third base in September is a league-worst .464 OPS, as if we needed any more reminders of how things have fallen off without Westburg, Mountcastle and Urías. If you add in shortstop, where Gunnar Henderson is elevating things at the right time, the infield has a .651 OPS and an 86 wRC+ in September, which improves the group to 22nd in the majors. But any search for what happened to this team’s productivity probably doesn’t need to go far past here.
For further reading
🤝 Pitcher support group: This was great from Danielle about how the Orioles’ injured pitchers are going about their business in Sarasota, Florida. I can’t imagine how a pitcher fills their days when rehabbing a major elbow injury. It’s good that they have each other. (The Baltimore Banner)
🏆 Potential RoY? David Laurila recently had a chat with Colton Cowser about the change in his hitting profile, with the potential Rookie of the Year talking about the idea of contact and whether he’s making enough of it. (FanGraphs)
