The last time we left off, the Orioles had just come off a frustrating series in Boston. The O’s needed a solid week of baseball to wash the awful taste of the series away. Did they get that? Yes and no. The Rangers series was solid, but the last two games of the Yankees series left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. They ended up going 3-3 last week with some questionable offense after a promising start.
They are now 4-5 but have survived a tough stretch of the schedule. While it was a productive week, it wasn’t perfect by any stretch.
So let’s discuss an up-and-down week.
Adley Rutschman is Saving this Offense
Going into the year, fans wondered if Adley Rutschman would take over as the number-one catcher in MLB. While that is still to be determined because of the Dodgers’ Will Smith playing so well, Adley is doing his best to keep this offense afloat. He is hitting,.389/.476/.556, with a 1.032 OPS. He has two home runs, fourteen hits, and has almost as many walks (6) as strikeouts (7). He still brings his great defense and is shutting down the run game right now.
Adley is carrying this offense and the rest of the team needs to help him out.
These Veterans need to Step It Up
Last week we all thought the veterans who weren’t traded this offseason were tearing it up. Now, after a bad week all that hope is fading away. Cedric Mullins is slumping badly right now, and Austin Hays is stinking it up. Anthony Santander is hitting the ball hard but isn’t putting it in play outside of a double on Sunday. These vets are killing the Orioles right now.
They scored 23 runs in the first series against Boston, then just 21 runs all last week. This can’t happen and it would be worse without two seven-run games, one against the Rangers and in the home opener. A baseball team isn’t one person, but the offense is playing like it right now.
The Stowers Dilemma
That point about the veterans leads right into our next point. This dilemma isn’t all about Kyle Stowers, but it is a problem that the O’s are going to face.
On Sunday, the team sent Stowers down to Triple-A to make space for James McCann. Yes, they are purposefully carrying three catchers on the roster. Stowers has been a hot topic for the fanbase ever since he came up, as despite playing fine in 2022, he couldn’t get consistent playing time last year. This year he had four at-bats to his name before being sent down. The O’s claim it was because of the gauntlet of lefties they are facing this week, but Stowers crushes lefties, so why isn’t there a spot for him?
Ryan McKenna is an easy target, but Hays isn’t playing well right now, so why not make room for him? It doesn’t make sense why they value Hays or McKenna over Stowers and this problem isn’t going away. Look at all the infielders doing amazing right now in Norfolk. What happens when they feel like Jordan Westburg, Connor Norby, or Joey Ortiz is ready? Will they receive the treatment that Terrin Vavra and Stowers received, or are those players exempt? If they are exempt, why aren’t Vavra and Stowers? It is confusing because it seems like they turned a cold shoulder to Stowers and it stinks. No player deserves to be treated that way especially young players.
Stowers needs to start but it shouldn’t be at Triple-A, it should be in the majors. Maybe the three big infielders can buck the trend, but in no way should this be happening. The Birds need to find a better way to deal with their current, and coming, glut of talent.
Can Voth stop killing the Vibes, Please?
Last year Austin Voth was a glimmer of hope. He was so bad before arriving that the Nationals just placed him on waivers where the O’s got their hands on him. He was solid for Baltimore last year and he was brought back for cheap but he has turned back into his awful self out of the bullpen. What makes this worse is that he can’t stop serving up huge back-breaking home runs. A great start from their future ace and the team just tied the game? Bam home run to Josh Jung. A close game against the Yankees? Bam, monster home run by Giancarlo Stanton. Opponents are hitting .350 against him. Voth has been a huge disappointment and hopefully with Mychal Givens back soon, he won’t be counted on as much going forward.
Grayson Rodriguez Looked Good
The day that the fan base has been waiting for finally happened on Wednesday. After a series of injuries, Grayson Rodriguez made his first MLB start. The overall line was good for him but he looked a lot more impressive than what the stats say. He had a bad first inning, but he really settled down afterwards. His change came from using his slider with his fastball more. He got 50% of Whiffs on his slider while his change-up wasn’t fooling anyone.
What was most impressive about his start was how he faced, and dealt with, adversity. Fielder makes an error? Lock down the rest of the inning. Have a rough first inning? Look dominant the rest of the way. That is a quality that an Ace needs and Grayson has it. He starts again on Tuesday at home against a much worse lineup so the good times might keep rolling.
This next stretch is a lot easier with the Athletics and a trip to the South Side up next so hopefully this lineup can figure it out. These are games the team needs to bank in the win column.
