Well, so much for the series against the historically bad Chicago White Sox getting the Orioles back on track offensively. The Birds scored 13 runs on Monday and another nine on Tuesday, outscoring the South Siders 22-3 and giving Birdland some hope that the bats might, finally, be back.
On Wednesday, it was the White Sox who got out the boomsticks, batting around the usually-reliable Albert Suarez and avoiding the sweep with an 8-1 win. Still, the Birds had won two straight series for the first time in ages, the bats were showing some life, and the scuffling Rays were coming to town over the weekend.
(Price is Right fail horn)
Thanks to Dean Kremer‘s gem and some great work out of the bullpen by Yennier Cano, the O’s took the opener against Tampa on Friday night, 2-0. Alas, the two runs were a harbinger of things to come, especially on the heels of that one-run performance against the horrid White Sox staff two days prior.
With Zach Eflin and Corbin Burnes scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, surely the Birds could scrape together enough runs to win at least one of those contests and take the series, right? RIGHT?!
Nope, not these Birdies. They squandered early chances to get on the board, Jose Siri robbed Gunnar Henderson of a three-run home run, and they scored just a single run over Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests combined. In those games, they were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, after going 0-for-7 the previous two games.
So, for those keeping score at home, that’s a nice little 1-for-20 stretch the Birds are on with runners in scoring position. And that hit didn’t even score a run (Jackson Holliday‘s single on Saturday that loaded the bases prior to more bed-crapping).
Per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner, one of the Orioles’ multitude of hitting coaches, Ryan Fuller, had this to say about the recent struggles:
Asked co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller about the issues with RISP. He said the batters need to realize: "I don’t need to hit a home run. A single here is just as good as a home run, because we score the guy, and we get a guy on first base and we keep the momentum going."
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) September 8, 2024
I mean, yeah? Whose job is it to make the guys realize that, Ryan? For the entire second half of the season, as the home runs have fallen off a cliff, it’s been the same old story. Losing one of the most clutch players on the team in Jordan Westburg, who always seemed to come through in those situations, obviously didn’t help, but there is entirely too much offensive talent on this team for them to be struggling as they are.
Look at this, for instance:
Gunnar Henderson, Cedric Mullins and Austin Slater this past week:
.407 BA
.492 BA
.741 SLG
1.233 OPSThe rest of the Orioles' offense this past week:
.177 BA
.272 OBP
.218 SLG
.490 OPS— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) September 9, 2024
Gunnar Henderson is hot again, awesome. Cedric Mullins has been the Birds’ best hitter since the All-Star Break. Ryan McKenna 2.0 Austin Slater has been a nice surprise. And…that’s it?
Unacceptable.
Of course, one of the biggest disappointments has been Adley Rutschman. His average since the ASB is now just .197, and he’s down to .253/.323/.398 on the season. He hasn’t homered since August 18, and had just one that entire month. Many are wondering if he’s hurt, but according to Kostka, who sat down with the backstop last week, that’s not the case.
He claims to be healthy, although he admitted that, by playing catcher, he is “getting beat up every day.” The lower back discomfort that forced him out of the lineup once in August hasn’t recurred, he said, and although Rutschman was hit on the hand June 27 (and has since hit .176), he said there are no lingering effects from that.
To Rutschman, this skid feels more like a timing issue than anything else, particularly when pitchers alter speeds from a fastball to a changeup. That’s part of why he’s popping up the ball more than ever before. According to Statcast, Rutschman is hitting under the ball 33.1% of the time. He was under the ball only 23.8% of the time last year.
“Over the course of the season your body gets more tired. And a lot of times, when your body’s breaking down like that, unconsciously you do things different,” Rutschman said.
That entire piece is worth reading, but if you don’t have a Banner subscription, here’s the gist: Adley’s timing is off, he can’t seem to get it back, and he just hopes to get it back before the playoffs.
Speaking of the postseason, that’s still overwhelmingly likely, thanks to the New York Yankees sputtering just as badly as Baltimore. The Birds are 5-5 over the last 10, while New York is 4-6, with the latter clinging to a half-game lead. In the Wild Card, the O’s have a nine-game cushion in the loss column over Detroit, Seattle, and Boston. FanGraphs currently gives them a 99.9% chance to make the playoffs (and a 37.5% chance of winning the division).
So, to quote Carl Speckler (Caddyshack…look it up, kids), we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.
Will the bats wake up in time for there to be any optimism as the leaves start to turn, though? That’s the question. In Birdland, we’d sure like to see the return of the Orioles, and the expulsion of the no-O “Riles” for the next seven weeks.
