We’ve been hearing rumors that the Orioles were potentially shopping a few of their long-tenured veterans, but the names that kept coming up were Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle. In a bit of a surprise move, the first such player Mike Elias sent off was Austin Hays.
We have made the following trade: pic.twitter.com/RCYU2TOJT9
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 26, 2024
This one popped up out of nowhere. I didn’t see or hear any rumors in recent days that the Birds and Phils were even in discussions. But there you have it, announced by the team.
Seranthony Dominguez, the deal headliner coming back to Baltimore, is a 29-year-old from the Dominican, who has been with Philadelphia since 2018, spanning his entire career. While his 4.75 ERA in 2024 is nothing about which to get excited, the underlying numbers all suggest a pitcher with an artificially inflated ERA who has been the victim of some bad luck.
His ERA was 3.78 over 50 IP last year, and 3.00 in 51 the year before. He is striking out 10.00 batters per nine innings pitched, and his career number is 10.32. If you look at his Stuff+, it shows a well-above-average fastball and slider, and a league-average splitter (that was better last year).
During the 2023 postseason, Dominguez pitched 5.1 innings against Atlanta and Arizona, allowing only a single unearned run on six hits, with three walks and seven strikeouts.
He’s a free agent after this season, though he has an $8M team option in his contract.
The Orioles needed bullpen help. They just got some. They still need more.
In addition to Dominguez, the O’s acquired outfielder Cristian Pache in the deal. Also hailing from the DR, Pache was once a member of MLB Pipeline’s All-Defensive Team (2018-19). He’s known more for his glove, and sports a lifetime line of .179/.243/.272 over 545 PA. He’s a consideration as a late-inning defensive replacement, and could get some ABs against LHP, against whom he has a .333 OBP and 92 wRC+. He’s out of options according to MLB Trade Rumors, so if you were hoping he’d just be sent to Norfolk so Coby Mayo could come up, keep dreaming.
Opening up room for him in the outfield is, of course, the now departed Austin Hays. This one is a bit bittersweet, as Hays was one of the watchable pieces on some very un-watchable Orioles teams in the late 2010s. It was awesome to finally see Austin make an All-Star team as an Oriole last year, but his production just hasn’t been there. Though he’d started to turn things around a bit of late, at this point Birdland knew what we were getting with Hays. An outfielder who could handle LF at OPACY, show off a great arm, but but maddeningly inconsistent at the plate. He’s at .255/.316/.395 this season, and concludes his Orioles tenure at .262/.314/.433, with 66 HR, 121 2Bs, 8 3B, and 242 RBI, an OPS+ of 107.
We wish Austin nothing but the best. Maybe the Birds will get to beat him in the World Series.
