As Dylan Bundy prepared to take the mound for his fifth start of the season, the 26-year-old righty was hoping that a quick start led to a far better finish this time around. In his first four starts, Bundy has flourished in his first three innings. On pitches one through 50, Bundy has allowed a .108 batting average and just one home run. Pitches 51 and beyond? Those numbers explode to .467 and six. We all know the 2018 numbers: a Major League-leading 41 home runs allowed and 16 losses […]

Left-hander John Means has had an exceptional start to the season for the Orioles in 2019, certainly a surprise to most. If you asked fans back during spring training, “who will be on the opening day pitching staff?,’ I’d argue the majority — if not all — would’ve left Means off the list of 12 to 13 arms. Heck, even the pitcher himself thought he was going to be an early cut from camp. He started the season in the O’s bullpen in a long-relief role, and has made two […]

The mention of Trey Mancini sets off a bit of a firestorm among O’s fans. There are those who view him as a cornerstone piece of the team, a player “to build around,” who will be a star on the next good Orioles team, one that’s ostensibly four-five years in the future. These are the same folks who were furious that the team traded Jonathan Schoop last summer, for the most part. Then there are those who view Mancini as a nice piece, but certainly not a centerpiece…more of a […]

Chris Davis, newly-crowned owner of The Worst Slump in Baseball History trophy, finally broke out of it on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. Not only did Davis single to knock in two runs in his first AB in the Birds’ 9-5 win. He picked up THREE hits in the game, including a double, and four RBI. Way to break out of it, Chris! He’d run into some terrible luck during the hitless streak, and all of baseball was relieved, in their own way, to see him finally have a […]

In the process of blogging about Chris Davis‘ record-setting futility this morning, I found myself complaining that it was the only subject of discussion surrounding the O’s among national outlets. In writing that, I also realized it was the only headline on ESR this morning as well. I need to remedy that. So, let’s talk about this O’s defense! The Birds have turned 16 double plays, tied for most in the majors with the Atlanta Braves. We’ve witnessed some great infield wizardly over recent seasons, with the steady consistency of […]

The Orioles racked up 15 hits in Monday’s 12-4 win over the Oakland Athletics, which also broke a four-game losing skid. Sadly, a different streak continued, as none of those 15 hits came off the bat of Chris Davis. Davis, of course, entered the game on an 0-for-44 streak dating back to last season. The all-time leader in at-bats (by a non-pitcher) without a hit was Eugenio Velez, who went 0-for-46 over the 2010-11 seasons. Davis needed a hit in one of his first three at-bats to avoid making history. […]

A Quantitative Analysis of the 2019 Baltimore Orioles…so far Alright baseball nerds, time to do a bit of a deep dive into the 2019 Birds as they begin to integrate data and information or ‘analytics’ into their play. 2019 marks a new era in Baltimore, accompanied by a new regime. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a book signing and Q&A with Astroball’s Ben Reiter along with Orioles Assistant GM and Head of Analytics Sig Mejdal on Friday, learning some valuable lessons. First, analytical data doesn’t tell the […]

1. There’s no question that the Orioles’ hot start is exciting. Even after coming into the season expecting the worst from this team, there’s always a desire to watch a winning baseball team. Who knows how long the O’s will keep up their winning ways, but when you anticipate a lot of losses coming in, you learn to appreciate victories even more. I’ve written a lot about expectations over the last handful of seasons. This season’s are obviously the lowest they’ve been in perhaps seven or eight years. It’s important […]

Legendary Baltimore Orioles and Colts broadcaster Chuck Thompson made this phrase famous in Charm City over 50 years ago, and even now, over a decade after his passing, Birdland still knows exactly what it means. Ain’t the beer cold? Now, thanks to our friends at Breaking T, you can let everyone know you enjoy cold beer and Orioles wins wherever you go. Get yours here! We’ve partnered with Breaking T plenty of times before, with shirts like Dealin’ Bundy, Adam Bomb, Straight Outta Camden, and more. These shirts are extremely […]

In just his fourth game as manager, new O’s skipper Brandon Hyde faced a huge decision – about as big of one as could be imagined during the first week of the season. Starter David Hess was cruising to the tune of 6 1/3 IP, one (very questionable) walk, and a career high eight strikeouts. He was cutting through the Toronto Blue Jays’ revamped lineup (one that, to my eye, isn’t any better right now on paper than the O’s lineup that seems to be the constant butt of jokes […]

Much to the surprise of seemingly everyone who follows or covers baseball, the 2019 Baltimore Orioles will NOT be going 0-162. Perhaps even more shockingly, they won’t even be going 0-18 against the mighty Yankees of New York. Now that you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor, let’s talk a little about how these scrappy Birds shocked the sports world and managed to come out ahead in a nine-inning contest of hardball. Before we get into that though, let’s check out the post-game festivities in the Birds’ clubhouse: https://twitter.com/Orioles/status/1112113671533150208 […]

The Baltimore Orioles are heading into an important season in franchise history, even if they aren’t expecting to become competitive in the American League East right away. The team is undergoing an overhaul to where they are hoping that they can get back to the top of the American League in the near future, meaning that the most important thing for the Baltimore Orioles is finding out exactly what they have going forward. As is expected when going through a rebuild like the one that the Orioles are currently on, […]