There’s no sugarcoating it at this point: The Baltimore Orioles are in a bad way.
After being swept out of Detroit by the Tigers, the Birds are now just 10-17 through their first 27 games, a mirror image of a year ago when they were 17-10. The .370 winning percentage is third-worst in all of baseball, ahead of just the lowly Chicago White Sox (.250), and Colorado Rockies (.148).
As for reasons for the disappointing start? Pick your poison. Injuries have decimated the pitching staff, with Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez both shelved. They’re currently dead last in baseball in ERA at 5.48. We’ve offered some potential creative solutions in the meantime, but until other things get fixed, it’s just rearranging deck chairs on The Titanic.
Just as disturbing has been the team’s lack of offense. This was a group that was projected to be top-3 in MLB anywhere you looked entering the season, and they’re currently managing just 4.0 runs per game, 19th in baseball (last year they scored 4.8). They’re 26th in MLB in hits per game, and third-worst in runners left in scoring position per game. Expanding on that last point, they were just 6-for-60 with runners in scoring position over the past week. They’re 27th in baseball in batting average with RISP at .201, tied with the Mets and better than, again, just the White Sox and Rockies.
This team was supposed to be carried by the offense while the pitching remained middle-of-the-pack until later in the summer, when reinforcements could be added either via players returning from injuries, trades, or both.
Instead, the arms are even worse than anyone had dreamed they could be, and the bats have yet to show up. How a group of should-be ascending players in their early-to-mid 20’s suddenly forgot how to hit baseballs is anybody’s guess. But the fact that the problem extends throughout the entire supposed young core points to the idea that something is off with either the collective approach or the team’s mindset.
Some alarming post-game quotes this month have added fuel to the latter fire. We’ve heard manager Brandon Hyde, on at least two occasions, talk about how his players have a hard time letting things go, as bad baseball seems to snowball.
Following Sunday’s loss to Detroit, pitcher Dean Kremer offered up this gem:
It’s tough to stay mentally engaged once things kind of start spiraling. But that’s the name of the job and being able to find our way out of that and keeping things positive. We have guys in the clubhouse who are plenty positive and try to pick us up. We’re going to be OK by the end of this. “It’s really hard to lose the season in April. We still have five more months. It just takes a six, seven-game win streak, and then we’re back at .500 and here we go.
I’m sorry, it’s tough to stay mentally engaged?! That’s exactly what you want to hear from one of your longer-tenured players right there.
Then there was this one, from Ramon Urias:
It’s different, because we’re supposed to win now. Obviously, it’s tough for everybody in this clubhouse, including the coaches and front office, I think. But like I said, it’s on us.
Man…”it’s different, because we’re supposed to win now.”
Anyone else get the feeling that these guys aren’t handling expectations well?
Kremer and Urias have both been on the team since 2020. They went through the hard times, made it through the rebuild, and should be two of your leaders at this point. Instead, they sound like a couple guys who are withering under pressure.
This isn’t to single those two out, though. The lack of leadership is glaring. Hyde has seemed to nudge his players to try to emulate Cedric Mullins recently, but Mullins is quiet and not the kind of guy who is going to kick over water coolers. The team just doesn’t seem to have THAT guy, and they are rudderless. Maybe it was James McCann last year. Perhaps Kyle Gibson returning will help a bit.
But this squad is desperate for someone to take the reins. I am beating a dead horse at this point, but Hyde needs to go, as it’s clear his message has grown stale. Even in his absence, however, there needs to be a player ready to step out of his comfort zone and take on a bigger leadership role.
Over the past few years, I poo-pooed the idea that the team needed more veteran bats in the lineup. I thought the young guys could conquer the world on the power of flowing locks and good vibes. I was wrong. Mike Elias, if he agreed with that (there’s no column on Sig’s spreadsheets accounting for veteran leadership), was also wrong.
It’s too late to address it from an outside acquisition.
Someone needs to step the hell up, give his teammates a good, swift, proverbial kick to the nuts, and lead.
Otherwise, this sinking ship will continue to take on water.
One Response
Where is Charlie Montoya at get him now and watch the turn around