The Birds’ first road trip of the year got off to a bit of a rough start, as the squad dropped two of three in Pittsburgh, but finished up very nicely, with a “Sweep Caroline” of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway.
Let’s see who was up and who was down this week in Birdland.
Three Up
Colton Cowser
With all the attention on a different O’s rookie up in Beantown, Colton Cowser had himself a SERIES. The 24-year-old former fifth overall pick went 5-for-13 with three doubles, his first two MLB home runs, and 10 RBI against the Sox, posting a wRC+ of 295 in 18 PA during the five games in which he appeared last week.
Want more Cowser stats?
Per our own Will WC, Cowser’s 113.6 MPH HR last night was hit harder than:
* Any ball hit by an Oriole in 2022
* All balls hit in 2023 by Orioles hitters other than Gunnar Henderson
* Any ball hit by an Oriole in 2024
It was also good for the 7th best Max EV in the AL this season, behind only Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Julio Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Yordan Alvarez.
That’s some elite company, to put it mildly.
According to Matt Weyrich, Cowser is the youngest Oriole to post five or more extra-base hits and 10 or more RBI in a three-game series since Boog Powell in 1966.
So far in 2024, Cowser is hitting .458 with a 1.378 OPS. He also made a few nifty plays out there against the Green Monster.
If the last few games are any indication, it looks like the Orioles might have not one, but two frontrunners for American League Rookie of the Year in 2024.
Jordan Westburg
Sometimes the forgotten man (nationally) when it comes to young O’s studs, Jordan Westburg continued his quiet competence this week, posting a 155 wRC+ in 22 PA thanks to two walks, two doubles, and the decisive three-run blast in Wednesday night’s win. He just missed another Earl Weaver Special last night, as his liner down the left field line drifted juuuuuust foul by the Monstah.
As you can see above, Westy just hits EVERYTHING HARD. Now that he’s penciled in as basically the everyday third baseman, I think we can expect his overall numbers to steadily rise. A few days ago, MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa compared Westy to Dean Palmer of the 90’s Texas Rangers, and that sounds just fine to me!
All eyes were on Jackson Holliday last night, while a pair of @Orioles youngsters led the charge in overcoming a 5-0 deficit.#MLBCentral talks through Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg's late-game heroics in Boston last night. pic.twitter.com/xBZ9TK7S5B
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 11, 2024
Celebrations
The Homer Hose is back, jack!
To recap, the Orioles started the season by scoring 24 runs in their first two games. They then scored 23 runs over their next seven games combined. Then, they brought back the waterworks celebrations in Boston. They proceeded to score 23 runs over the three-game set.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Let’s give the young Birds credit for trying something new, but then immediately changing course when the vibes weren’t there. Goodbye, revving 2014 Royals nonsense, Welcome Back, Waterworks!
Honorable Mentions
Ryan O’Hearn (254 wRC+), Gunnar Henderson (134 wRC+), Cedric Mullins (125 wRC+), Ryan Mountcastle (122 wRC+), Dean Kremer, Corbin Burnes, Craig Kimbrel, Keegan Akin, Jackson Holliday (for being here)
Three Down
Adley Rutschman
It was a rough week at the dish for Adley Rutschman. After not striking out at all in the season’s first six games, Adley K’d seven times in his last six, including three Wednesday night. In 29 PA in Pittsburgh and Boston, the Birds’ backstop managed a line of just .222/.241/.222 (34 wRC+), without a single extra-base hit. He’s yet to homer in 2024, so it would be great to see him get off that schneid at home this weekend.
You can see in the Statcast metrics above that all is well, aside from perhaps some uncharacteristic aggression showing up in chase rate. Perhaps pressing due to that HR drought?
Austin Hays
Austin Hays hit weak grounder after week grounder last week, then watched Colton Cowser take his job this week. He did manage to hit one hard in a pinch-hit appearance Wednesday, but a -100 wRC+ in 10 PA really tells you all you need to know. He didn’t get many chances due to his poor performance, and when he got them, he didn’t do anything with them.
A lot of us didn't notice it, but Austin Hays is basically Ryan McKenna now
— Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer) April 12, 2024
Ouch.
In all seriousness, this team is better when Austin Hays is at least an average corner outfielder. His defense and arm are still important in OPACY’s huge left field, and if he could provide a useful stick against left-handed pitching then he’s not *really* Ryan McKenna.
Here’s to Hays getting things going a bit, but while not stealing many ABs from the Moo Man.
Yennier Can0
Yennier Cano wasn’t bad in all three of his outings. In fact, he was perfect in two of them. Unfortunately, the one in which he was bad led directly to a loss, Sunday in Pittsburgh. Given the opportunity to earn the save, Cano allowed back-to-back singles to start the inning, then walked a man to load the bases.
That’s not how you protect a one-run lead.
Cano then induced two ground balls, getting a force at home and then a potential game-ending double play ball. Alas, the latter wasn’t hit quite hard enough, and in his haste Gunnar Henderson threw it away after stepping on second, and the Buccos walked the Birds off.
The ninth inning just gets in Cano’s head. He isn’t a closer and doesn’t want to be. It’s unfortunate, and ties manager Brandon Hyde‘s hands at times. Let’s see if someone else can be counted on to step up when Kimbrel isn’t available.
Dishonorable Mentions
Ramon Urias (27 wRC+, also lost his job), Anthony Santander (78 wRC+), Tyler Wells (5.06 ERA, 5.38 xFIP)
