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Thursday Thoughts: O’s Only Hope Now is Wild Card

Trey Mancini runs.
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This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.

1. Like many, I’ve lost hope the Orioles can win the AL East this season. It’s possible, sure. But I don’t think it’s happening. There’s just too much of a gap with to few remaining games to play. Time has run out. Not to mention, there’s those pesky Blue Jays also in the mix, along with having to catch the Red Sox. Those same Red Sox that have ground the O’s into a pulp over the last few days.

This isn’t heartbreaking, but it’s also tough to be fighting for a one-game playoff. In 2012, the Orioles were just happy to be in, having ended a 14-year run of losing baseball. This year, after having a division lead for most of the season, it’s a bit of a tough pill to swallow to see that slip away.

Either way, I think we can all agree that no matter how tough August and September have been, the O’s have exceeded expectations this season.

2. There’s something going on with the Orioles pitching rotation, but Buck Showalter doesn’t want you to know about it. Everyone is speculating that has to do with Dylan Bundy, which would make sense. Perhaps it’s an injury, or maybe he’s just worn down. An innings limit comes to mind as well.

Maybe Showalter is just mixing things up to set up his pitchers for a potential Wild Card game, reserved to the fact that the Orioles are playing for that. I highly doubt Showalter would sacrifice regular season games that are actually necessary to get to the playoffs, but he has a way of manipulating his roster unlike any other.

view of mostly empty seats with few fans standing watching

3. Reluctantly, let’s talk attendance. I personally don’t really care about attendance. As I’ve stated before, I live in Arizona, so I don’t get to attend O’s games as often as I’d like. I have been to two this season, and probably about ten in the last three years. I’ve even gone to road games in places like San Diego, Texas and Anaheim.

There are a lot of factors that go into the Orioles’ attendance woes, but the one I continue to point to is MASN. When fans can watch the games at home (which they’ve already paid for through their cable bill) and not have to drop at least $50 (and that’s a very conservative number for many) to go to a game, why wouldn’t they?

Let’s also call a spade a spade here. Attendance was better in 2012, 2013 and 2014 because the concept of the Orioles being a winning club was new. Hasn’t some of that “shine” worn off at this point? I’m not saying O’s fans are taking a winning club for granted, but perhaps they are not only saving up for potential postseason tickets, but also have seen this show for the last few seasons.

Some might say that should inspire more to get out and support them at Camden Yards, but MANY have been doing that over the last few seasons. When something becomes routine, it tends to become more normalized.

4. It’s a shame to see both Joey Rickard and Steve Pearce fall victim injuries that end their seasons, but it shouldn’t be all that shocking that it leaves the Orioles short in the outfield. This goes back all the way to last winter, when the O’s didn’t really do anything to address the problem. Rickard was a nice story early in the season as a Rule 5 pick, but proved to be just that.

The scary thing is, he might have a shot to make the team next season if the O’s don’t go out and acquire an actual corner outfielder. With Pearce, the Orioles should’ve known what they were getting when trading for him. They acquired an outfielder who couldn’t play outfield.

Everyone loves Pearce, but it was strange when they made the deal for him. I felt all kinds of uncomfortable with it, and my feelings haven’t changed after seeing him go down.

david ortiz in dugout swinging something

5. I don’t have a whole bunch of warm fuzzy feelings on David Ortiz playing his final regular season game in Baltimore tonight. That’s to be expected. The guy has been an Oriole killer over his career.

He’s also highly overrated.

I know, “hot take alert,” but it’s true.

Not only is he slightly overrated as a player, but he’s way overrated as a person. I know this isn’t news to Baltimore fans, but the national media has slobbered all over Oritz (who I refuse to call “Big Papi”) for years now. That’s especially the case now that he’s retiring.

I say good riddance. Ortiz is a huge fraud and has duped people into believing he’s an upstanding individual, who is actually good.

I will welcome him not playing against the Orioles, because it seemed he always had success against them.

I won’t miss watching him play.

6. The Orioles have a chance to “get healthy” this weekend against the Diamondbacks. Arizona comes to Baltimore for three games, and as someone who is around the D’backs a lot, let me tell you they aren’t good. I’d never say a team “should” sweep another, but if ever there was a spot this would be it.

Anything less than winning two of three would be a massive disappointment for the Orioles. Arizona is simply a bad baseball team. They barely get a mention on sports talk radio here in the Phoenix area and have been an afterthought for months.

This weekend is crucial, because it doesn’t get much easier for the Birds.

7. With the division all but mathematically out of reach, the best case scenario for the Orioles is to host the Wild Card game. That’s definitely no sure bet, but if they do get into the one-game playoff at all, I know who I want them to face.

Give me the Tigers every day, and twice on Sunday. I want no parts of the Blue Jays, who despite a rough September, have the ability to bury the O’s. I also don’t want to see Seattle or Houston, which both seem to own the Birds this season.

Detroit still has games against Cleveland and Kansas City, but also gets to play the Braves to close things out. Houston and Seattle have a series against one another, but the Astros also play the Angels while the Mariners face the Twins and A’s. Those are easy schedules there.

Toronto obviously has games with the O’s, and has to play the Red Sox and Yankees. It’s all in front of the O’s if they want it.

They just have to go out and earn it.

8. It was really cool to see Trey Mancini have a moment the other night. Watching his homer and his mother’s reaction in the crowd was priceless. It actually gave me goosebumps. Those are the moments we live for as baseball fans.

Not to mention it was hilarious how quickly he trotted around the bases. You could tell the adrenaline was pumping.

When it comes to Mancini long-term, I have no idea what to make of him. Is he a first baseman? Not in Baltimore with Chris Davis. Is he an outfielder? It sure doesn’t look like it because he hasn’t played there enough. Is he purely a designated hitter? He better be a really good one if that’s going to be his only role.

Time will tell, but one of the most intriguing storylines of this offseason will be what track Mancini takes within the organization.

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