The Orioles took two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays and split a two-game set with the Washington Nationals before opening their weekend series against the Boston Red Sox with a victory Thursday.
Here are five things we learned from a week that ended with the Orioles and New York Yankees tied at 72-50 for the American League East lead.
Zach Eflin might the steal of the trade deadline
Two more starts, two more wins for Eflin. The Orioles’ biggest trade deadline acquisition has been sensational since arriving in a deal with Tampa Bay, going 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA and 1.03 WHIP to provide some stability to a rotation piecing its way through August with Grayson Rodriguez on the injured list. Eflin is the first pitcher in Orioles history with at least 25 strikeouts and two or fewer walks over his first four starts with the club.
Baltimore struck early to acquire Eflin, who’s under contract through 2025 as well, in a trade with their AL East rivals four days ahead of the deadline. The Orioles did have to part ways with three of their top 30 prospects to get him, but it was a far cheaper price than what other contenders paid for rentals such as the Houston Astros’ package for Yusei Kikuchi and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal for Jack Flaherty.
Among starters who were traded at the deadline, Eflin has outproduced Kikuchi (2.70), Flaherty (3.78 ERA), the St. Louis Cardinals’ Erick Fedde (5.63), the Milwaukee Brewers’ Frankie Montas (3.86) and the Kansas City Royals’ Michael Lorenzen (3.60) with his new club.
“It’s not necessarily something I’m thinking about,” Eflin said Thursday of making a good first impression in Baltimore. “Trying to go out and do my job every fifth day, stay in the game as long as I can give the bullpen a rest, kind of just do my job, but those are things I’m focused on. I’m not necessarily focused on getting approval of everybody. Just go out, play hard, be competitive, and see where it takes me.”
Coby Mayo is returning to the minors, but might not be down for long
After getting off to a 1-for-17 start to his MLB career, Mayo was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. It was a rocky debut for Baseball America’s No. 12 overall prospect, who struck out 10 times in seven games and had some adventures at third base.
The Orioles are hopeful Mayo still gained some valuable experience, but a string of right-handed starters looming didn’t offer many opportunities for him to build off his encouraging 1-for-2 performance Wednesday in which he collected his first career hit, drew a walk, scored a run and made a few nice plays on defense.
“Anytime that we’ve had a few of our young prospects come up and then go back down, I think it’s always actually a positive,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “A positive experience that he had up here. When you go back down, now you understand what the speed of the game is up here, the importance of certain things, just what major league pitching looks like. So, I think Coby is going to be better for it.”
Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias told The Baltimore Sun on Thursday that Mayo will be a consideration to be called back up when active rosters expand to 28 players Sept. 1. If fellow prospect Heston Kjerstad clears concussion protocols by then, the two youngsters might have to compete with each other for one of those spots.
The Orioles haven’t handed the closer role back to Craig Kimbrel yet
Baltimore had two save opportunities this week, and both went to newly acquired right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, who has impressed with a 1.00 ERA in nine appearances since being traded by the Philadelphia Phillies. Kimbrel made one appearance this week in a high-leverage spot, allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Sunday against the Rays on three walks and a sacrifice fly.
“I saw 99 [mph] with a slider,” Hyde said of why he turned to Domínguez in the ninth inning Wednesday. “So he’s been pitching the end of the game here for a couple weeks. Hopefully we get Craig going, but he’s been doing a really good job for us since we got him at the deadline.”
Kimbrel hasn’t recorded a save since July 7, posting an 8.31 ERA over nine appearances for his second rocky stretch of the season. When the nine-time All-Star endured his first tough stretch in late April and early May, Hyde temporarily moved Kimbrel out of the closer role and eased him back into higher leverage situations. He’s tried the same method over the past month, but Kimbrel’s performance Sunday — the only game he pitched in this week — cast doubt over his ability to bounce back again.
Hyde did have Kimbrel warming up in the bullpen ahead of the ninth inning Thursday, when Yennier Cano finished Baltimore’s 5-1 win over the Red Sox. Had Boston made things interesting, Kimbrel might have gotten the ball for the save situation mid-inning. The Orioles appear willing to give the 36-year-old veteran another chance to reclaim his closer role soon, but they’re content with leaning on Domínguez in the meantime.
Reinforcements are coming for Orioles’ bullpen, but Félix Bautista won’t be one of them
The Orioles’ bullpen got some good news on the injury front this week. Setup man Danny Coulombe began throwing in the first of many steps in his program as he aims to make a September return from surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. Right-hander Jacob Webb isn’t far behind, as he’s scheduled to throw this weekend after he avoided surgery despite landing on the injured list with the ever-ominous “elbow inflammation” Aug. 7.
Closer Félix Bautista was also with the team this week, completing a bullpen session at Camden Yards for the first time since he underwent Tommy John surgery last fall. However, Elias said in Tampa Bay that the Orioles were “ruling out” an October return for Bautista, who will instead focus on being healthy for the start of the 2025 season.
The Orioles had always identified next spring as the target return date for Bautista, but the All-Star right-hander had posted videos on social media in recent weeks of him throwing at the club’s spring training complex in Sarasota, Florida. As encouraging as it is for Bautista to be back on a mound already, the team isn’t taking any chances rushing him back for this year’s playoff run.
Albert Suárez merits mention in the Orioles’ playoff starter conversation
Assuming Rodriguez returns to the Orioles’ rotation before the playoffs, he’s expected to join Eflin and Corbin Burnes to form a formidable trio of arms for any postseason series. The club will need a fourth starter, however, and right now the top options are Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers and Albert Suárez.
Kremer is the favorite to win the spot down the stretch, especially after he completed one of his best starts of the season Wednesday by allowing just one run in six innings against the Nationals. Rogers’ start to his Orioles career has been tepid at best and a disaster at worst; he owns a 7.53 ERA over three starts. But while Suárez has been the team’s first choice to move to the bullpen whenever a starter is squeezed out of the rotation, he’s been a reliable starter all year.
Suárez heads into the weekend riding a streak of 11 2/3 consecutive scoreless frames after pitching a shutout into the seventh inning Sunday. He’s completed five innings in 10 of his 16 starts this season and has a 3.43 ERA as a starter. Should Kremer not prove up to the task down the stretch, Suárez should be the Orioles’ top option to start Game 4 of a playoff series.