BALTIMORE—As the Orioles begin their final series before the All-Star break, they’re eight games below .500. That’s the same record they had on May 6th, 11 days before Tony Mansolino took over as interim manager.
Under Mansolino, they’re 27-22. When he became manager on May 17th, the Orioles were 15-28, and lost four straight. His initial goal was to get the team to five games below .500, and if they sweep the Miami Marlins this weekend, they’ll be 45-50, five games under .500.
“As you get closer to .500, five games is the next step,” Mansolino said. “It gets a little more real, it gets a little more obtainable, it brings in a lot more belief.”
The hard part for the Orioles is that they’re 6 ½ games out of the wild card, but only have the 13th best record in the American League and have seven teams ahead of them in the wild-card race.
“I think you’re looking for an opportunity to pass those teams,” Mansolino said. “Some of those teams are in our division. We’ve still got to play them a lot. I think if you get yourself closer to .500, you are in striking distance of passing those teams with a head-to-head. It’s not so much what they’re doing.
“I don’t think you can focus at all on what the other teams are doing. I think you have to focus on getting ourselves to .500, and from there, off this thing goes. The third spot is going to be 85 wins, that’s my guess, plus or minus a couple of games. If you get yourself to .500, that’s one week away from maybe being the second wild-card spot if you get to .500. You have to get there. There’s a step before that, obviously, and if you can do that, then it gets really interesting.”
Stowers, Norby return: Last July 30th, the Orioles traded outfielder Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby to the Marlins for left-hander Trevor Rogers, who starts on Saturday.
Stowers never could establish himself as a regular in Baltimore. He played 67 games from 2022-2024 and hit .229 with four home runs and 20 RBIs. Less than a year later, he’s the Marlins’ All-Star with a .279 average and .859 OPS, 16 home runs and 48 RBIs.
“I’ve learned how to not put pressure on myself a little bit better,” Stowers said. “Always battling that, never had it figured out … I realized that I was the one person in my life who wouldn’t be OK with me not having the baseball career that I think I should have, so when I realized that it was freeing, that I have a multitude of people who love and care about me regardless of what happens on the field.”
Stowers is playing in a low-key environment in Miami, though he says that hasn’t been a factor in helping him succeed.
“I’d like to believe that regardless of where I played, getting an opportunity, I’d figure it out,” Stowers said. “I don’t think the market or the attendance played a factor. I think it was just getting to play a lot more.”
Norby and Stowers were both second-round draft picks; Stowers in 2019, and Norby two years later.
Norby played just nine games with the Orioles last season, hitting .188 with two home runs and three RBIs. He’s gotten more of a chance to play with Miami, hitting .240 with six home runs and 26 RBIs and a .653 OPS.
“You never expect to be traded,” Norby said. “Your whole world is shaken upside down. You don’t really expect it. It was shocking. It didn’t make sense to me. I was kind of in denial. Once you get past those initial phases, you see the opportunity that’s in front of you.”
Norby remains close with many current Orioles and follows the team.
“Injuries are tough. Changes are tough,” he said. “I feel like watching from afar, they got hit with the injury bug and it happens to every team, and you hope it doesn’t happen at once. It seems like for them, it did.
“They’re a very talented team. They have a very bright future. Orioles fans don’t need to panic. I see what they talk about on Twitter, probably too much … They’re a good ballclub. We’re a growing ballclub that’s going to be very good for years to come. There’s going to be a lot of battles between us two, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Notes: Right-hander Zach Eflin, who’s on the 15-day injured list with a strained lower back, is set for a rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday. Left-hander Cade Povich, who’s on the IL with left hip inflammation, also will have a rehab outing on Sunday, perhaps at Double-A Chesapeake. … The Baysox placed outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., the Orioles No. 1 draft pick, on the temporary inactive list; he’s had a left hamstring strain. … Catcher Chadwick Tromp, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a strained lower back, is ahead of another catcher, Maverick Handley, who’s on the 7-day concussion injured list, according to Mansolino. “I saw Handley was doing some baseball stuff. Trompy’s swinging a bat. He’s doing a lot of stuff right now. He’s moving ahead,” He said “Handley’s out there playing catch and running today. I don’t think he’s swung yet. He’s probably another week or so away from swinging and start to do some baseball activities. I expect Trompy to be ahead of him at this point.”
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