BALTIMORE-What happened? Tuesday was trade deadline day, and the Orioles were extraordinarily busy, making four trades, including three in the final hour before the 6 p.m. deadline.
Not only did the Orioles add left-handed starter Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins, left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from Philadelphia and outfielders Eloy Jiménez and Austin Slater from the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati, they’re also recalling baseball’s top prospect, Jackson Holliday, from Triple-A Norfolk, who’s likely to start Wednesday afternoon’s game.
The Orioles did lose two promising players, second baseman Connor Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers, who were sent to the Marlins for Rogers.
Another top prospect, right-hander Seth Johnson, who came from Tampa Bay in the three-way deal that sent Trey Mancini to Houston in August 2022, went to Philadelphia.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias also made two trades last Friday, acquiring starter Zach Eflin from Tampa Bay and reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache from Philadelphia. Three prospects went to the Rays and outfielder Austin Hays to the Phillies.
“It’s last-second-before-the-game flurry,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Hats off to Mike and his group for working so hard and doing everything they could to improve our club. We all appreciate it. We’re having a little bit of a different look tomorrow or the next couple days.”
With a quarter of the team new over the past five days, Hyde will be busy deciding how he’ll employ his new starters, relievers and bench players.
He couldn’t have imagined this much change.
“I don’t think you ever know,” Hyde said. “I think if you asked [Elias] he wouldn’t know, either. I’m not even involved in those discussions, so I have no idea. I discuss things with him, but I’m not involved in talking with other front offices and seeing what other people want and don’t want. I was just waiting to see what happened.”
The Orioles also designated left-handed pitchers Cole Irvin and Matt Krook for assignment and transferred infielder Jorge Mateo to the 60-day injured list. They also promoted catcher Blake Hunt, even though James McCann was cleared to play despite a broken nose, and added infielder Terrin Vavra, whose stay with the team may be short. Infielder Liván Soto who was acquired along with Slater, has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
In a minor league deal, the Orioles traded infielder/outfielder Billy Cook to Pittsburgh for Patrick Reilly.
Who’s the biggest surprise among the newcomers? Adding Jiménez, a right-handed outfielder and designated hitter with power, could give Hyde some additional options.
Soto and Dominguez, who were teammates with the Phillies last week, can give Hyde additional options for the late innings.
“We added a couple right-handed hitters,” he said. “I feel like that was important to give us some more options against left-handed pitching. And Seranthony tonight, you saw him.
“Soto is somebody we’ve seen for a while and pitched back end of games, and it’s a great arm from the left side, so adding another left-handed bullpen arm. And then the two starters that we got, as well. So we’re going to see Rogers here in the next couple days, and Zach threw the ball great for us yesterday.”
How did Burnes pitch? Corbin Burnes allowed two runs — the second was an inherited runner that scored on a hit against Cionel Pérez — on four hits in 6 2/3 innings as the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2. He struck out seven, walked three and hit his first two batters of the season. He also hit 99-mph on the radar gun.
“That’s another Corbin Burnes start right there.” Hyde said. “So consistent. He’s so hard to hit because the ball moves so much. It’s upper 90s with great curveball and changeup. That’s pretty much what he’s done almost every single time out for us. He’s a horse, and he’s a number one.”
How do you like the new batting order? Since Colton Cowser began batting leadoff four games ago, he’s 6-for-17 (.353). Gunnar Henderson is batting third.
“I’m enjoying it. It was something that I did in Triple-A and I think it’s a pretty good spot for me,” Cowser said. “I kind of enjoy setting the tables, kind of what me and [co-hitting coach] Ryan Fuller have been talking about.
“Kind of running with it right now.” Hyde said. “Colton’s swinging the bat real well. You hit Gunnar at the top to try to get him up as much as possible. You also like to have guys on base when he’s up as well. I don’t know how long or what we’ll do going forward, but right now both those guys take good at bats.”
Anthony Santander hit his 31st home run and had an RBI double. Ryan O’Hearn had a two-run double. Ramón Urías hit his fifth home run and had an RBI single.
The Orioles remain ½ game ahead of the New York Yankees in the American League East after the Yankees’ 7-6 win in 12 innings over the Phillies.
How did Oriole players react to the moves? Burnes didn’t have much time to digest the trade news since he was preparing for his start.
“I think I’ve seen most of them,” he said. “I still have to go on my phone and figure it all out. We were getting ready for the game and we didn’t get a lineup until about 40 minutes before the game today, so I was kind of scrambling to get the game plan and everything kind of last minute but, yeah, I’ll take a minute here in a little bit, sit here and see what we got. I know Mike’s pretty busy today.”
Burnes has been in playoff races before with Milwaukee.
“A lot of times it brings new energy, new faces,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it feels foreign, but it’s new teammates that you’ve got to get used to, new routines that you got to get used to with the guys. This is probably the most faces I think I’ve ever come across as far as adding at the deadline, so this will be kind of a first for me. But, yeah, I mean if they’re coming here, they’re good players and they’re going to be in the mindset as we are and that’s to win baseball games.”
Cowser has lost two close friends in Norby and Stowers but is gaining more experienced teammates as the Orioles make their playoff push.
“I haven’t really analyzed it too much,” Cowser said. “Just because you still have to show up every single day and get ready to play a game. It was definitely a pretty exciting trade deadline it felt like. There was a lot of things going around the league but try to keep the blinders on and get ready for the task at hand.”
What’s the word? “I really have a lot of confidence that that’s the club that we are and we’re going to get back playing with that loose, free style. I just see us making unsure mistakes out there right now and trying not to make mistakes instead of playing with a little bit more freedom.” –Hyde’s pregame assessment of the Orioles.
What does it mean? The trades will be analyzed for the rest of the season, but it shows the Orioles recognized the team had become stale in recent weeks, and the roster needed to change.
What’s the stat of the day? 11. Burnes has 11 wins, one shy of his career high. He had 12 wins in 2022.
What’s next? Grayson Rodriguez (12-4, 3.82) will start for the Orioles on Wednesday at 12:35 p.m. Toronto hasn’t named its starter.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com