More dubs, Pérez gets revenge, Vavra will (eventually) start a game, and Bradish looked good in his return.
Good morning, Birdland!
The Orioles big league squad is doing everything in their power to show that they are real deal contenders. A 6-2 beating of the Reds on Friday night gave the O’s four wins in their last five tries, put them within two games of a playoff spot, pushed them two games over .500, and drew them even on run differential for the season. With a relatively easy schedule over the next week, it is not unreasonable to think the team could push themselves even further up the standings in the days ahead.
Things look even rosier if you eliminate the pre-Adley Rutschman days. Since the prized backstop was called up on May 21, the Orioles are 35-25, a .583 winning percentage that extrapolates out to a 94-win pace over an entire season. That is quite impressive, particularly when you realize just how thin the starting rotation has been all summer long.
Given all of that context, it would be awfully hard to reconcile with a trade in which the Orioles unloaded any of the core components of their current big league roster. That includes Trey Mancini, who owns the third-highest OPS+ on the team (117) behind only Anthony Santander (121) and Rutschman (118).
The trade market has been slow to develop, likely the result of colliding factors. First is that teams are in a crunch to sign their draft picks before August 1, and second is the presence of Juan Soto on the trade block. Just about every team, contender or not, should be interested in a talent like Soto. It’s tough to put together a trade package for smaller pieces when half of your farm system might be in a standing offer for Soto.
That makes it hard to gauge what the Orioles are doing with Mancini. The only concrete rumor on that front is nearly a week old now, and it indicated that the Mets were interested, but there does not appear to be any formal offer on the table.
The assumption is that any trade of Mancini by himself would yield a meager return. So, the Orioles could include one of their controllable bullpen arms to increase the possible packages. But even that seems to make little sense unless Mike Elias and his crew truly believe the incoming prospects would be difference makers.
Just let it ride! This team is so much fun. There is some magic about them. They might even have another gear once you promote someone like D.L. Hall or Gunnar Henderson. Actively making the team worse without clearly improving their future would be a dereliction of duty.
Links
Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez has learned to channel his energy. In return to Cincinnati, he let it out. | The Baltimore Sun
I have really enjoyed Cionel Pérez this year. He is probably the member of the ‘pen that I am most worried about regressing at any given moment, but his outings are still loaded with energy. And more often than not he gets the job done. You have to give Elias credit for a smart waiver claim here.
This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
Lots of people have been annoyed at how the Orioles have handled Terrin Vavra since promoting him a few days ago, and I get that. His pregnant wife has flown from Minnesota to Baltimore and now to Cincinnati to see him get into a game. That sucks! But I think we may all need to reframe how we are viewing Vavra as a major league contributor. He isn’t some surefire everyday player type of prospect. The Orioles have been moving him around the diamond. He does not have a ton of power. The skillset, in general, sounds like a role player, one that I do think will be valuable! But it does not mean that at this very moment he is better than Rougned Odor, no matter how much we may wish that he was.
Bradish back in style for Orioles | Orioles.com
Kyle Bradish is a much better pitcher than he showed in his first big league stint earlier this year. He showed off that fact last night. With Tyler Wells on the IL, the Orioles really need Bradish to step up and pitch like he did as a prospect.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Pat Kelly (b. 1944, d. 2005) was an outfielder with the Orioles from 1977 through 1980. He compiled a 117 OPS+ and 3.7 bWAR in that time.
- Gus Triandos (b. 1930, d. 2013) spent eight seasons in Baltimore from 1955 through 1962, playing mostly as a catcher in that time. He made three straight all-star games from ‘57-’59 and totaled up 13.1 bWAR as a Bird.
- Joe Coleman (b. 1922, d. 1997) was a pitcher for the Orioles between 1954 and ‘55. He appeared in 39 total games and a 3.86 ERA.
This day in O’s history
1954 – With several weeks left in the season, the Orioles, in their first season in Baltimore, surpass the top attendance that the Browns had ever achieved in St. Louis during a single year.
1955 – The Orioles add pitcher Ed Lopat from the Yankees in exchange for Jim McDonald and cash.
2009 – The O’s send reliever George Sherrill to the Dodgers in exchange for minor leaguers Josh Bell and Steve Johnson.