A lopsided loss, Holliday shows the power, and Henderson has already started his rehab assignment.
Good Morning Birdland!
Ah, now there’s that familiar feeling I often get during a baseball season. The team’s dominant win on Opening Day had me in euphoria, while the sluggish performance on Friday left me regretful of the three hours I spent watching. Emotional whiplash is a requirement to being a baseball fan. In case you missed it, Stacey recapped all of the action in the 8-2 loss.
The pitching performances were rough. Charlie Morton’s debut fell apart in the fourth inning, Albert Suárez was not particularly sharp, and Cionel Pérez had his typical early-season struggles. At least Gregory Soto looked good, striking out all three batters that he faced.
Jackson Holliday, Adley Rutschman, and Ryan O’Hearn each had decent (or better) offensive days on what was a modest game for the lineup. Holliday smacked his first home run of the season as part of a 2-for-3 night. Rutschman walked twice and scored a run. And O’Hearn had a single and a walk.
But perhaps the worst part of the whole game was the O’s defense. Between throwing errors from Rutschman and Mateo, and the moment where Holliday didn’t cover second base on a potential double play, it was just sloppy. Holliday was shaded pretty far over to the right, so maybe we don’t knock him too much.
Regardless, it was an ugly showing. But it’s just one game. They have 160 more on the schedule. Hopefully they look better this afternoon.
Speaking of which, will we see some lineup changes today? It is a late afternoon start following an evening game, which can be an opportunity to get starters off their feet. Gary Sánchez and Ramón Laureano are waiting for their first appearance of the 2025 season, and Heston Kjerstad has only been used as a defensive replacement to this point.
You would imagine that Brandon Hyde isn’t inclined to take Rutschman’s bat out of the lineup for Sánchez. But there could be an argument to letting Ryan Mountcastle take a breather, giving O’Hearn a start at first, and sliding Rutschman into the DH role for a day.
Kjerstad could step in for O’Neill to face the righty Max Scherzer. O’Neill has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Getting him off the artificial turf in Toronto for a day probably isn’t a bad idea. And the fact that he is 0-for-6 in his career against Scherzer could be another point for sitting O’Neill early.
Links
Bulked-up Holliday’s massive homer a promising sign | Orioles.com
There was a whole lot of spring hype around Holliday, and for good reason. He’s already off to a better start this year than he had in 2024. The team has to be hoping that he becomes their lead-off hitter sooner rather than later.
Jackson Holliday blasted a fastball, and that’s a good sign after too much swing and miss last year | The Baltimore Banner
Holliday was not a huge swing-and-miss guy in the minors, so hopefully this is an early sign of growth. He definitely looks more comfortable this time around.
Kjerstad could make 2025 debut this weekend | Roch Kubatko
As Roch mentions, Kjerstad is in a tough spot. Gunnar Henderson is probably gonna be ready to come off the IL next week. When that happens, the Orioles have to remove someone else from the roster. Among the hitters, Kjerstad is the easiest to send out. But he would go to Triple-A, where he has nothing to prove.
Gunnar Henderson Begins Rehab Stint | MLB Trade Rumors
Perhaps the most important news of the day. It is a great sign that Henderson played in the Tides’ opener. Provided he doesn’t have any set backs, he should be back with the Orioles after the minimum IL stint. That is huge!
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- The late Juan Bell (b. 1968, d. 2016) was born on this day. He spent parts of three seasons as a reserve infielder in Baltimore from 1989 through ‘91.
This day in history
March 29 has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. So, here are a few things that happened on this date outside of Birdland:
1974 – The Terracotta Army, a collection dated back to 210-209 BCE, is discovered in Shaanxi province, China.
1984 – After lengthy, contentious discussions between the franchise and city of Baltimore, the NFL’s Colts franchise up and leave the city with no warning and relocate to Indianapolis.
2021 – The ship Ever Given is dislodged from the Suez Canal after six days blocking the important waterway.