
Everything sucks and Félix Bautista might be hurt again too.
Hello, friends.
There is now one week left until the trade deadline. The Orioles are in the middle of one of the stretches they’ve gotten into all too often this season where it feels like they might never win another game. Last night’s game was an exploration of a different way to lose compared to earlier in the Guardians series, with opportunities wasted by bad baserunning, and with Cleveland ultimately taking a lead on a play that any competent defender would have been able to make. But, you know, these guys.
Beyond just the fact that the Orioles lost and are diving back towards their worst record of the season, there’s also this involving a player who didn’t even appear in last night’s game:
Tony Mansolino said Félix Bautista sent a message in the seventh inning that he would be unavailable tonight. “Something didn’t feel right, so we shut him down,” Mansolino said. “We’ll have more information by tomorrow.”
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka.bsky.social) 2025-07-24T01:15:34.746Z
My basic experience with extremely vague baseball news is this: Whenever they find out (or, often, they already know and it’s whenever we find out), it’s going to be bad. If the news is good, there’s no need for the vagueness. Maybe this will be an exception, but by now we should all know better than to spend too much energy hoping for that. If Bautista’s out, the march to the end of the season becomes even more grim, and the outlook for next year that much more dire.
Kostka went on to add that Bautista did play catch before last night’s game and that interim manager Tony Mansolino said “everything was normal” and that the shutdown “definitely was not expected.” Well, okay then.
And they haven’t even started trading away players we’ve come to like yet! Alright, I shouldn’t speak for you, maybe you liked Bryan Baker. But over this next week it seems that they must deal Ryan O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins (if anyone even wants him) and both of those are going to hurt. Ramón Laureano hasn’t been here all that long, but he’s done well enough that I’d rather see the Orioles exercise his 2026 option than ship him out.
The pitchers who haven’t been around for as long might not hurt as much, if they’re going to be dealt: starters Zach Eflin or Charlie Morton – I can’t even imagine Tomoyuki Sugano having value even for a bag of balls – plus relievers Seranthony Domínguez, Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto.
It’s going to look like a different team in eight days, and outside of Dylan Beavers, who it’s not a guarantee they’re even going to call-up, there’s not a prospect whose imminent arrival is exciting. The immediate replacements are just going to be a bunch of guys I don’t care about all that much. I’m taking it as a given that we don’t see Samuel Basallo before about August 30, regardless of his oblique health; he isn’t back in the lineup yet. It’s going to get 2018 around here.
The Orioles have still got one more game to play in Cleveland before they can escape. They need a win to avoid the embarrassment of a mop (four-game sweep). They’ve been embarrassing enough already. The mop is probably what they deserve. It’s a 1:10 start for the getaway day, so don’t get caught off guard. Morton is set to start for the O’s, with Logan Allen pitching for the Guardians.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Finding the best fits for players who the Orioles might trade (The Baltimore Banner)
Charlie Morton ending up with the Astros is the one that might be the most fascinating to me here.
Orioles trade chips stumbling with deadline approaching (The Baltimore Sun)
Once you’ve noticed this, it’s all you can see. It sucks!
With priorities pivoting, Young given a chance to prove himself with Orioles (Orioles.com)
…and he’s already been optioned back to the minors. Dumb.
Aloy wants to represent Hawaii from Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
Wehiwa Aloy would be the fifth Hawaiian-born Oriole, but just the first to have been drafted by the team.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 2018, the Orioles traded Zack Britton to the Yankees for Dillon Tate, Josh Rogers, and Cody Carroll. In total, the Orioles received 0.7 bWAR from these players: 2.2 from Tate and -1.5 from the other two guys combined.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2012 pitcher Miguel Socolovich, and 1954-55 pitcher Duane Pillette.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: South American independence leader Simón Bolívar (1783), author Alexandre Dumas (1802), watermelon smasher Gallagher (1946), baseball legend Barry Bonds (1964), and actress/singer-songwriter Jennifer Lopez (1969).
On this day in history…
In 1304, the Scottish castle of Stirling was captured by the English, who employed what’s believed to be the largest trebuchet in history, dubbed the “War Wolf” in battering the defenders into submission.
In 1847, the Mormon settlers led by Brigham Young stopped their travel in the Salt Lake Valley, founding a settlement that bears its name today.
In 1911, Machu Picchu in Peru was re-discovered by explorer Hiram Bingham III.
In 1974, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that White House tapes could not be kept from the Watergate special prosecutor and ordered President Nixon to surrender them.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 24. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!