As is often the way with baseball, they must pick themselves up and try to do better today.
Hello, friends.
The truest thing there is about the 2025 Orioles is that they will never let you feel good about them for long. The last three weeks or so have seen a stretch of improved baseball that you could be forgiven for thinking maybe they’d gotten past all of that. That’s how they get you. They are still the team that we watched in April and May. Some individual players are starting to break out of that funk and defy the team-wide trend, but on the whole, this mess, particularly the pitching mess, is not fixed.
Last night’s 12-8 loss to the Rays was one of the roughest ones that they have experienced so far this year. If Brandon Hyde had not been fired a month ago, this game would have probably done him in. The particulars are just so embarrassingly terrible. The Orioles jumped to an 8-0 lead in the second inning, then got zero hits and zero walks for the remainder of the game. Even so, this should have been more than enough.
Staked to that eight run lead, Trevor Rogers as the starting pitcher could not even complete the third inning, setting up later substantial immolations by Yennier Cano and Andrew Kittredge. Cano’s incomplete inning saw four runs cross the plate and the Rays tie things up at 8-8. Kittredge gave up another four-spot to put the Orioles into the loss column.
Rogers may find himself optioned after one day because the O’s are going to need to get a fresh pitcher into the bullpen. Who that might be is a bit of a question because two guys, Colin Selby and Grant Wolfram, are within the ten day rule where they can’t come back unless replacing an injured player. Chayce McDermott has been bad since getting dumped back to the minors. Brandon Young isn’t back from a rehab assignment yet. Recent waiver claim Kyle Tyler? Less recent acquisition Luis F. Castillo? Yaramil Hiraldo? Seems like it’s going to have to be somebody.
The bullpen had been pretty good for the two weeks prior and it’s like they were determined to light that on fire and burn it all down in one night. These are Mike Elias’s guys and again and truly, they ain’t got it in 2025, so much so that the aura of genius around the man who assembled this team is dispelled forever. Check out Stacey’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
Last night’s loss sets up a kind of “find out what you’re made of” game for the Orioles as they close out this four-game set in Tampa tonight. All they have to do is win and they get out of this weird minor league stadium where weird things have happened with a series split. A split is not enough to fuel the longshot playoff dreams, but bouncing back after the kind of loss the O’s suffered last night would at least be enough to chase away some of the misery of this experience. If they can avoid a tailspin where they lose the next five games after this, that is a plus.
A lot of this is in the hands of Charlie Morton and how he can pitch in this 7:35 contest. This is not encouraging when one considers his 6+ ERA for the season, though he has been pretty darn good in three of his last four starts. That includes last time out, when he struck out ten in a rain-shortened five-inning outing against the Angels. The Rays are better than the Angels. Morton will also have to do this without the catcher who some folks have convinced themselves is the Morton whisperer, Maverick Handley.
As for the Orioles hitters, they’ll be facing Drew Rasmussen, who has been incredibly good this season, rolling to a 2.55 ERA to date. About all the good I can say about the O’s chances against him is that he’s not left-handed.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
How Orioles pitcher Trevor Rogers got the help he needed (The Baltimore Banner)
Rogers is talking here about a sports psychologist helping him out with processing bad starts. There may be more to say after last night’s outing.
Two days that may have saved the Orioles season (Baltimore Baseball)
The two days are not about any two games, but rather about the days that the Orioles signed Dylan Carlson and Ramón Laureano. Different aspects of this may be premature in being proclaimed.
One prospect from each team who’s pushing for a promotion (MLB Pipeline)
Samuel Basallo? Samuel Basallo.
Orioles minor leaguer Luis Guevara’s fatal crash detailed in police report (The Baltimore Sun)
There are some grim details here in the official accounting of what happened to the Orioles minor leaguer who died from injuries suffered in a jet ski accident this past weekend.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are a number of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022 one-game pitcher Cody Sedlock, 2017 pitcher Logan Verrett, 2004 outfielder Val Majewski, 2004-06 pitcher Bruce Chen, 2001-03 pitcher Willis Roberts, 1988-89 outfielder Butch Davis, and 1955-57 pitcher Don Ferrarese. Ferrarese passed away last year at the age of 95.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623), baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig (1903), author Salman Rushdie (1947), singer-songwriter Paula Abdul (1962), and actress Zoe Saldana (1978).
On this day in history…
In 1846, an official baseball game was recorded for the first time with a Hoboken, New Jersey matchup between the New York Base Ball Club and the Knickerbockers, in which NYBBC was victorious by a 23-1 margin.
In 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation, effectively ending chattel slavery in the United States. This anniversary, Juneteenth, has been a federal holiday since 2021.
In 1978, the Garfield comic strip went into national syndication. Prior to its national pickup, it went by the name of the human character instead, Jon.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 19. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!