Mike Elias spoke to the media about the state of the Orioles, and the team lost yet again.
Good morning Birdland,
Welp, the Orioles lost again on Tuesday night. You can go read my recap of the 6-3 loss if you missed it, or I could say you some time here. TL,DR: Charlie Morton was good for four innings and bad for one. Cedric Mullins was the only one hitting until the eighth inning. And the new guy in the bullpen, Scott Blewett, debuted and looked good.
The losses are stacking at the moment, and things are feeling desperate. There is still 90% of the season in front of us, but that can evaporate quite quickly. This team needs to go on a little bit of a run to get back to .500, and then we can stop hovering our collective hands above the “Panic!” button. These next eight games against the Guardians, Reds, and Nationals feel like an opportunity to do just that. Otherwise…well, let’s not think about it right now.
The game yesterday took a back seat to the team’s GM. Mike Elias speaks to the media occasionally throughout every season, and whenever he does he always comes with oodles of information and quotes worth examining. That is exactly what happened yesterday.
Elias gave injury updates and said that the Orioles are “working on” extensions for some of their young players. There was no real news exactly, but it is good to hear from the GM, especially in a moment where the team feels like it is spiraling.
As you would expect, Elias was not overly negative about the outlook for 2025 Orioles. He explained that he “still see(s) a playoff team” when looking at this bunch. And that he is actively working the phones to make trades, but admits that something seismic is unlikely to happen this time of year.
Again, it was nothing revolutionary. But it was also not a total load of hot air either. The GM probably felt it was important to speak to the public in a moment where this theoretical contender is scuffling. He did that. He probably also understands that his job performance this offseason has drawn some ire given that he ran back an almost identical team from 2024, except in the rotation, where the team lost their ace and got worse overall. He had to explain away some of the team’s issues. Pointing to injuries is reasonable right now, but it doesn’t explain why Morton and Dean Kremer have been so bad.
Bottom line, the team needs to play better. Things aren’t clicking right now. Not on the mound and not on the plate. You have to assume that the offense will turn it around at some point, and you just have to pray for the rotation.
Links
This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
Some quotes from Elias and Brandon Hyde on lineup construction. These didn’t get as much play yesterday, but they are interesting when examining Hyde’s job performance and how the dugout interacts with the front office day-to-day.
Orioles pitcher Tyler Wells is a new dad, and his new glove reminds him who he plays for | The Baltimore Banner
If there was any doubt that Wells would have a big impact when he gets back from elbow surgery this summer, this news should wipe that away. The new dad strength is gonna be crucial for the final stretch.
Orioles Release Luis Gonzalez | MLB Trade Rumors
This is an interesting one. Since the southpaw was injured and could not be placed on waivers, he was guaranteed to be released after being DFA’ed earlier in the week. The Orioles had just added Gonzalez to the 40-man roster this offseason, and you would assume they did so with an eye towards major league contributions at some point. Maybe he will return on a minor league deal and still have that impact, but this dints that quite a bit.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Richard Bleier turns 38 today. The soft-tossing lefty had a nice run with the Orioles than spanned four seasons from 2017 through 2020. In that time he had a 3.15 ERA over 154.1 innings that mostly came out of the bullpen.
- Sergio Robles celebrates his 79th birthday. He played in 10 games for the Orioles as catcher between 1972 and ‘73.
This day in O’s history
April 16th has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. So here are a few things that have happened on this date beyond Birdland:
1910 – Boston Arena opens. It is the oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena that is still used for the sport today. It is currently owned by Northeastern University.
1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
1972 – Apollo 16 launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida.