Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where even Mother Nature is tired of the Orioles

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Were you one of the intrepid souls at Camden Yards for last night’s game (paid attendance: 16,885; actual attendance: much less)? If you were, I’m so sorry. You had to sit through an evening-long monsoon that caused two rain delays and basically made the night a total mess. Worst of all, you had to watch the Orioles lose again, complete with defensive shenanigans, offensive ineptitude, and pitching futility. Harrison Jozwiak’s recap has all the details.

With their loss to the Red Sox, the O’s fell to 28-73. They’re on pace for 117 losses. Let me write that out, just to hammer it home: one-hundred seventeen losses.

There are no more words to describe what’s happening on the field. So why not talk trades instead? To the links!

Links

Latest on the trade market - School of Roch
Roch Kubatko checks in with the latest on the Orioles’ trade rumors, including the growing list of suitors for Zach Britton. He says the O’s aren't inclined to trade Kevin Gausman or Dylan Bundy but “won’t pin the untouchable tag on anyone.” As it should be.

Ranking the Orioles’ 10 most likely trade candidates – The Athletic
Dan Connolly ranks the Orioles’ top 10 trade candidates, but if they actually trade more than three of these guys, I’ll be shocked.

Is trade speculation finally wearing on the clubhouse? - Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski states that the constant trade rumors are “wearing on everyone in that clubhouse.” With all that stress, they might start losing games! Wait...

Here’s the catch for the Orioles: Their catchers just haven’t been very good – The Athletic
Buried in this article about the Orioles' ineffective catching rotation is that their current leader in fWAR among position players is Craig Gentry. With all due respect to Gentry, that is incredibly sad.

How did it come to this? A review of the missteps, mishaps and miscalculations that led to the Orioles' 2018 debacle - BaltimoreBaseball.com
The Orioles did a lot of things wrong for a lot of years, and that's how you end up with a season as nightmarish as 2018. This article runs through the club’s many mistakes. The writer seems like a pretty smart fellow!

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies: 2012 six-gamer Miguel Socolovich (32) and the late Duane Pillette, an original Oriole who came over with the franchise from St. Louis and pitched from 1954-55. Pillette, who died in 2011, would have been 96 today.

July 24 isn’t the most exciting day in Orioles history, but here’s a random factoid: Darren O’Day has pitched on July 24 for all six years of his O’s career until now. That streak will obviously stop this year as O’Day is out for the season after having hamstring surgery. O’Day has pitched a total of six innings on July 24 (one inning each year), giving up three runs, earning one victory, and suffering two losses.

2018 Orioles vs. 1988 Orioles

In their 101st game, the ‘88 Orioles lost at home to the Royals, 6-2. Bret Saberhagen cruised to victory with seven strong innings, proving much better than O’s starter Jeff Ballard, who coughed up homers to Bo Jackson and George Brett. The Orioles fell to 32-69, still four games better than the 2018 squad.

The Royals were three outs away from winning their fourth straight game to start the second half, but they coughed up a two-run lead in the ninth to fall to the Tigers. Still, their incompetence is no match for the Orioles, who have built up a three-game “advantage” for the first pick in next year’s draft. If you’re into that sort of thing.