Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are hopeless in Baltimore

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Yeesh. What more can you say after a game like last night’s? The Orioles got thoroughly trounced by a team that’s not particularly good, the White Sox, in a 12-2 debacle. Alex Church recapped the latest O’s blowout loss, in which the Orioles’ best pitcher was catcher Jesus Sucre, who tossed a 1-2-3 inning.

When this homestand began on Saturday, the Orioles already had the worst home record in baseball. Since then, they’ve gone 0-4, including two games in which they were outscored by nine or more runs. The O’s now have a 1-10 record at Camden Yards this season.

The worst home record in Orioles history, not surprisingly, happened last year, in a season full of worsts. Those 2018 O’s had a 28-53 mark at Camden Yards. So far, the 2019 Orioles could only dream of such glorious heights. They’re on pace for a 7-74 record at home.

That, of course, will change. It’s very early yet. I’m betting they can at least get into the double digits in home wins. A bold prediction, I know!

Still, it’s certainly a possibility that the Orioles will outdo even last year’s level of ineptitude in front of the home fans. The homer-prone O’s pitching staff has been a terrible mix with dinger-friendly Camden Yards, with the Birds coughing up 41 of their MLB-worst 59 gopher balls in Baltimore. They’re currently sporting an 8.36 ERA at home compared to 4.62 on the road. Not great.

It’s almost at the point where it’s a relief when the O’s get to head out on a road trip, which they’ll do on Friday. But first they’ll have to slog through two more games in their home jerseys against the White Sox. Good luck to us all.

Links

Three four-run innings lead to 12-2 Orioles loss - School of Roch
Roch Kubatko recaps how it all went wrong last night. There was no shortage of pitfalls for the Orioles.

Orioles option Opening Day CF to Minors - Orioles.com
It just wasn’t happening for Cedric Mullins in the majors, at least not offensively. Hopefully some time at Norfolk will do him some good.

Stevie Wilkerson on joining the Orioles and playing the outfield - Steve Melewski
No offense to Wilkerson, who looked fine in left field last night, but what happened to the glut of outfield depth that the O’s had in spring training? How did we get to the point where Stevie Wilkerson is a starting outfielder?

Orioles on pace to set new record for most homers allowed - Yahoo Sports
They’re on pace to not just set the record, but obliterate it. This article was written before the O’s coughed up two more roundtrippers last night, which actually decreased their homers-per-game average.

Five reasons the Delmarva Shorebirds are the minor leagues' most fascinating team - BaltimoreBaseball.com
I’m sure that all of you, faithful Camden Chatters, are reading our daily minor league recaps. But if not, here’s my summary of what the red-hot Delmarva Shorebirds have been up to this season.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your Orioles birthday buddies are 2009 lefty Sean Henn (38), 1968 infielder Chico Fernandez (80), and the late 1957 shortstop Buddy Peterson, who would have been 94 today. None of them may seem like big names, but they were all better at playing baseball than you or I are at doing anything.

On this day in 1994, Orioles closer (and now Hall of Famer) Lee Smith notched his ninth save in the team’s 16 games, the fewest games in MLB history for a pitcher to get that many saves. Smith ended up with a major-league leading 33 saves in that strike-shortened season, his only year with the Orioles.