Saturday Bird Droppings: The Orioles have had a tough week

Good morning, Birdland!

It’s been one of those weeks for the Orioles. They just cannot seem to put everything together. Last night saw Dean Kremer deliver one of the better starts of his young big league career, and then the bullpen fell apart.

The four runs the O’s scored could be considered an offensive outburst for this bunch. They last scored more than four runs a week ago, and haven’t done so in a winning effort since May 5.

The desperation is showing a bit in Brandon Hyde’s lineup construction. Freddy Galvis started at clean-up on Friday for the first time in his career. It sounds crazy to put a player with a career .680 OPS over a decade in the big leagues as your four hitter, but there just aren’t a ton of useful options at the moment. Hopefully a healthy Anthony Santander next week will make a big difference.

Links

Steady on D, Franco seeks answers at plate | Orioles.com
Turns out the Orioles could really use some infielders, huh? While Galvis has held his own at shortstop, the situation at third base and second base is quite dire. It will not happen anytime soon, but when the Orioles do eventually promote the likes of Rylan Bannon and Jahmai Jones at least it will be something different.

Two months from MLB draft, what type of talent might be available to the Orioles with the fifth overall pick? | The Baltimore Sun
There seems to be a decent amount of volatility in this year’s draft class. There is no clear Adley Rutschman or Spencer Torkelson here. Given the O’s recent hesitancy to take pitchers early it could be wise to focus on hitters if you are interested in guessing which youngster will join a farm system on the rise.

Mindful of workload, O’s push Means to Wednesday | Orioles.com
There was a brief moment of panic for many Orioles fans yesterday when John Means disappeared from the projected starting spot against the Yankees on Sunday. Turns out the O’s are just watching his innings, which has become a common practice for the team following the shortened 2020 season. Keegan Akin would seem to be a prime candidate to start in his place.

Updating Santander and revisiting Akin’s return (Jones on IL) | School of Roch
All of the injury news! Santander is nearly back, Akin was washing a knife when he cut himself, and Jones is not coming to Baltimore but rather headed to the shelf.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Guillermo Rodríguez turns 43. The catcher appeared in seven games for the 2009 Orioles.
• Eric DuBose celebrates his 45th birthday. The lefty spent his entire five-season big league career with the O’s. From 2002 through 2006 he threw 188.1 innings and had a 5.21 ERA.

This day in history

2005 - The Orioles end the White Sox major league record streak of having the lead at some point in 37 straight games, beating them 6-2.