Sunday Bird Droppings: Trey Mancini is getting a Home Run Derby invite

Hello, friends.

The Orioles got another road losing streak started yesterday with their latest tarring at the hands of the Temporarily Buffalo Blue Jays. The only good thing about the 12-4 defeat is that pitching prospect Alexander Wells broke with the recent O’s trend of poor debuts by pitching two scoreless innings of relief. Check out Drew’s recap for the not-so-lovely totals.

There was some Orioles-related good news. Following the loss, The Athletic’s Dan Connolly reported that Trey Mancini has received an invitation to participate in this year’s Home Run Derby. It is a nice gesture towards a guy who at this point last year wasn’t even sure about his health. Mancini’s comeback is one of the coolest stories in MLB this year. No one needs to sweat that there are 28 players with more home runs than Mancini to this point in 2021. Hopefully he can acquit himself well in the contest.

The farm brought some more good news, as all four minor league teams were winners. The results were headlined by Grayson Rodriguez having another dominant start for Bowie, Jordan Westburg hitting a grand slam for Aberdeen, and Hudson Haskin homering as Delmarva exploded for 14 runs against the Nationals Low-A affiliates. The MLB team is not fun most days, but the minors are still generating some good vibes regularly.

In the short term, the bad news outweighs the good. Freddy Galvis injured his quadriceps in the game yesterday and it’s looking likely he will be headed for the 10-day injured list. Ramón Urias was out of the Triple-A Norfolk starting lineup on Saturday night. So was recent waiver claim Domingo Leyba, a late scratch. It’s not hard to guess one of these two guys will be appearing in Buffalo today, and maybe hanging around the Orioles until Galvis is back, however long that takes.

The Orioles can still split this four-game series against the Jays in Buffalo if they can win the finale this afternoon. Jorge López is set to start the 1:07 game for the O’s, with Ross Stripling expected to pitch for the Jays.

Around the blogO’sphere

Looking ahead to the draft (Steve Melewski)
Steve runs down the slot values of each of the Orioles picks in the top ten rounds. Day one of the draft is two weeks from today.

The Orioles’ young starters are ‘trying to survive’ in the majors. Dean Kremer was sent to the minors to improve his chances. (The Baltimore Sun)
The MLB-level failure of Kremer and to a slightly lesser extent Keegan Akin so far this season is one of the biggest bummers for me, pushing back any hope of a better O’s team happening next year.

Jahmai Jones knows late father Andre is watching over his career (Press Box)
Jones, acquired for Alex Cobb before the season, has missed some time with injury this year and has played very well for Norfolk when healthy. I hope we’ll see him with the Orioles soon, though I can understand why he doesn’t seem to be the immediate move for Galvis’s injury.

Amateur draft rumor roundup (MLBTR)
The folks at MLBTR run through all of the rumors in the latest round of mock drafts for the top eight teams picking in the draft. There is no clear idea of what will happen yet.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The Orioles last won a game on this day in the 2017 season, when they beat the Blue Jays, 3-1, to return to .500 at 38-38. Kevin Gausman pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in the game, and Mark Trumbo’s two-run double in the first inning put the O’s on top for good.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2006-13 reliever Jim Johnson, 1999-2003 and 2006 all-around guy Jeff Conine, 1986-87 reserve infielder Jackie Gutierrez, and 1954-55 pitcher Lou Kretlow.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: author and activist Helen Keller (1880), actor Michael Ball (1962), and famous person Khloe Kardashian (1984).

On this day in history...

In 1743, British King George II commanded troops in the Battle of Dettingen, a victory for his Allied force in the War of the Austrian Succession. This is the most recent time a reigning British monarch was directly involved in a battle.

In 1898, Joshua Slocum returned to Nova Scotia after having completed the first solo circumnavigation of the globe. The journey, on a sloop called Spray, had taken him nearly three years to complete.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 27. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!