Wednesday Bird Droppings: The winning streak is snapped

Good morning Birdland,

We may have just gotten a glimpse at what Brandon Hyde’s late-game relief options would become if the Orioles front office decided to deal away most of the team’s reliable bullpen pieces.

None of Paul Fry, Tanner Scott, Cole Sulser, or Dillon Tate were used in the team’s 7-3 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday night. Each of them has, at least loosely, been mentioned in trade talks leading up to Friday’s deadline. So, it could have been a way to protect them, or it simply could have been a realistic way to approach a game in which the Orioles trailed 4-0 after starter Spenser Watkins experienced his first big league hiccup.

Instead, the pitchers deployed were Shaun Anderson, Adam Plutko, and Conner Greene. They combined to allowed three runs on six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts over five innings. It wasn’t great. But it also was not a complete disaster. They were fine middle relief innings in a game that the Orioles probably weren’t expecting to claw back. The analysis would be different if the O’s had been leading or even tied.

This is not to say that Mike Elias should not explore trades of his best late-inning arms. He absolutely should, but the resulting bullpen may cause even more heartburn than the one currently in place.

Links & Notes

Hard-throwing Greene impresses in debut | Orioles.com
The Orioles needed to get a big league look at Conner Greene this year. His fastball is just too big to ignore, and considering some of the other players that had appeared out of their bullpen this season, Greene deserved the promotion. He puts up impressive velocities, but he is also just now making his major league debut as a 26-year-old for a reason. There are some concerns.

Wondering how holes could be filled if trades go down | School of Roch
Given that the Orioles are not expected to move many integral pieces, replacing them should be easy enough. The team will almost certainly be worse because of it, but not in a significant way.

Orioles minor league report: Adley Rutschman breaks out of slump with three homers; Mike Baumann back to his best at Bowie | The Baltimore Sun
Adley Rutschman should be in Norfolk already. I mean, he should actually be in Baltimore, but I’m a realist in this sense.

Bowie skipper has O’s future in his hands | MLB.com
That’s right. It’s all up to Zack Britton’s brother. If the statistics of the respective players is any indication, he’s doing a pretty nice job.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Drew Jackson turns 28. The former Rule 5 pick played in just three games for the O’s in 2019, accounting for his entire MLB career to this point.
• Chad Paronto celebrates his 46th birthday. The right-handed pitcher spent his rookie campaign in 2001 with the O’s, appearing in 24 games out of the bullpen, before being claimed off waivers and bouncing around the league for six more big league years.
• Bob Milacki is 57 years old. His stint in Baltimore lasted from 1988 through 1992. Working mostly as a starter, the righty accumulated a 4.19 ERA over 703 total innings with the O’s.

Orioles history

1971 - Brooks Robinson makes a surprising three errors in one game, but the O’s win anyway on Frank Robinson’s walk-off three-run homer to beat the Athletics 3-2.

1978 - Rich Dauer records at least two hits in a game for the 10th straight contest, a club record.

1995 - The O’s add Bobby Bonilla and a player to be named later from the Mets in exchange for outfielders Alex Ochoa and Damon Buford.

2000 - Melvin Mora becomes an Oriole as he is part of the return package that sends Mike Bordick to Queens. Also joining Mora in Baltimore is catcher Mike Kinkade and pitchers Lesli Brea and Pat Gorman.

2001 - Mora’s wife, Gisel, gives birth to healthy quintuplets, three boys and two girls.

2017 - The Orioles pull off an odd trade, acquiring pitcher Jermey Hellickson from the Phillies in exchange for Hyun Soo Kim, Garrett Cleavinger, and international bonus slot money.