Saturday Bird Droppings: A rainy weekend in Baltimore

Good morning, Birdland!

We may have to wait another day for Orioles baseball. Rain washed away the series opener against the Royals on Friday, and the forecast makes it seem like the same could happen to Game 2 on Saturday.

The two teams have already agreed to play a doubleheader on Sunday. The threat of rain runs through the entire weekend, although it should dissipate Sunday morning, allowing them to get in those two games.

But if Saturday’s game gets postponed as well, the two teams may need to hang in Baltimore one more day. The O’s are scheduled to begin a series in St. Louis on Tuesday while the Royals are headed for Texas the same day. But, for now, both teams have Monday off as a travel day. The Royals don’t come back to Baltimore this season, so the logical solution is a day game on Monday. You can be sure the attendance to that one will be...let’s just saying underwhelming.

Links

Orioles option Lakins | Roch Kubatko (MASN)
This needed to happen. Travis Lakins Sr. has had a rough first month of the season. He is giving up so much hard contact and struggling to miss any bats. It just wasn’t a good combination, and the Orioles bullpen has been too good for him to stick around. For now, he stays on the 40-man roster.

O’s Félix Bautista credits mom’s motivation for getting him there | The Baltimore Sun
I would imagine there are a lot of tough conversations with your mom when you spend nearly a decade in minor league baseball. It is not the most glamorous lifestyle, and there is no guarantee it pays off. It’s pretty cool that Bautista has finally made it in his age-27 season.

Mother’s Day has special meaning to Orioles’ Krehbiel | Baltimore Baseball
Another story that makes your eyes well up a little bit. It is always such a neat moment when the cameras show a player’s family in the stands during their debut or a big moment in their career. It can be easy to forget about who wasn’t able to make it.

Royals-O’s rained out Friday; twin bill Sunday | MLB.com
More on the double-header and the pitching schedule for the next few days.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Keon Broxton turns 32. The outfielder appeared in 37 games with the O’s in 2019, one of three pitstops for him that season. He had a 60 OPS+ in Baltimore.
• Brook Fordyce is 52. A big league catcher for 10 years, Fordyce spent four seasons in Baltimore from 2000 through 2003. He was 0.1 bWAR player in that time.
• Mark Smith also turns 52. His major league career started with the Orioles, where he stuck as a bench player from 1994 through 1996.
• Dick Williams (d. 2011) was born on this day in 1929. Prior to his Hall of Fame career as a manager, Williams had a 13-season playing career. Five of those years happened in Baltimore, where he compiled an 88 OPS+ split between two stints (1956-58, 61-62).

This day in O’s history

2010 - The Orioles-Twins game is the first major league game in Minnesota to be rained out since 1980. The Twins are in their first season at the outdoor Target Field following a 28-year run indoors at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.