Wednesday Bird Droppings: The start of a new month

Good morning, Birdland!

Well, that was disappointing. The Orioles had a chance to go .500 in the month of May with a win last night. But instead they laid an absolute egg, falling 10-0 to the visiting Mariners.

The lineup that Brandon Hyde deployed was this team’s A-squad. Cedric Mullins was back atop the lineup. Adley Rutschman was behind the plate. Trey Mancini was in as the DH. And there was no sign of Chris Owings, at least early on. But they didn’t play like that was the case, striking out 12 times and registering just one extra-base hit as they were shut out.

It was a brutal night of baseball, and perhaps it’s best if we just move on without saying another word.

Perhaps the positive is that the pitching staff did exactly what Hyde wanted. They gave the “big” arms a day off. Sure, it would have been nice if the innings provided were of a higher quality, but they were innings nonetheless.

At the same time, questions do start to arise for Bryan Baker and Zac Lowther. It is not as if either pitcher was ever expected to be an elite member of the bullpen, but they need to be better than what they have shown in the 2022 season.

Baker has gotten through an appearance without allowing a run just once in his last five trips to the mound. Only one of those outings has lasted longer than four outs, so it’s not as if he is being asked to go all that long.

Lowther made his first big league appearance of the year last night, and his 5.1 innings of service are appreciated, but the five earned runs won’t fly most nights. It was a continuation of the struggles he has seen in Triple-A this season, where he has an 8.26 ERA over 28.1 innings, and his short time in Baltimore last season.

The Orioles will be calling on these fringy arms more as the season goes on. It’s a natural need after losing John Means and Chris Ellis to season-ending injuries plus a lengthy stint on the shelf for Alexander Wells. They will need them to stand up to the big league rigors better than we saw on Tuesday.

Links

9 numbers that stand out about Camden Yards’ new left field wall two months into Orioles’ 2022 season | The Baltimore Sun
Apparently, when you move a wall back 30 feet and increase its height by five feet it makes it much harder to hit a baseball over said wall. Interesting. Extraordinary. Science!

‘Their time is coming’: Rivals taking notice of O’s | MLB.com
This assessment feels funny in contrast to what we watched last night, but it is clearly true. Or at least it’s true that this Orioles team is the best one in several years, and considering the makeup of the roster and what’s coming next we can assume even better things are on the horizon. That’s fun!

This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
All kinds of odds and ends from Roch, including a mini scouting report on Dean Kremer presented by his Triple-A teammate Lowther. I sure hope Kremer can get back to Baltimore and look like the guy that made him an intriguing piece of the Manny Machado trade a million years ago.

Adley Rutschman has arrived! (Ep. 92) | The Warehouse Podcast
Some auditory entertainment for your Wednesday. Topics include Adley, Mateo, and more!

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Tayler Scott turns 30 today. The right-handed pitcher played in eight games for the 2019 Orioles, allowing 18 earned runs over 8.2 innings.
• Maryland native Ray Moore (d. 1995) was born on this day in 1926. His time in Baltimore lasted from 1955 through 1957, during which time he pitched in 112 total games.

This day in O’s history

2021 - The Orioles end a miserable 14-game losing streak by beating the Twins 7-4. Bruce Zimmermann is the winning pitcher, just like he was on May 16th, the last time the O’s won a game.