Orioles Game #77 Game Thread: vs. Reds, 7:05

The dawn of the current Orioles era was undoubtedly the day that they chose to debut Adley Rutschman. Yet every era has many days and each day has its own dawn, some of which may, in retrospect, also feel important. We’ll see if the Jordan Westburg debut, happening today, turns out to be one of the dawns we all remember down the road.

The opponent for this debut, the Reds, only happens to be the hottest team in MLB over the last couple of weeks. They just recently won twelve straight games, a streak that was only snapped on Saturday when they lost to Atlanta. Maybe that’s backwards good news for the Orioles, as it means the Reds could be due to cool back off.

There is a severe thunderstorm watch in the Baltimore area until 9pm, so the possibility of a rain delay, or a non-rain delay, is there depending on how the weather shakes out over the Camden Yards area in particular. It would be a bummer for those who cleared their calendar and bought tickets to see Westburg’s debut if they don’t even end up getting to play today.

I’m someone who went out of my way to go to Matt Wieters’s debut, and Manny Machado’s, and Rutschman’s, but I’ll admit that I’m not rushing out to see Westburg’s debut. That is partly but not only because I am obligated to be at home to write a recap of this game tonight. Even without that, I’ve already got tickets for Wednesday and don’t really feel like switching that around at the last minute. So, you know. Sorry, Jordan. I hope that you hit three home runs and make me feel like an idiot.

Orioles lineup

1. Austin Hays - DH
2. Adley Rutschman - C
3. Anthony Santander - 1B
4. Aaron Hicks - RF
5. Ramón Urías - 3B
6. Cedric Mullins - CF
7. Jordan Westburg - 2B
8. Ryan McKenna - LF
9. Jorge Mateo - SS

This is definitely the facing a left-handed pitcher lineup for the Orioles. Hays leading off, Gunnar Henderson and Adam Frazier on the bench, and even Santander put at first base to get McKenna into the outfield and the lineup. Hopefully it works out.

Reds lineup

1. Kevin Newman - 1B
2. Matt McLain - SS
3. Jonathan India - 2B
4. Elly De La Cruz - 3B
5. Spencer Steer - LF
6. Nick Senzel - RF
7. Tyler Stephenson - DH
8. TJ Friedl - CF
9. Curt Casali - C

The starting pitcher for the Reds tonight is lefty Brandon Williamson. He has not been very good over seven starts this season so far, posting a 5.40 ERA.

Cincinnati’s lineup contains a bunch of guys that I only know from tracking MLB draft prospects and then a few guys who I don’t even know at all. The team has had a lot of success in spite of this! Spencer Steer? .837 OPS! TJ Friedl? .849 OPS! There is nobody to sleep on... and it’s not like Orioles starter Cole Irvin has been any good in his career here thus far.