Monday Bird Droppings: The O’s showed off for a national audience

Good morning, Birdland!

Beating the snot out of the Yankees on national television is a LOT of fun. The Orioles should do that way more often. Even better, their 9-3 win last night meant clinching that individual series and the season series against New York, further burying their playoff hopes.

The Orioles struck out 18 Yankees in the Aaron Judge-less lineup. That’s a franchise record! Meanwhile, the O’s lit up Yanks starter Luis Serverino for seven runs in the first inning (six before they even recorded an out) and then two more in the fourth. Just about everything was clicking!

ESPN’s broadcast was heavily slanted at educating the national audience on who the Orioles are. It was a lot of “So the Orioles you’re familiar with are really bad, right? Well, what if I told you that this year’s team...is GOOD!” I suppose that is helpful to any casuals that only watch Sunday Night Baseball?

The negative (if you want to call it that) of the evening was that all the while, trades are firing off around the league. More and more names that could have fit into the Orioles pitching needs are instead finding homes elsewhere. Jordan Montgomery was someone that a lot of fans were set on as a perfect fit—veteran, lefty, strong track record, relatively cheap—but he will be pitching for the Rangers down the stretch.

The trade deadline is tomorrow. It still feels like the Orioles are going to do something, but the warehouse remains quite tight-lipped. Any rumors related to Baltimore sound like they are coming from agents or other teams, not the Mike Elias-led outfit. Perhaps something seismic happens today.

Links

Orioles reset: Tyler Wells’ demotion might be just the beginning of Baltimore’s workload management | The Baltimore Sun
Sure, but the Well’s demotion was more than that. We’ve seen this movie before. His velocity was down on Saturday, and he’s been getting hit hard for the last few weeks. Will a couple of weeks in Bowie fix all of that? Maybe. The Orioles will certainly hope so.

Orioles, Cardinals Have Discussed Dylan Carlson | MLB Trade Rumors
The Orioles do need centerfield help right now, but it would be somewhat odd to make a move for a 24-year-old with three years of team control in this situation unless the Cardinals are essentially giving him away. We are told Cedric Mullins is coming back in August, and he has two more years of control himself.

The Orioles are young, cool and wildly talented. But are they ready to win now? | FOX Sports
I mean, they are winning? Like, right now. The regular season is a gauge for how good your team is. Right now, the Orioles are on a 99-win pace. So, they seem pretty good! That gets you into the tournament every year. And once you’re in, you can win the whole thing.

Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman Joined Rare Place in Franchise Lore on Saturday | SI.com
This is essentially a repost of a good Sarah Langs tweet (all of her tweets are good)! Adley is the fifth catcher in O’s franchise history to leadoff and play catcher. The first since...Chance Sisco. Not the most impressive list, I suppose.

McCann on clubhouse chemistry: “We have guys who truly love each other and truly want the best for each other” | Roch Kubatko
You definitely get the vibe that the players in this Orioles clubhouse do really enjoy one another. Of course, that is easy when you win as frequently as they do. But it’s something of a chicken or the egg situation.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Mike Figga turns 53. The backstop spent part of the 1999 season with the O’s.
• Earl Stephenson is 76. Between 1977 and ‘78, he pitched in three games for the Orioles.
• The late Rip Coleman (b. 1931, d. 2004) was born on this day. He had an eight-game stint with the Birds between 1959 and ‘60.
• A posthumous birthday for Joe Durham (b. 1931, d. 2016), who played in two seasons for the Orioles in 1954 and ‘57 with the two campaigns in-between interrupted by military service.

This day in O’s history

1971 - Pat Dobson gets his eighth win of the month for the Orioles, shutting out the Royals 4-0. Since June 16 he has 12 straight wins.

1980 - Steve Stone’s streak of 14 straight wins is snapped, leaving him two short of the AL record.

2000 - The Orioles are selling. B.J. Surhoff is sent to the Braves, and Will Clark is shipped to the Cardinals.

2013 - The O’s add pitcher Bud Norris at the deadline, sending L.J. Hoes and Josh Hader to the Astros in the swap.

2016 - Wade Miley is added to the Orioles in a swap for Ariel Miranda.

2018 - In the midst of a disastrous season, the O’s are wrapping up their fire sale. Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day are traded to the Braves. Jonathan Schoop goes to the Brewers.