Homer Simpson as soon as was instructed that if he didn’t come to work on Friday, don’t trouble coming in on Monday. As solely Homer might, his response was, “Woohoo! Four-day weekend!”
The Orioles are coming into their very own four-day weekend that might decide their quick and long-term future. There are three video games to play towards the Phillies, an Orioles Hall of Fame induction for Chris Davis, Storm Davis and superscout Jim Russo, and Monday’s commerce deadline when the Orioles are anticipated to be consumers.
I feel that’s very true after Wednesday’s inconceivable comeback which may convey some carryover momentum, however one by no means is aware of with this group. For the document, on a day when Ben McDonald was touting a heavyweight bout between beginning pitchers Tarik Skubal and Trevor Rogers, I counted the Orioles out by the seventh inning. After shedding 14-0 the day earlier than, they have been trailing 7-0, had dedicated three official errors and Leody Taveras was enjoying the outfield as if he have been nonetheless chasing the black squirrel that highlighted Monday’s 8-5 win.
But earlier than the boxing referee reached a 10-count, the Orioles got here off the mat and recorded a surprising 10-9, 12-inning win that makes the subsequent 4 days the season’s most essential. There are also some takeaways from the sequence towards Detroit which are price noting.
Second baseman Jackson Holliday went 8-for-11, is hitting .370 in July, and produced a key hit within the eleventh towards Tigers left-hander Drew Sommers.
The Orioles are mishandling Holliday, one of many Orioles’ younger core gamers who ought to be an on a regular basis starter as a substitute of a platoon participant. He’s not the one one whose growth is being stunted by analytics and decision-making.
When the Orioles signed first baseman Pete Alonso to a five-year, $155 million contract, they put promising Coby Mayo right into a field that didn’t match. Alonso introduced a veteran presence to a younger lineup that might use it, and confirmed followers that the Orioles would spend huge to right the wrongs of the 2025 season.
However, I nonetheless imagine Mayo might change into an distinctive energy hitter, if there’s a dedication to his growth. He additionally demonstrated in Detroit that he can hit right-handers however his function has been minimized as a result of he’s not an on a regular basis third baseman, Alonso is the on a regular basis first baseman, and supervisor Craig Albernaz likes to get the bats of each catchers, Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, within the lineup once they’re wholesome.
Another of the core gamers, outfielder Colton Cowser, delivered the game-winning hit towards Sommers after getting two fast strikes. Cowser is one other who seems to have all of the instruments to be an on a regular basis participant however whose season has been marked by highs and lows — game-winning homers, homer-robbing catches and extended slumps. He loves the fastball, struggles with offspeed pitches, however the Orioles awarded the middle area job too quickly to Taveras. Cowser appeared to reclaim heart area however is now a part-time participant once more, making us surprise if he will likely be, or ought to be, a part of the Orioles’ future.
That brings me to Gunnar Henderson, who hasn’t needed to fear about somebody taking his place however isn’t the participant we thought he’d be this season. His hit within the seventh ignited the comeback and his calm within the tenth allowed the Orioles to show an inning-ending double play. To his credit score, his misplays and missed alternatives on the plate don’t stop him from persevering with to play exhausting. It’s the consistency that’s been a difficulty.
The similar could possibly be mentioned concerning the Orioles as an entire.
“We have so much talent on this team,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias mentioned final Friday earlier than the Orioles misplaced two of three to the Braves. “I feel all of us take a look at the document, and we’re like, ‘Our record should be better.’
“There’s loads of ways in which it might have been, and well being’s been an enormous a part of it. I feel we might have performed higher and executed higher and performed issues in a different way. Top to backside, however the place we’re at proper now, we’re inside arm’s attain of the playoff spot. We’ve bought sufficient time to get there.
“We’re coming up on the [trade] deadline, so the next several games are really important and everybody’s focused on these next several games, but I look at the talent on his team and we’re extremely optimistic that we can get where we want to go.”
Elias is confronted with sticking with a younger core that hasn’t met expectations however nonetheless might spark the Orioles within the subsequent two months, or beginning to break up that group to shore up a number of the membership’s deficiencies, most notably protection and the bullpen. No one is below extra stress this four-day weekend than him, who has constructed this group from the inspiration up. He in all probability received’t have as a lot enjoyable as Homer Simpson, but when he makes the appropriate strikes, there could be a enjoyable couple of months for the Orioles.