Grabbing the Orioles rotation by the Baz

It’s only been a few days but the Baltimore Orioles are finally winning some games and getting some decent starting pitching. Luke Jones and Nestor also discuss the warming of (some of) the Birds bats and feeling some “magic” as the first two against the sloppy Tampa Bay Rays have gone in the direction of the men of Craig Albernaz and the Colton Cowser walkoffs have risen the orange spirits. Better pitching, better results…

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Orioles’ recent performance, highlighting their 4-1 start to the home stand and their current record of 24-27. They noted the Orioles’ 7-3 homestand goal and praised Shane Baz’s recent strong outings, including a season-high six strikeouts in his last start. They also discussed the team’s defensive errors, particularly the Rays’ seven unearned runs in a recent game. The conversation touched on the Orioles’ injury issues, including key players like Adley Rutschman and Dean Kremer, and their potential roster moves. They concluded with optimism about the team’s future prospects.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Organize and run Maryland Crab Cake Tours presented by the Maryland Lottery (plan events and dates for upcoming tours)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Provide Maryland Treasures scratch-off tickets to give away at the Maryland Crab Cake Tours and related events
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Explore organizing events in Arbutus and Rosedale (investigate feasibility and next steps)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Plan a personal trip to Wildwood to try Max Pizza (follow-up when scheduling allows)
• [ ] Attend and cover Orioles games at Oriole Park / Camden Yards throughout the upcoming weekend (be on-site all weekend)

Orioles’ Recent Performance and Upcoming Games

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Orioles’ recent performance, noting their 4-1 start to the home stand and their current record of 24-27.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the Orioles’ current streak, suggesting that a 7-3 homestand could help them gain momentum and approach 500 by June.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ recent win against the Rays, noting the Rays’ defensive errors and the Orioles’ ability to capitalize on them.
• Luke emphasizes the importance of the Orioles’ recent series wins against the Yankees and Rays, suggesting that the team is showing signs of improvement.

Defensive Errors and Team Performance

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Rays’ defensive errors, noting that the Orioles scored six unearned runs in their recent game.
• Nestor explains the impact of mental errors and bad breaks on defensive metrics, emphasizing the importance of proper positioning and decision-making.
• Luke highlights the Orioles’ own defensive struggles, mentioning players like Gunner Henderson and Jackson Holiday who are playing out of position.
• Nestor and Luke agree that the Rays’ defensive mistakes made it easier for the Orioles to win, but they also acknowledge the Orioles’ own defensive issues.

Shane Baz’s Emergence and Team Rotation

• Luke Jones discusses Shane Baz’s recent performance, noting that he has been more effective in his last few starts.
• Nestor and Luke talk about the Orioles’ rotation, mentioning that Bradish, Baz, and Brandon Young have shown improvement recently.
• Luke highlights the importance of Baz’s performance, noting that he has been a key factor in the Orioles’ recent wins.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges faced by the Orioles’ rotation, including injuries to key players like Zach Eflin and Dean Kramer.

Team Injuries and Future Prospects

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of injuries on the Orioles’ performance, mentioning key players like Adley Ruchman and Jackson Holiday.
• Luke highlights the importance of players like Samuel Pasio and Kobe Mayo stepping up in the absence of injured players.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for the Orioles to make roster moves, including acquiring a third baseman to replace Jackson Holiday.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the Orioles to continue playing better and capitalizing on their opportunities to improve their record.

Orioles’ Record and Playoff Hopes

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ current record and their chances of making the playoffs.
• Luke notes that the Orioles are currently two games out of the last wild card spot, but they need to play much better to stay in contention.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of the Orioles’ upcoming games, including their series against the Blue Jays.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the Orioles to continue their recent streak and improve their overall performance to have a chance at the playoffs.

Fan Engagement and Team Culture

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of fan engagement and team culture, mentioning the “shirts off in left field” tradition.
• Luke highlights the positive impact of young fans participating in the tradition, noting that it adds excitement to the game.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of creating a fun and engaging atmosphere at Oriole Park to attract more fans.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the Orioles to continue fostering a positive team culture and engaging with their fans to build momentum.

Upcoming Events and Future Plans

• Nestor and Luke discuss upcoming events at Oriole Park, including the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Star Wars weekend.
• Luke mentions the importance of these events in creating a fun and engaging atmosphere for fans.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ future plans, including their upcoming series against the Blue Jays and their chances of winning a sweep.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the Orioles to continue their recent streak and improve their overall performance to have a chance at the playoffs.

Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks

• Nestor and Luke wrap up their discussion, summarizing the key points of their conversation.
• Luke emphasizes the importance of the Orioles’ recent performance and their chances of making the playoffs.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the need for the Orioles to continue playing better and capitalizing on their opportunities to improve their record.
• Nestor and Luke express their hope for the Orioles’ continued success and their excitement for the upcoming games.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, Rays, Shane Baz, pitching, defense, home stand, injuries, rotation, playoffs, wild card, offense, errors, Brandon Young, Trey Gibson, Camden Yards.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, freshening things up here. You’re gonna hear some new ads and some new liners. It’s a new stuff, because Greg Landry got mad at me to networking event a couple of weeks ago, and I know he’s listening. So, hey Greg, uh, Towson transfers, if you find your stuff spring cleaning, I got some stuff around here. Anyway, Luke Jones is here. I would give you crab cake tour dates. I would put it all together. I swear, I’m like this close to doing something in Arbutus. I’m this close to doing something in Rosedale. I have a few things going on. Hang in there. There will be Maryland crab cake tours. They will all be presented by the Maryland Lottery. I will have some Maryland Treasures scratch-offs to give away, I keep them handy. That was like a great JJ, Jimmy Walker, good times. They’re upside down, handy boardwalks, as well as our friends at GBMC walking a mile in their shoes every April. It feels like it was a minute ago. It’s already almost a month and a half ago. I need that weather this week, though. It’s perfect, as well as our friends at Farnham and Dermer. Luke’s got the gear on there, the comfort guys. Weather has gotten a little comfortable. The Orioles are not comfortable yet, but getting more comfortable pitching. Jackson Holiday looks a little comfortable, which makes me more comfortable. I think he’s my favorite Oriole now that West Burke’s going, you know, you have to have a favorite Oriole. I want to make my Jackson holiday, for you know, for now, because I think he could go to the hall of very good at some point, and I hope he turns it on. He turns it on, things could turn around, but if Shane Boz turns it around, because he is the signed pitcher under contract, Luke, I know you’re waiting for them to wake up, and I know you’re dusting off your broom for Wednesday night as you go out and chase Lamar and Owings Mills, because you’re the sports guy here now. That’s John Buren. I’ve got it all going on. Hi, John Buren, sister, she listens every day. Bird, what’s going on, man? How are you? Victory, the smell of victory. There hasn’t been the agony of defeat in like two, three days. It’s been a bit, yeah. I mean,

Luke Jones  02:00

a four and one start to the home stand. If you recall, I wrote this at Baltimore positive.com I said it to you at the start of the homestand. I thought a whether it was going to be realistic or not, a seven and three homestand was the kind of homestand to say, hey, get yourself some momentum, get yourself playing better, get yourself closer to 500 as the calendar’s turning to June, and they’re on their way to having a chance to do that, right? 473

Nestor Aparicio  02:24

dusts them off. I mean, it gets right. I mean, they smell 500 again, and here we go. Right,

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Luke Jones  02:29

puts them at four games under 500 going into the month of June. Doesn’t mean they’re fine, doesn’t mean it’s all everything’s perfect and peachy, and you know that there aren’t any concerns, but they’re right in it. This, and that definitively says this isn’t last year, right? At this time last year, they were 1817, 1615, games under 500 right? I mean, that’s the kind of territory they were in, where even a stretch like this was barely putting a dent in what their record had fallen to at the end of the at the end of the line for Brandon Hyde in the start under Mancilino as interim manager, so they’re playing better, and I think what was encouraging about Tuesday night’s game. Now it’s wild. First of all, I made the comment after the game to a couple of the other reporters. How many times have you seen a ball game where a team scored six runs and none of them were earned? I mean, that was how sloppy Tampa Bay was with their defense, which, by the way, I had said to you, even going back to the first series between these teams down in St. Petersburg, if there’s one weakness you could look at with the Rays that kind of stands out beyond talking about, you know, how many home runs

Nestor Aparicio  03:38

they were playing seven under ball, it’s hard to do that, and kick the ball around, dude.

Luke Jones  03:41

They were, but they have not been a great defense, though. Like, if you look at their metrics, like, okay, they look pretty good in defensive runs saved. And you know, these are – I’ve said to you over the years – fielding metrics are noisy, right? I don’t think we have a definitive end-all be all kind of defensive metric, but they’ve looked pretty good in defensive runs saved. But if you look at them in terms of outs above average, which that’s like the big stat cast number, they’re right there with the Orioles, actually in terms of well below average. So that has definitely shown up over the course of over the start of this series, for sure. And

Nestor Aparicio  04:17

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well, you mentioned fielding and it being squishy, part of it is, was it a hard play, was it an easy play, was the sun out or the lights in his eyes, or was it not? Was he duress? Was he a catcher throwing a ball who misdirected because an idiot batter had his bat hanging out? Right, like there’s just all sorts of things that do it, but the number one thing for me, headspace of knowing where to throw the ball, where the cutoff guy is, how, where I’m supposed to go with the ball is a defensive metric that when guys f it up, it doesn’t show up as an error. Sure, so, so all mental errors, bad breaks, bad angles, none of that factors into any of that. It except when you boot the ball, so for me it’s always been if you hit the ball at him, is he going to make the play? And then to your point, to your mathematician brain and your saber brain, what’s the percentage that when they hit it right at him, he’s going to f it up, because every, you know, everybody does that too, once a year, twice a year, six times a year, or you’re Mike Bordick, and you go a year and a half, and you, or your Rich Dower, which I’ve seen that here, you know, my cousin apparently had a reputation for being really good, so I like, but my cousin got the things that nobody else in the world ever got to, in before or since, quite frankly, maybe Ozzie Smith, but like, that makes a different defensive player than I was going to say, whatever this dog meat is, but whatever this is, which is, you have outfielders with concrete gloves, you have guys playing out of position, I’m not sure Gunner Henderson’s a shortstop, I’m not sure Jackson Holiday’s a third baseman, you know, they just, and this is where they’re putting them to have them flourish, and I still think they’re going to boot 2025 balls at those positions if they play them. So, at that point, I say it’s.. I don’t know the Tampa team, I haven’t watched them every day to know what all of their misgivings are, but it’s hard to play 700 ball if you kick the ball around, and it’s hard to win games if you’re going to give up six unearned runs, man. Sure. Well,

Luke Jones  06:27

and part of that is also it’s just hard to play 700 ball. Period. Right? I mean, the idea that you’re going to continue on that pace. I mean, let’s, let’s face it. I mean, the Rays have been a fantastic story. They were in line for some regression, so maybe this is as simple as the Orioles getting the Rays now at the right time, but give the Orioles credit, Taylor Ward, Gunner Henderson, and Pete Alonso went oh for 10 on Tuesday night, and they won six to one. That sounds like something a good team does, and now that doesn’t mean I’m saying that that’s who the Orioles are moving forward, but if we’re in this space where they had fallen to eight below 500 I said to you, not very recently, you asked me if it was over, I said it’s not over, it feels like it’s over, but it’s not over yet, and they’ve won for the first five for this home stand, which is a good thing, and part of that was, hey, you’re getting the Tigers at a time when they’re the worst team in the American League at the right now, in terms of how they’ve played the last three weeks, whether they are overall or not, that’s not the point, but they take two or three from the Tigers. They’ve now won a series against the race. This is where I will give the Orioles some measure of credit, because think back to what happened a few weeks ago, when they were in the Bronx, the Yankees, just whatever term you want to think of, in terms of embarrassing, humiliating them, boat racing them, whatever term you want to talk about. The Yankees did it to them, and then what happened a week later? They came to Baltimore, and the Orioles won a series. The Rays swept them last week down at the trough, not in as embarrassing fashion as the Yankees did in the Bronx, but the first game was an absolute blowout, and then they, they took care of business, and the other two games did what they needed to do, had a comeback win, but they won three. They come to Baltimore, the Orioles have now taken the first two and have a chance for a sweep. So, I like seeing that in terms of, okay, there’s something under the hood here. They’re not just lying down, they’re a flawed team. I think you and I, even when we were picking them to be a playoff team and winning 90 plus games, we both acknowledged that they had warts, but finding ways to win games when you’re not at your absolute best, which, as I said, I mean, Taylor Ward was over three and Gunner Henderson was over four, and Peter Alonso was over three with a walk. I mean, they got nothing from the top three spots. Adley Ruchman didn’t play on Tuesday night, right? He got the night off, so you’re talking about four of your best hitters, at least on paper, right? I mean, Gunner Henderson hasn’t been that, but I think we’re all hoping, expecting, waiting for him to be that guy again, but Samuel Pasio hits a three run homer, and he’s been really good. I mean, the 21 year old kid, he’s, you call him a kid, but he’s a giant, right? You stand next to him in the clubhouse, and you, you’re reminded of how big he is, but you know they, they did what they needed to do. They took advantage of Ray’s mistakes. A part of that was also, I mean, how about, uh, him, him, give the coaching staff some credit. How about the challenge in the fourth inning, where you know they didn’t cover the cover second base, right? And they end up giving it, getting an extra out there. So the

Nestor Aparicio  09:40

challenge has been an amazing thing, right? If we’re going to extend and talk about something in length for the audience or with the audience about what we’re witnessing in baseball, and dude, opening day was 59 days ago, so we’re we’re two months into this 30, and as long as my dad fought in and out of. The DH from 1973 to 1992 when he died, and as long as we talked about interleague play for years, and just all of these, the pitch clock things that have come, the shift or the not shift, all of it, money ball, you know, Billy Beane’s way of thinking about baseball, all of these psychological changes we’ve had here, above and beyond labor, and Peter Angelos, and contracts, and just all of the garbage of the game. The actual sit-at-home and watch the game, knowing whether it’s a strike or a ball instantly as a fan, knowing whether the catcher could have, might have challenged it but didn’t, wondering whether that’s a good challenge or a bad challenge, having a hitter tap his head and say, “Oh, dude, no, that was a ball, no, no, no, you know, like it, so it.. it’s.. it’s a better game, and it would be a lot better if my team were the Rays and we’re 10 games over 500 right now, but it’s just much.. it’s eminently more watchable now, and I think that the changes they’ve made with relief pitching, and I’ll tell you what, dude, Monday afternoon, as the shadows fell, and they’re in the 11th inning, 12th inning, felt like they were going to go to the 19th inning, that it felt like, oh shit, man, this is that’s what I hated about baseball, it was great game, but it went too long, you know? Like, now that they do get it over with, I don’t want five hour games anymore. And they were on the regular, like the Mike Hargrove human rain delay, when the Red Sox and the Orioles would get together, and there’d be 19 pitchers involved, and like they would play a four hour and 23 minute routine, eight to six game like that’s over with. I think they’ve done so many things, but dude, the challenge thing, they get the seal of Nestor approval on that after many 35 years of sitting here having a bitch about a lot of things about baseball that have made it worse. This is one thing that, especially on TV, man, like you were like, I want good seats at the game. I’m like, don’t tell anybody, there are no good seats at the game. The best seat to watch the game is on the television. There are no good seats at a baseball game, because you can’t see the strike zone the way you can see it at home, and the digitization of it from an analog man. There’s my little rush reference for you today. I, I would say this. It keeps you into the game, it makes you think like a manager, a catcher, a pitcher. And if you’re really watching the game, one of the most important things you can know, like in a football game, when there’s eight minutes left, how many time outs we have left. How many challenges have they used? They need more challenges, dude. The game, they would be even better if they had three or four or five.

Luke Jones  12:48

I don’t know about that. I’ll push back on that a little.

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Nestor Aparicio  12:51

Well, you’re always conservative when everything between you and me, so that’s

Luke Jones  12:54

fine. Because I think there’s some.. I think it makes a little more strategy that you only have a couple, and

Nestor Aparicio  13:01

I’ll choose the two, a couple too few, though, through me, that’s all.

Luke Jones  13:04

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But how many times a share has there really been an instance where, oh, you don’t have a challenge, but that’s part of, but that’s also part of the drama, right? In the same way that if a team doesn’t have any timeouts at the end of the fourth quarter, right, and they’re driving down the field and they already burn their time out,

Nestor Aparicio  13:18

yeah, it’s why you don’t burn a time out on the first series, because you can’t get the play in,

Luke Jones  13:22

but it’s the same, it’s the same principle with, with the challenge, but, but, but what I was talking about was, in the fifth inning, it wasn’t a challenge of a ball strike, it was the play at second base, I mean, like, but which we’ve had replay in place over a decade now, but, but I just like that right there was in real time, you didn’t think too much of it, but the fielder was not. He did not have his foot on the bag before the ball came, so there’s a case where the Rays give an extra out. I mean, the Rays botched what should have been a double play, and the Orioles took advantage. I’m not saying that to be dismissive of the Orioles, mean the Orioles took advantage. The Orioles have been the team that’s given extra outs too often this year,

Nestor Aparicio  14:01

that’s what an error is, and you know, I don’t know that I’ve really thought about that the first 50 years of my life. Like, an error is an extra out, and when you start giving extra outs, it messes with your math and your algorithm, right? Like, literally, it exponentially changes everything to give a team four outs, or if you give them five in an inning and they don’t score a run or two, you know, you’ve given them a base or two, or a mistake or two. Sometimes it’s catcher dropping a pop fly in the dugout, or you know, something like that, where it could have been an out, should have been an out, might have been an out. But the Orioles errors this year have been egregious in regard to the outcomes of the game, and what they do to pitchers like Dean Kramer, who could turn a double play ball that goes into the dugout into a five run inning, and all hell break solution, you lose the game because of it, that’s all,

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Luke Jones  14:51

no doubt about it, but I’ll go back to, and I actually just came across this on social media recently, but Earl Weaver, one of his. Philosophies are not a philosophy, it’s, it’s, it’s fact, but one of the things that he always liked to say was, your 27 outs are your most prized possession, right? When, and he’s speaking about that as the offense, as the defense, those 27 outs are getting to the finish line and winning a ball game, right, so whenever you give one away, that’s why Earl did not like to punt, for example, or if you give the opposition an extra out when you boot a ball, which did not happen that often with that era of Orioles baseball, where they played such fantastic defense, but I mean, that really it speaks to that. So, on Tuesday night, I mean, the Orioles played a far cleaner game than the Rays did, so, and, and this is where we can transition to talking about Shane Boz, who look at him in that first inning, it wasn’t an error, but there was a lot of loud contact against him in that opening inning, and you’re starting to, you’re thinking right off the bat, oh, second time the Rays have seen him in the last week, this might not go well. Lo and behold, he gets the comebacker, you get the 163 double play, you’re out of the inning, and he settles in quite nicely. And to the point where it was funny, his first two innings he did not record a single whiff, but there was not a single swing and miss in those first two innings, yet he ends up having a season high in strikeouts, and you know the knuckle curve was really good. He mixed in the change up a little bit, but he was just.. he was really good. That version of Shane Boz we saw on Tuesday night, that’s the guy Mike Elias wanted to acquire, right? That’s the guy that Mike’s

Nestor Aparicio  16:38

different pitching on a seven degree night to pitch in on a 35 degree night, too, for all these guys back in April, and and he’s amped up, and I think he knows that team, sure, yeah, I mean, I think he really, he sat and watched those guys in the dugout play,

Luke Jones  16:54

but they know him also, right? I mean, so there’s also the flip side of that, it’s interesting you just mentioned that, because that was one thing that Boz said in the post game, as he kind of was asked about the fact that he has pitched better of late. You look at his last couple starts, I mean, his last time out against Tampa Bay, six innings, one run, right? I mean, they lost that game, he wasn’t the reason why he pitched well in that game. Time before that, in a losing effort, seven innings, three runs, right? I mean, this is his third straight start, where you say that’s been a good version of Shane Boz, that’s been a version of Boz that gives the Orioles a heck of a chance to win, and I mean, Tuesday night, that was for my money, his best start as an Oriole to this point, so, but he made the point that, especially with him coming to a new team. You just said it. You’ve got the weather issues in April, right? You’ve got the, you know, you’ve got extra off days in April that sometimes impacts a pitcher’s schedule, right? That’s why teams sometimes come out and they only have a four man rotation for the first month, or not the first month, the first week or two of the season. We were talking about it at the time, right? I mean, there was so much discussion about are they going to have a six man, and they ended up optioning Dean Kramer, and then unfortunately Ephlin blows out his elbow in his first start, so that’s a moot point then very quickly, but point is he said we are getting to the point now where you start to use that term quote mid season form where, and especially for him coming to a new team, you’re familiar with your teammates, you’re very familiar with your catchers, you’re extremely familiar with the pitching coaches, and that putting together a game plan and your advanced scouting process as an as an Oriole now compared to as a Ray, and it’s not even like one better than the other, it’s just different. So I think looking at it through that lens, and also understanding that there’s a reason why the Orioles say what we want about Mike Elias, and we’ll continue to talk about his future and what this team’s going to be the rest of the way, and what’s that going to mean for anyone’s job, quite frankly, but they saw they identified a talented pitcher and what they saw on Tuesday night. If you could bottle that up and get that every fifth day, or every five days, man. I mean, you’re, you’re excited about that problem with, with that is, we see lots of pictures that can look like that for a start, maybe a couple starts in a row, but can you sustain that? And that’s going to be the big question for Shane Boz. Just like, frankly, anyone in this rotation, I mean, even Bradish, who you know I’m as high on Bradish as anybody is, but you know we’re still talking about someone who has to continue to go out and prove it, and show he can stay healthy, be healthy, and all that, but you know, again, Boz is good, I mean, he really was, I mean, that, and you look at the rotation now, as woeful as it’s been collectively since the start of the season. If you look over the last few weeks, Bradish is pitching much more like the guy we thought he could be. Boz now, his last three starts has looked way better. And as much as we haven’t talked to him about him as much, and it’s not, you know, you look at the peripheral numbers, I don’t have a high degree of confidence whatsoever, he’s going to continue to do it, but Brandon Young hasn’t been the problem with the rotation, he’s been

Nestor Aparicio  20:14

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better than Dean Kramer would be in that role,

Luke Jones  20:16

well, I see, I don’t know about that as much, I mean, era wise, yes, the results sure, but keep in mind he has go look at his numbers, he’s given up a lot of unearned runs, which yes is partly the defense, but he’s also like that Houston game that you attended, for example, the Orioles had some sketchy defense, but he also completely melted down in that game, like, I can’t give him a total pass, even though you look at his final line in that game, and I don’t know, he gave up like one earned run or something like that in that game, but he didn’t pitch well, right? So, so there’s a little bit of that, but on the flip side, if you look at his batting average on balls in play, which you know is a number you can kind of look at, you know, it’s it’s raw, but it will give you kind of an indication of how lucky or unlucky a pitcher has been. He’s had some good batted ball fortune, but he’s got a sub four ERA. He’s giving them a chance, right? For as much as we could sit here and say, oh, whoa, you know, the Orioles could say, “Whoa was us, woe is us. We lost Zach Eflin, Dean Kramer hasn’t pitched since April, right? We could, we could play that game, but the replacement for whoever was going to be in that spot has been Brandon Young. Brandon Young hasn’t been their problem, their problem has been the guys that you were counting on, right? And you know they’re still waiting on it from Trevor Rogers, they’re still waiting on it from Basset, but Bradish has found Bradish-like form over the last few starts, and you’re hoping that Boz is rounding in the form because he’s looked that way, but Brandon, he’s given them a chance. I don’t think he’s going to continue to have a three and a half ERA. I just don’t, because nothing about his strikeout rate, walk rate, all those different things that you like to think are more predictive of future performance. I’m guessing he’s going to come back to Earth. That said, he’s still giving you a chance, and that’s all you can ask. And, and that’s where we kind of go back to the original roster construction, right? The original idea of what this team was supposed to be, it was never you and I even, when we were talking about the rotation and looking at the best path forward, there was never a thought that this was going to be, you know, a top five starting rotation or anything like that, right? The idea was it could be good enough, and it would have some upside with Bradish. You hoped you were going to get upside with Trevor Rogers. It’s been the exact opposite of that for him, so far, and you hope Boz is going to give you some upside, and you hope you hope

Nestor Aparicio  22:46

like those top three could be skyrocketing, right? I mean, like the top three, you felt like Radish and Rogers could be Cy Young candidates, at least they could give you right, and that Boz could step into that wherever that Scott Eric’s in that next level of really good could be right, and that’s how they were going to win 90, they were going to win more games than 92 games if they were that good to me. That’s why I put them in 92 games, because I thought, well, one of these guys will emerge and be really good, and the end will have two ones, but they’ll have a one and two threes, and they’ll have two fours, or they might have four threes, because I thought Basset could be good, you know. I, you know, like, and I, the Kramer thing, I, you know, I was always in on on the fact that that they went back to the Wayback Machine, and, and, and now they’ve lost Eflin, and to me Ephraim was their opening day starter last year. I thought, well, if he’s gonna look as good as he looked in Sarasota, you know, and they got these five guys, we might not sniff a whole lot of Kramer or Povich or Brandon Young or, you know, bullpen nights, or you know, whatever, Tyler Wells starting a game for two innings, or whatever the crap this is,

Luke Jones  24:01

Keegan Aiken as an opener,

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Nestor Aparicio  24:03

they’re getting more consistency in that they have five guys, Young’s happens to be the guy, and we would have predicted that in March it would have been somebody, but the fact that Bradish’s arm isn’t falling off and he is getting better, and the fact that Boz is signed and getting better, and the fact that Roger’s arm isn’t falling off either. He was unavailable this time last year, right? So, all better than Grayson Rodriguez at this point, or better than Ephlin, or better than Bautista. I mean, these guys are healthy, they’re taking the ball, they’re going out every fifth day. I, you know, I don’t know, I’m not bullish on them being a playoff team or any of that, but I’m like, I’m letting it breathe a little bit here after Memorial Day, that’s all. I’m letting it

Luke Jones  24:46

breathe, and you know me, I say that a lot early on. It’s not early anymore, right? We’re past Memorial Day, but I do think we’re at a point in the schedule now, and where they are record-wise, it’s not ideal. That

Nestor Aparicio  24:58

said, I. To

Luke Jones  25:00

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look at the rest of the American League, right, you’re looking at the rest of this league, and you see right now the wild card standings. Look, not that anyone should be looking at the standings with bated breath every day. I mean, it’s – we’re not even to June yet, but they’re two games out of the last spot, and that doesn’t mean that they’re fine. That doesn’t mean that they don’t need to play much better, they do. They absolutely have to play better. I mean, they have the second worst run differential in the American League right now.

Nestor Aparicio  25:26

Gunner Henderson 217 Alonso 232 Ruchman’s 254 at this point, Mayo 186 at Blaze Alexander 237 Cowser 204 Tyler O’Neill won 54 Dean Wormer.

Luke Jones  25:45

Let me add a couple there. Jordan Westberg, not a single plate appearance all year. Jackson Holiday has what, 13 plate appearances, something like that. I mean, he just came back. Chris Bassett made this point the other night, and he wasn’t speaking, you know, he wasn’t speaking with authority based on how he’s performed. He, he’d be the first to tell you he has pitched poorly so far this year, but he was kind of asked about the state of the team. This was Friday night, after, you know, it was the Apple TV game, right, that hardly anyone was watching, because there was no one in the ballpark, because it was a miserable night, and it’s on Apple, but he made the point, and you just kind of illustrated it. If, if you knew nothing, if you had not paid attention to the first two months of baseball, and you just recited that, and someone told you their injury picture, what would you think their record would be? I would venture to say worse than what it is right now, and the point that Bassett made is we played about as poorly as we could play over the first couple months, and we’re a couple games out of a wild card spot right now. He wasn’t saying that to justify that they’re that they don’t need to be much better, but his point was, and this, this is the point I’ve continued to try to make.

Nestor Aparicio  27:02

Governor Anderson is going to hit 217 Alonso is going to hit 230 They’re, they’re not going to contend that period. They’re just not going to contend.

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Luke Jones  27:10

The point is they’re at the state where they are right now with all of that going wrong, and they’re not 18 games under 500 like they were last year. They’re five. They need to be better. There’s no doubt they’d be the first ones to tell you that, but a lot has gone wrong in terms of performance, right? I mean, and on the flip side, I’m going to guess Leoti Tavares probably isn’t going to continue to play as well as he has, right? So, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  27:38

I don’t know if Tyler Ward’s going to draw 150 walks, he might, Taylor Ward, Taylor Taylor, excuse me, Taylor Ward, he probably O’Neill, Taylor Ward,

Luke Jones  27:46

he probably won’t, but I’m, I’m guessing, based on his history, he’s gonna start hitting a few more home runs, especially as the weather warms, continues to warm up here. So the point is, and the point that Basset was making, and I do agree with it, and I included it in my 12 Orioles thoughts, kind of coming out of Memorial Day, understanding that was officially the 1/3 mark of the season, 54 games, that you know a lot has gone wrong, and as much as you and I do not want to sit here and just cry about the injuries or cry about this or blah blah blah blah, you know, they’re play better, it’s the big leagues, no doubt about that, but they are in a position it’s not insurmountable. Last year at this time it was insurmountable, the math was not math thing, right, as the kids would say, in terms of any kind of path. This year, do they need to go on an extended run where they go nuts? That would help. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  28:40

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they gotta be better than bad. They at least have to be,

Luke Jones  28:44

and I’m not, I’m not suggesting otherwise. But the point is, like I said, a seven to three home stand. If you can do that, you’re back to four games under 500 and then from that point you don’t need to like win 17 of 19, but that would help. It’d be great to have a stretch like that, and probably, you know, you look at what hell Tampa Bay has played. I mean, think about the Rays right now, you know, the last two nights aside, right? I mean, these last two losses aside, you look at the Rays and the pace that they played over the first third of the season. If they go 500 the rest of the way, like, just 500 the rest of the way, they’re in the playoffs, right? I mean, like, what you know, may not win the division doing that, given the Yankees, but they’re in the playoffs if they go 500 the rest of the way. Point is, there are a lot of ways to get to whatever the number is this year, and it might be 86 or 87 wins to just to get in the get in the proverbial tournament, right, just to get in the dance. So, yeah, the Orioles have work to do, there’s no doubt about that. And they did put themselves in a bigger hole than they wanted to, but it’s not insurmountable. And if you continue to get some better pitching here, and if Pete Alonso’s bat continue. To come alive the way that it has in May, they’re still waiting on Gunner Henderson, Jackson Holiday’s now in the mix. To your point, he’s looked, in all honesty, he’s looked better swinging the bat than I thought he would, coming off the eye off. When you consider how, how bumpy that rehab was, I mean, I didn’t know what version I didn’t know if we were going to get the version

Nestor Aparicio  30:18

is that he’s a month late getting back, and is a good player when he gets that, would have taken that the whole time, and you were less patient with him than I, because of other players that healed quicker, right? Or got back on the field in a normal time frame.

Luke Jones  30:33

Some of that, some of that at work was just the state of the strength and conditioning and training program for this team in general, right. Where I

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Nestor Aparicio  30:42

went through that with my Fire Mike Elias last week,

Luke Jones  30:46

but that’s.. I’m skeptical, right? There was some sky.. you should be, whether.. whether they did, and I’m not suggesting they did anything wrong with Jackson Holiday. Things happen, right? We’ve talked about it with knee injuries in the NFL for years, right? Some guys are. are like, they have Wolverine blood, and they can come back from an ACL in 10 months, and other guys, it’s more like a year and a half, and they end up having scar tissue, or they end up having, you know, some kind of meniscus issue, or something that goes with it, right? I mean, not every injury is created equally, so there has to be an understanding with that, but Jackson Holiday’s now back. I’d prefer to continue to just leave him at second base as much as possible. You know, we’ll see about how that evolves, and part of that’s going to be, hey, Kobe Mayo, which it seems like his back’s better after a couple days of giving him, you know, a little bit of rest. Kobe Mayo’s got to continue to, you know, he’s hit a little bit the last, you know, before this back issue a few days ago. He had started to swing the bat better the last couple weeks. They need that to continue. Jordan Westburg’s not walking through that door until 2027 Now we know that now he had Tommy John surgery, so you know they need more from Mayo. You know, they need Jeremiah Jackson to, you know, probably not be the guy that he was in April, but be better than he’s been in May, which you kind of look at his May numbers, they’ve been really ugly. Do you

Nestor Aparicio  32:09

think they’re on the phone trying to get a third baseman?

Luke Jones  32:12

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Um, imminently probably not, but I do think that’s something you, I mean, how could you not look at it and say if you can find some Ramona Rias like individual where you say you know solid defender will hit a little bit, can trust him that he’s going to make the plays, that I

Nestor Aparicio  32:31

mean, do they not get together and say we could do better than what we have?

Luke Jones  32:34

See, but here, herein lies the problem, we’re talking about the Orioles, 25 and 30, and you just suggested them being a buyer in some way.

Nestor Aparicio  32:44

Well, I don’t know. I mean, you know, it looks like they’re trying right now to me to win. If they’re trying to win, let’s put the best team out, especially if there’s going to be a strike and my ass is going to get fired. My name is Mike Elias.

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Luke Jones  32:54

I’m not disagreeing with you, mind you,

Nestor Aparicio  32:57

but.. and it ain’t my money, by the way, and there’s no salary cap. Like, put that out, too. But the

Luke Jones  33:01

point is, how many teams in the American League are truly throwing in the towel? I mean, even Detroit, who is 21 and 34 right now, they are a disaster. They are still trying to talk themselves into right now. Well, if Scoob will come back in the next couple weeks, can we go on a run like we did, you know, last or a couple years ago, right? Where you know, last year it was, you know, kind of the opposite for them, where Cleveland went nuts down the stretch, but, but point is, when you have three wild cards, and when you have the overall state of mediocrity in the American League, and I’m talking, talking about the AL, I mean, obviously the NL would apply as well in this conversation, but you don’t have a lot of teams that are definitively saying, oh, we’re sell, especially in late May or early June. So, I don’t think, like, what you just suggested. I don’t disagree with it, but I don’t think necessarily that means a move is coming. Trying major league players from other teams is not easy at this point in the year. I would agree with that. At this point in the year, hope is a hell of a drug. Still, I mean, it is when you have a.. I mean, Detroit and, and the Angels, right now are the bottom of the American League, right now. They’re both 21 and 34 Now, chances are they’re both going to be sellers, and I’m guessing the Tigers,

Nestor Aparicio  34:14

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21 and 34 dude. If the Orioles went in that direction last week, when they went up to eight, they went from eight to 11, unless what happened, it’d be over. We would be having a day. I mean, I’m glad they’re winning. People think I hate them. You think I want them? I mean, people are nuts.

Luke Jones  34:28

Well, it’s like I joke,

Nestor Aparicio  34:29

sat here and watched shitty baseball for 33 years. I don’t need to watch anymore, you know? Like, literally, I don’t.

Luke Jones  34:34

I joked with you the other day. I mean, look, if this thing goes, continues to go in the wrong direction, we’re gonna have four months to talk about

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Nestor Aparicio  34:43

bad reality show that you don’t want to watch. It’s the Hulk Hogan show.

Luke Jones  34:46

It’s like, you know, I flippantly, you know, said it to you. Well, we could just record this conversation and just play it every day, and then you know, save ourselves some time. No one wants that. You want to see this team play better, you want to see this team get back to 500 you want to see this. Team be in a position to go on a potential run, and look, they’ve left a lot of meat on the bone. Right, we just went, you just went through all the offensive numbers. There are only a couple, a few guys on this roster where you would say that’s that’s the best version of that. Plenty

Nestor Aparicio  35:17

of guys that have come up with runners in scoring position that have whiffed like over eight weeks that have made them what they are, and you know, and I looked at the pitching, and I know you hate when I do this, because it’s old guy stuff, but let me just say these out loud, because I don’t – the stats don’t come to me every minute of every day, and the team doesn’t, the team doesn’t want to have these stats out, they don’t want to put this up on a Chiron, right? This would get Kevin Brown fired, Shane Bos two and five 448 Bradish two and six 386 Bassett four and three, amazingly 551 Trevor Rogers two and 6696 Brandon Young three and 1347 so that bunch, Randy Young has been the most effective, per the numbers, per what you would see on the back of the bubble yard, or if you were looking up, or whatever. I’m just saying, like, that’s a body of work there of a team that’s six games under 500 or whatever they are.

Luke Jones  36:16

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Yeah, yeah, I don’t disagree. I mean, nothing you said, there was, I can take any issue,

Nestor Aparicio  36:23

and that’s bad defense, bad hitting, bad situational hitting, or superstars not being there, injuries, that’s that’s Ephraim not being there, that’s all of it, Ephlin, dude, if Ephraim were three and one with a 347 I’d be thumbs up on Zach Eflin right now,

Luke Jones  36:36

sure, but he’s not, he’s

Nestor Aparicio  36:37

not,

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Luke Jones  36:38

but everything you just said, they’re five under 500 they’re not 15 under 500 they’re not 18 under 500 which is where they were at this time a year ago, right? I mean, they were completely

Nestor Aparicio  36:49

Braddish was gonna be two and six, and Rogers is gonna be two and six on opening day, just literally, if you just would have said that, I’ve been like, oh my god, if they’re gonna lose the nights they get their one and two out there, they anger me any good,

Luke Jones  37:00

like I said, you might – you’re probably saying they’re worse than five games under five, right? And that was the point Bassett was trying to make the other day, and I thought

Nestor Aparicio  37:07

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that they’re one and twos, four and 12. Whoo!

Luke Jones  37:10

Well, and even look at it in this way now. Rogers is a totally different story, right? I mean, Rogers has been.. I mean, he’s lost. I mean, anyone who heard his post game down at the trop, I mean, you’re talking about someone who was practically despondent, right? I mean, that’s how bad it was, and obviously wasn’t much better.

Nestor Aparicio  37:32

His whole career has been a roller coaster so far, right?

Luke Jones  37:35

Sure, but, but that said, he, he’s the one that I obviously have great concern about right now, because I mean, how could you not, but it does say something that Bradish has been as good as he’s been his last four starts, and that’s just to get his ERA to 386 that Boz has been as good as he’s been the last three starts, and that’s just to get to 448 It speaks to just how darn ugly the rotation was the first seven ish weeks of the season.

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Nestor Aparicio  38:02

When that gets better, they have a chance to go seven to three on a homestead where they are right now. We’ll see if we’ll see if they can all hold it up on the second end of this. Is Toronto rolls in this weekend?

Luke Jones  38:11

I mean, and like I said, my seven and three, they’re in a position now where they only need to go three and two over the rest of the homestead. Now you’ve loved making an eight and two home stand, right? I mean, like, let’s get nuts here. Like, I’m not trying to put a ceiling on.

Nestor Aparicio  38:24

Well, the shirts are off in left field. I saw that,

Luke Jones  38:27

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right? Bam, you talk about something that’s just like has caught on, like, started in St. Louis. It’s like it’s wild. Hey, you know what I like about it? Look, and I’ve seen some people complain because, like, team, like, I guess on Tuesday night they were doing roll call like the Bronx, and I get it. I don’t want to, you know, nothing about nothing in my DNA says do something like the Yankees fans do. But I will say this: you’re seeing young people at a ball game having a blast doing something right there. They’re not hurting anybody, as far you know, as far as I see, like there’s no far, no, no fight starting or anything like that. Have at it, like you’re not gonna see me out there doing that, but that’s not for me. But if a bunch of 20 somethings are out there and they’re having a great time, and that means they want to go back to the ballpark future dates and do keep doing that, have at it. I mean, like, baseball needs more of that, right? Baseball needs more of that, as far as young people being excited about it. Like, I love the game, I want to see the game continue to thrive. I also understand that, that means, you know, like, for example, that this coming weekend is Star Wars weekend, dude. You know, that’s not my thing, but my brother thinks it’s cool, right? I mean, he’s not going to a game, but like people like him who like Star Wars, they go out there and get

Nestor Aparicio  39:48

Chad Steele, will be there, I’m sure he’ll have the fans, so

Luke Jones  39:51

but the point is with that, it’s fun to see it. We’ve seen it now in Baltimore, I guess it’s funny, and it migrated, it was actually in the bleacher. So on Monday afternoon, and it was down the left field line on Tuesday night, but, but you know, two two good games against the Rays, two wins, got a chance for a sweep. Think we’re going to nothing official, but sounds like Trey Gibson’s going to make the start, because, of course, with the double header, they needed an extra starter here to not have to pitch someone on short rest,

Nestor Aparicio  40:20

like his story, so let him start. Let’s see how he does. I

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Luke Jones  40:23

want to see how he does. Yeah, I mean, I mean, that game at Yankee Stadium, I don’t want to make it out to be more than what it was, but when you consider the circumstance of his major league debut, how

Nestor Aparicio  40:33

okay,

Luke Jones  40:33

he acquitted himself. Well, I said it at the time, I don’t want to do cartwheels over this. It wasn’t a great start. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  40:40

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they did swept there too, so there’s that. They did, but he

Luke Jones  40:43

pitched well enough to say, I want to see him pitch again. And for me, when a guy’s making his major league debut, can you pitch well enough to say, I want to see it again, or show me some signs of I want to see it again? So we’ll see what he does. Orioles have a chance for a sweep. They have not won three straight since the first half of April, so you can kind of check that off if they can do that, but good start to the home stand, good win on Tuesday night. Boz was terrific, Bisayo with another home run. I mean, Bisayo, he’s been one of their best hitters, he has been, he’s 21 years old, but you can see why as many people who follow farm systems, not the Orioles, but just the minor leagues in general. You’re seeing why so many people were excited about his bat. I mean, that the power is real.

Nestor Aparicio  41:32

Well, and hats off to Elias for that, because he gave him the money, and you know that’ll smell good after Elias is fired. That’ll still, that’ll be one of his jobs.

Luke Jones  41:40

He’s under contract for what the next seven years, so

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Nestor Aparicio  41:43

Shane Bozhe,

Luke Jones  41:45

that battery worked out pretty nicely for the Orioles on Tuesday night. There you go, reason why they won six one.

Nestor Aparicio  41:51

All right, Luke Jones is on the scene at Camden Yards, as well as at Owings Mills, looking for Lamar. Where’s Lamar? Is Lamar here today? Where’s Chat Steve? Oh, he’s at the Star Wars convention at the Oriole Park. Uh, Blue Jays in town all weekend. We’re going to do the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, get it back out. Uh, brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. We will have the Maryland Treasures Collection to give away. I keep showing Luke the Ocean City Boardwalk because he never goes Ocean City, Maryland, because he’s a trader and goes to Jersey, but that’s okay. I saw your sister there having Max Pizza. One day in my life, I will have Max Pizza. I will drive to Wildwood. I don’t know what day that will be. My wife and I were talking about, like, concerts and things we wanted to do this summer, and I’m, and I like had to admit to her, because we’re I’m looking at Las Vegas and this and New York and that, and like Merryweather and some other Philadelphia Triumphs playing this week. Ray Bachman, my former executive producer, and I are going to get cranked up, Philadelphia, this week, but he’s

Luke Jones  42:42

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a Wildwood guy, he goes to Wildwood every year,

Nestor Aparicio  42:45

I know that about him, he’s had Max Pizza, right?

Luke Jones  42:47

Oh, yeah, we’ve had many conversations about Max Pizza, yeah, and when I say that, like, three,

Nestor Aparicio  42:54

I’m not going to ask if it’s better or worse than Pizza John’s, because my wife would tell you there is no pizza on earth better than Pizza John’s,

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Luke Jones  43:00

and look,

Nestor Aparicio  43:02

it is different. I look at it, the pizza’s great. There could be all different kinds of greats. Gonna

Luke Jones  43:06

say there are 10 different kinds of pizzas that I love, but you know, I nothing is better than pizza John’s. I will know

Nestor Aparicio  43:13

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you love pizza, John’s

Luke Jones  43:16

also like Max. I

Nestor Aparicio  43:17

love pizza John’s, you know. I have some in the fridge right now. Have you ever had the pineapple and ham with the pepperoni on top? Because I ordered it special the other day, and I told them the

Luke Jones  43:29

last time, the last time you and I did

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Nestor Aparicio  43:31

that’s right, put the pepperoni on top, so they get, as my mom would say, with her false teeth, crispy. She wants some crispy,

Luke Jones  43:41

I’m such a pepperoni and meat sauce guy, that I mean I love those so much. And

Nestor Aparicio  43:48

John Allen came in there in order to meat sauce pizza. I’m like,

Luke Jones  43:51

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the meat,

Nestor Aparicio  43:51

what’s up with you people are on a meat sauce in each side? I, you know, I

Luke Jones  43:55

knew I’m telling you, I don’t get meat sauce on any other pizza on earth, like, not, not that it wouldn’t be, you know, I’m sure it’d be fine at other places, but it’s different at Pizza Johns.

Nestor Aparicio  44:06

Can I give a plug to Pizza John’s right now? Because I did something the other day, maybe it’s the A 1c thing, and I haven’t had French fries in a couple of weeks because I got scared by my doctors at GBMC. So I’ve just been trying to lay low on certain things, you know, just when, when given the opportunity to say yes or no, I’ve been, and look, I lost 40 pounds at one point, my life kept it off for the last 20 years, so I can say no, I just don’t like to say no, I like to eat, but I want to eat, you know, but and I did have a cheese steak earlier, but my wife went down, and I’m like, you know, I’ve never had the meatballs other than the meatball sub, and the meatballs are pretty good in the sub. I bet they would be good with the rigatonis. So, I had the meatballs and the rigatonis, and I’m here to say, and I’m thinking to myself, Who would go to Pizza John’s and order anything other than pizza? Right? I say that like no one goes to Coco’s and gets anything other than the crab cakes, and I. Already told Raskin I’m dragging him there for the coconut trip and the cream of crab soup, which is delicious, but at Pizza John’s, like the meatballs are phenomenal. I got, I got meatballs and rigatoni the other day, and I said to my wife, like, they’re peppery, they’re delicious, they compliment the salt. So there’s my free plug for Pizza John’s, and

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Luke Jones  45:18

funny eating pizza, it’s funny you just mentioned that, because my grandma, and she’s been gone a long time now, but one of her, and she loved everyone loves the pizza, pizza, John’s, that’s obvious, like you just said, but the spaghetti and meatballs, she, it

Nestor Aparicio  45:31

was really,

Luke Jones  45:32

yeah, she, she loved

Nestor Aparicio  45:33

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it, she was grandmother,

Luke Jones  45:34

yeah, yeah, yeah, she, I mean, she’s been

Nestor Aparicio  45:36

gone, I mean, your grandmother’s meatballs, well, I feel that way, like Mother’s Day came, and I was a little melancholy without my mom, and Costas, and you know, eating a crab cake and going over there, and my mom’s, you know, she loved the Costa’s crab cake, because it was Eastside, because it, you know, had that salt, that salt balance that she loves so much. So, Luke Jones is here, we’re talking food and pizza, and eating, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards, he’ll be at the ballpark all weekend. Uh, Ravens are kicking it around for OTAs. When are mandatory? Two weeks, right before

Luke Jones  46:05

one more this week of OTAs, next week, and then mini camp, just two days, just doing a two-day mini camp, that’s in two weeks. So

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Nestor Aparicio  46:14

kind of Preston, I haven’t read in my Preston column in 25 years, but I’m sure he’s calling it Camp Cream Puff, just two mini camps, right? What’s his nickname for Minter,

Luke Jones  46:24

you know? But what’s funny, though, everything is Camp Cream Puff now, because they can barely, you know, there’s no more two a days or any of that. You

Nestor Aparicio  46:31

want to sound like Joe Flacco arguing here at this point. We do. I am Nestor, he is Luke. More baseball ahead, we’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us.