It’s been a struggle to get quality starts for the Baltimore Orioles rotation so far and we’re wondering what has to happen to change the fortunes of the club at the quarter pole. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Birds rotation and pitching malaise that has led to early season struggles in the AL East.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ struggles, particularly their starting pitching. Despite a recent win, the Orioles have a 1-5 record, with Trevor Rogers’ 5.77 ERA and Kyle Bradish’s inconsistent performance highlighted. The team’s overall ERA ranks 28th in MLB. Defensive issues and offensive mediocrity were also noted. Luke emphasized the need for better performance from the rotation and defense. They also touched on the team’s off-field successes, like merchandising, but expressed frustration with the on-field results, predicting a challenging season ahead.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Distribute and promote Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets this week (make scratch-offs available and mention on air).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Appear at Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville next Thursday to offer/promote Maryland Lottery scratch-offs and represent the show.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Be present at Faith / Lexington Market on Wednesday during the Yankees game to represent the show and engage listeners/fans on-site.
• [ ] Monitor the Baltimore Ravens schedule when it is released on Thursday and prepare the Friday morning on-air segment breaking down the schedule.

Orioles and Yankees Matchup Overview

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Yankees’ visit to Baltimore and the Maryland Lottery sponsorship.
• Nestor highlights various community initiatives and events, including a recent discussion on sexual assault and domestic violence.
• Nestor introduces Luke Jones to discuss the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, noting the Yankees’ dominance over the Orioles.
• Luke Jones acknowledges the significant gap in talent between the two teams, mentioning the Orioles’ recent win and the struggles of their starting pitching.

Orioles Starting Pitching Performance

• Luke Jones discusses the Orioles’ recent starting pitching performances, including Trevor Rogers’ return from the IL and Bradish’s best game of the season.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the Orioles’ struggles, including a 6-0 deficit in the third inning against the Yankees.
• Luke highlights the disappointing performance of Trevor Rogers, who gave up a home run on the first pitch and a five-spot in the third inning.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the broader context of the Orioles’ rotation, including the expectations for Bradish and Rogers and the team’s overall performance.

Historical Context and Team Expectations

• Nestor reflects on the historical context of the Orioles’ starting pitching, comparing it to past teams and the expectations set during the offseason.
• Nestor expresses disappointment in the team’s performance, particularly in the rotation, and questions the long-term potential of players like Bradish and Rogers.
• Luke and Nestor discuss the impact of injuries and the team’s reliance on young players like Koby Mayo, Colton Cowser, and Jackson Holliday.
• Nestor emphasizes the need for consistent leadership and ownership to turn the team around, expressing frustration with the current state of the franchise.

Team Performance and Future Outlook

• Luke and Nestor discuss the team’s overall performance, including the bullpen’s relative strength and the struggles of the offense and defense.
• Nestor highlights the lack of consistent leadership and ownership, noting the team’s success in licensing deals and merchandising but their failure to improve on the field.
• Luke mentions the potential return of key players like Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad, but expresses skepticism about their immediate impact.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s chances in the upcoming series against the Yankees and the broader implications for the season.

Defensive and Offensive Shortcomings

• Luke and Nestor discuss the Orioles’ defensive struggles, comparing the current team to past teams with strong defensive performances.
• Nestor highlights the lack of consistent defense and the impact of individual errors on the team’s performance.
• Luke and Nestor reflect on the offensive struggles, including the team’s reliance on walks and the need for more power from players like Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s overall performance, noting the lack of consistent positives and the need for significant improvements.

Team Culture and Fan Engagement

• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s culture and fan engagement, noting the success of initiatives like City Connect jerseys and bobbleheads.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the team’s lack of on-field success and the impact on fan engagement and attendance.
• Luke and Nestor reflect on the team’s efforts to connect with fans through merchandising and community events, but express concern about the long-term impact of the team’s performance on fan loyalty.
• Nestor emphasizes the need for the team to improve on the field to maintain fan interest and support.

Looking Ahead to the Future

• Nestor and Luke discuss the upcoming schedule and the potential impact of key players returning from injury.
• Luke expresses hope for the team’s future, but acknowledges the challenges ahead and the need for significant improvements.
• Nestor reflects on the team’s long-term goals and the need for consistent leadership and ownership to achieve success.
• Luke and Nestor conclude the discussion by emphasizing the importance of fan support and the need for the team to deliver on the field.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles starting pitching, Yankees talent, Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Brandon Young, defensive struggles, offensive mediocrity, bullpen performance, team leadership, ownership issues, fan engagement, City Connect jerseys, bobbleheads, Preakness week.

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We call this thing Baltimore positive. The Yankees are in town for at least nine more innings, or maybe eight and a half mornings. Although they will bat it’s all brought to my friends at the Maryland lottery. I’ll be fadeleys. But like the game, time changed and things happened, and don’t worry about it. I will have scratch offs in the Maryland lottery this week. I’ll also have the next week at fishmonger’s daughter that’s on Thursday of next week that’ll be in Catonsville. Our friends at GBMC have left me behind this fantastic walk a mile in their shoes shirt. We had Danny ibergolio on last week from safe and from their program there about sexual assault and domestic violence. We encourage all of you to read up and know the facts about it at GBMC, also our friends at Farnan and Dermer Lucas is wearing the comfort guys gear we had Zach at last week at Planet Fitness. You’ll hear him along with Dennis or Donovan my AI specialists from Planet Fitness last week, as well as April, who stopped by in May, and my wife is going to June, so she joined, she my wife joined and went to Planet Fitness, so she’ll be in better shape in June. Her birthday is coming up in a couple weeks. I think she’s, you know, feeling her summer. Luke Jones is here. He is feeling the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees, and I don’t know, they won on Monday night. That felt nice. And then Tuesday, it sort of, you know, form reverses back again. And look, if these teams played each other, the Yankees would win 100 out of 160 of them, right? I mean, it really like the Yankees are so much better than the Orioles are at this moment.

Luke Jones  01:39

I mean, it sure feels that way. It sure looks that way. You’re talking about a one in five record from the Orioles perspective, but the story Tuesday night was the starting pitching, right? I mean, you’re we keep trying to do this.

Nestor Aparicio  01:52

I’m not

Luke Jones  01:52

trying to be negative about this team. I’m not trying

Nestor Aparicio  01:55

to be

Luke Jones  01:55

completely down on this team when they have a big win. I’m trying to see the path for them to start playing better, to make some hay, to get on a roll, and on Tuesday night, Trevor Rogers is coming back from the i l, you go back to the last series against the A’s. Bradish, albeit in a losing effort, pitched his best game of the season. He looked good. Bassett looked good, albeit as a bulk guy and not technically the starter, but he pitched well on Sunday, you get a gutsy, you know, kind of grind it out effort from Brandon young on Monday night that gives the Orioles a chance to come back with the Kobe Mayo home run late in the game. And you’re looking at this and you’re trying to say, okay, is this the rotation, slowly but surely starting to round in the form, well, Trevor Rogers gives up a home run to Paul Goldschmidt on the first pitch of the game, fastball right down the middle, and then in the third inning, gives up a five spot. It’s six nothing in the top of the third inning. So I mean not to completely absolve the Orioles hitting, because the bats have gone pretty quiet here of late, even with some of these games that they’ve won here recently, but you’re down six nothing in the third inning. That’s not a recipe for beating anyone, let alone the New York Yankees. And of course, the Orioles left the bases loaded in the bottom of the third with nobody out, and didn’t score there. But Trevor Rogers, I mean, let’s face it, he was such almost a fairy tale story amidst all the disappointment of 2025 in general, Trevor Rogers was such a great story. He has a 577, era. We talked about it a lot going into the year Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish. Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers, one, two, whichever order you wanted to put them in, we questioned whether that one two punch was good enough. Problem is these guys aren’t even pitching like middle of the order, quality starting pitchers, middle of the rotation. Well, we bought

Nestor Aparicio  03:49

in on eight weeks of meaningless baseball from the franchise’s perspective, not for them individually, certainly not for a lot of the competitors they were competing with trying to win last summer. But we turn that into an is in our mind in the offseason, to think that Wayne Garland was going to do it for another year, or John means was going to do it for another year. Or, I mean, this isn’t Palmer and Flanagan and Steve stone and Scott McGregor. You know, these aren’t guys with huge bodies of work, not to mention arm repairs, right? Like, in a general sense, for Bradish to know what he’s going to be post surgery, I don’t know. I feel snookered. You know? I feel bought in on potential, and I bought in on positivity, because that’s what I do around here, even when the team’s in last place, I have to be positive about it’s not my job. That’s Kevin Brown’s job. My job is to be honest with people. So I was honest with folks in the offseason when I saw the light of spending money on Alonso, spending money on a 37 year old pitcher, they thought could do it one more year. That would really. We bolster that rotation. I mean, forget Rogers and Bradish. They they were they were slotted. They were gonna be really good. The rest was how the rest of it was going to catch up to be good. And I don’t know. Kobe mayo, Colton, cowser, Jackson, holiday, Jordan, westburg. These are all names, right, like you say them out loud, not to mention the mount castles and the Tyler O’Neill’s and the ghost of last year and the year before that and the year before that, that are still around. Not to mention what they paid Alonso, what the expectations are for gunner Henderson, not Rico Garcia, not Jeremiah Jackson to hit the ball for two weeks, or, you know, leoti Tavares to be a nice story for them. Like, their stars aren’t being stars, period, right? Like, that’s that, and that’s I that’s when that doesn’t happen. You don’t win.

Luke Jones  05:56

Yeah, and look, with the rotation, we can talk a lot about the fact, okay, they didn’t go get Dylan cease, they didn’t go get Ranger Suarez, they didn’t go get Valdez. But to the point I just made Bradish and Rogers, if they were your three and four, they’re not nearly good enough right now, right? I mean, no one in the rotation has been good enough. Think about this Nestor Brandon Young, who we’ve questioned over and over, and I’m still questioning. I’m not saying he’s he’s their eighth starter, by the way, right? Maybe ninth. If you put efflin in, I would have put him at eighth, right, because you had your top six that we talked about throughout the spring. Kramer, of course, went to the miners at the end of the year or end of spring training, and I Povich was the seventh, right. I and pub

Nestor Aparicio  06:40

Chase McDermott was the guy last year that was in line.

Luke Jones  06:43

Yeah, yeah. I mean, he wasn’t that guy anymore, but you had Kade pub, itch and Brandon Young. Brandon Young was number eight in the pecking order. He’s got a better era than any of these guys right now, so I’ll hear the whole they should have done more with the rotation, but a number one starter isn’t the only thing that’s ailing this rotation right now. I mean, none of them have been good enough, right? I mean, even Bradish, after his last start, which, like I said, I was encouraged by that. That was the first time all year where it felt like Kyle Bradish, the guy we were thinking he was going to look like. So we’ll see how he does in this finale against the Yankees. We’ll see how he does moving forward. But with Rogers look, there was always you heard me say this over and over again throughout the offseason and in spring training, he wasn’t gonna have a sub two era again. However, with an era of 577, I mean, you’re talking about one extreme to the other, right? I’ll take a couple of these guys, like, what Brandon Young’s done a 415, era. And, you know, it’s a little, it’s a little deceiving, from the standpoint of, there are a couple outings where he had some unearned runs and and maybe it looked, you know, should look a little worse than what those numbers are. But he’s, he’s competed, and he’s given them a chance a little more frequently than some of these other guys, and that’s way less of a compliment to Brandon young and way more an indictment of of the guys that were supposed to be in the is category for them. So look, can complain about the defense not helping out the starting pitching. That’s very valid as well. There were even a couple plays in that third inning, which I would not classify as poor defense as much as if you have a better third baseman on that chopper down the line, maybe you throw him out there, you know, maybe you throw out who was it? It was Rosario. Maybe you throw him out there and you get out of the inning. But that was a tough play. I mean, even for Kobe mayo, for even for a good third baseman, that was a tough play. I’m not going to put that on the defense, but it just it’s not good enough. We keep trying to lay out every time they have a big win, and of course, they’re going to win some games. I mean, they’re not going to go they’re not the worst team in baseball. They’re not going to go over the rest of the season. But I’m just at a point now where they win a game, and I say, Okay, well, how about you win four more, and then maybe I’ll be impressed by what you’re doing, right? And that’s kind of where they are. They have a chance to win this series. If they do that good, it’s it’s a market improvement. You’ve got Bradish going, albeit against Max fried, not an easy matchup, but you have Bradish going, going into the season, you’ll take days where Bradish is going to the hill, but they just they’re not gaining any footing, they’re not gaining any momentum. They’re not getting on any semblance of a role. It’s now been a month since they last won three in a row. It’s really tough to play baseball that way, in terms of having any fancy, fancying yourself as any kind of a contender that’s going to do anything of consequence. Well, they’re not

Nestor Aparicio  09:45

going to win three in a row when they’re playing the Yankees, right? When they’re playing better teams. They didn’t

Luke Jones  09:49

even give themselves a chance on Tuesday night. That’s my point. I mean, you know, Trevor Rogers gives up six runs and three and it’s over. I mean, that game was over at that point, and especially when they leave the bases loaded and nobody. Out in the bottom half of the inning. I mean, it’s over at that point there i i stopped keeping score after the third inning. I started working on some writing, you know. And that’s just where we are with this team. When they get starting pitching like that, they’re 28th in the majors in starter era, only the Astros have been worse. Go look at the number of guys missing from their rotation, with all due respect to Zach Eflin and Dean Kramer.

Nestor Aparicio  10:25

Well, starter era, there’s a healthy you bring up a lot of stats, and you do a lot of fanboy stuff, and you advanced analytics, and

Luke Jones  10:34

there’s nothing advanced about that. That’s

Nestor Aparicio  10:36

no that. That’s a great stat team. Stat, Team starter era, I wonder in the history of baseball, not just modern but in the history of baseball. I wonder where the Orioles starting era for their starters were from 1966 to 1983 and that’s why they competed, right like literally over the body of work, if you’re getting a little bit of length and you’re getting a decent era, you’re going into the seventh inning every night with a chance to win. You’re up a run down a run up a couple of runs, but you’re not down a couple of runs. You’re not down five to one in the seventh right? If your starter eras are good, right? So that would, that’s how I, you know, I’ve been on the air 35 years. I don’t know that I’ve ever thought about team wide. You said they’re 28th I’m thinking, what would, what would be acceptable enough to call yourself a playoff team, top 10, obviously, right? But like, if you hover in the top 10, even if you don’t hit the ball, well, if you’re like the Indians a couple years ago, whatever, you’re going to be a playoff team, because your starting pitch is going to give you, I mean, unless you really stink offensively, and the Indians did, but you’d have the opportunity to be good like that. And that isn’t about one Trevor Rogers or one Kyle Bradish. That’s about the body of the rotation, which is what I bought in on in March. I believe that they had six major league pitchers. I didn’t believe Brandon Young was one of them, by the way, and, you know, Tyler Wells was also a guy who was a starter that they moved to the pub. They’ve had all of these arm guys that have had the the the know how, and the ability to go out and and stretch out if they need to. I I’m just tremendously disappointed. As we said, it’s Preakness week. I said we were, by the way, we’re not judging them at fadeleys on Wednesday, because they moved the game to one o’clock again. Yeah, just the thing, even on Tuesday night, like, late in the game, I’m watching Aaron judge taking it back, and he challenged the pitch, and the crowd went nuts, it sounds like Yankee Stadium. I, you know, I didn’t vibe that out, but I’m just sort of like, when is it gonna sound like Oriole Park? When, when the Orioles are playing the Yankees. You know what I mean? Like I we’re 30 years into this. It’s it’s demoralizing in May Preakness week, not only that, the Preakness doesn’t have the derby horse, and they’re running the damn thing at Laurel, and my wife doesn’t have a dress, and I need to figure out my hair, but the fact that it feels like you and I are not going to be relevantly talking about this baseball team a month from now. It feels like a month from now, they’re going to be six to 12 games under 500 they’re not going to be three over. They’re not going to be dude. They need to be one over for me to think they’re relevant. They’re going to play this on three games under 500 and it’s still a trading deadline. We played three games over 500 all year long, and we’re going to deal into the pennant race six weeks from now. I like I’m not. I’m not buying that. You know, I’m just not, I I have a hard time thinking that this team is going to put together one of those 16 and six runs that they’re going to need to make themselves relevant, because they’re not getting anything consistently, including leadership, you know, like the Elias Albernaz thing. Six weeks into this, I’m trying to think of something to compliment them on as the Yankees try to beat them again, like, what? What are they good at?

Luke Jones  14:24

I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  14:26

they’re not good at leadership, they’re not good at ownership. They’re good at giving, you know what they’re good at? They’re good at doing licensing deals with tupac’s sister and and scamming out how to sell 40,000 tickets on a Friday night. You know, they’re good at baking that up like they are. They’re they’re good at that. They’re good at bobbleheads. They do bobbleheads. Well, I don’t know what else they do well as a franchise, if I were rating 100 things, from how they communicate to how they deal with the media, to how they deal with their fans, to how they caravan to their ticket prices to how they. Spent $600 million of our money to how arrogant Katie Griggs is, to how lost in the woods the ownership is here. I mean, I think Pete Alonso’s and like, seems like a good guy and a guy that if they were going to invest money in a star player, the problem is he’s not a star player right now for them, and he’s got no cue on the streets at all to sell tickets or to be the draw that that the reason you go to the game, the reason you give them money, the reason you get money right now is not because they’re going to win, or they are winning, even though I sold that six weeks ago and feel like a fool.

Luke Jones  15:37

I mean, it’s just they, they’re not a very good baseball team, and until they start showing otherwise, I’m very much getting to the point where I’m believing them. I’m believing what they’re showing us, right? I mean, it’s to your point, what is the strength? Ironically, the bullpens probably been a little bit better than I thought it would be, especially when you consider the injuries they’ve had,

Nestor Aparicio  15:58

right? That would be their downfall, right?

Luke Jones  16:00

Right? And let me be clear, the bullpen is not great, like I don’t, I don’t want to make it

Nestor Aparicio  16:04

out. I thought

Nestor Aparicio  16:04

they’d have five starters in one reliever. They’d be, really be struggling through those six or seven guys trying to figure out who they are. And the first six weeks, we’re, you know, we’re writing love, love letters to Rico, Garcia. It’s

Luke Jones  16:16

just gonna say, think about it. And I, I’m getting ahead of myself a little bit here. But why not? I mean, it’s, it’s mid May at this point. Well, we’re it’s not, it’s not late, but it’s not that early anymore, right? We’re a quarter of the way through the season. Rico Garcia would be this team’s All Star rep, right? I mean, he will, and let me be clear, he’s been fantastic, like, that’s not all because they need one. He’s been that great. Go look at his numbers. It’s incredible what he’s done so far. He’s been a great story. I mean, Nestor, a year ago, at this time, he was considering hanging it up, like he was looking at his options in terms of, like, you know, he was in triple A and bounced around, including being with the Orioles a few years ago, albeit very briefly. And

Nestor Aparicio  16:58

he’s from Hawaii, that dude, right?

Luke Jones  16:59

Is a great story. I mean, he really is. But, man, there aren’t many other than that right now, right? I mean, it’s Taylor Ward drawing a bunch of walks. I’d like to see Taylor Ward start hitting for more power, right? I mean, the walks have been great, but you’re talking about a guy who hit 30 plus home runs last year, and he’s got one home

Nestor Aparicio  17:18

to think that’s going to turn on?

Luke Jones  17:20

I think it will. I think it will, but, but I’m also getting tired of saying that. I agree with you, but how many guys are we going to keep saying that about Adley rutsman’s Play is having a good season, right? Ali rutsman, man,

Nestor Aparicio  17:32

and that was, that was something I would not bet on, and maybe, right? I

Luke Jones  17:37

mean, so, so I don’t want to make it out to be that there are no positives whatsoever. But when you’re looking at areas of the team, right? Offense defense, I almost said special teams, because I’m suddenly, I’m kind of talking in football terms here. But offense defense, starting pitching, relief,

Nestor Aparicio  17:57

in how they run the bases, how they move back, yeah, how they hit was runners in scoring position. It’s just

Nestor Aparicio  18:01

just

Luke Jones  18:02

not a whole lot to write home about. There just isn’t they’ve had some even they’ve had some gutty wins. They’ve had some comebacks. And those are the wins where you say, okay, like Monday night. You know, Kobe mayo, as awful as he’s been, really cool moment. You’re hoping that that helps get the team going their first win against the Yankees. All of that, right? And then Trevor Rogers gives up six runs over the first three innings the next night, right? I mean, it doesn’t even give you a chance, and there’s just been too much of that. I mean, whether you’re talking about the starting pitching, whether you’re talking about the offense just not being nearly good enough and nearly potent enough, and striking out way too much and not slugging enough to go with that swing and miss. I mean, you know, the offense, statistically is not awful, but it’s painfully mediocre. And again, if you go back to the formula before the season, this is what I was just talking about with the rotation. This isn’t an ace away from being a good rotation right now. It’s not nearly good enough. I mean, Brandon Young’s been their best starting pitcher. That’s not a Brandon young compliment. That’s a that’s a damning indictment for everyone else in that rotation right now, and that’s not even counting efflin or Dean Kramer. Like their problem hasn’t been Brandon young and Cade Povich filling in. It’s been the guys that have been healthy, actually, that haven’t pitched well, so you but you look at that, you look at the defense that has just been terrible and and

Nestor Aparicio  19:28

when I think of this team, when it’s all over with, it’s the defense man, like it’s into this. And this is the worst defensive club I’ve ever seen them put on the

Luke Jones  19:39

thing they weren’t good last year either. And I mean, it’s not like that’s been a calling card of

Nestor Aparicio  19:43

we’ve gone a long way from JJ Hardy and Adam Jones, no doubt, you know, and Matt weeders, you know,

Luke Jones  19:48

like you go back to 2014 and this is where I’m less moved about the injuries, right? Yeah, the injuries are a big part of their issues, right? Going back a couple years now, but. But you go back to that 2013 and especially that 2014 team, my goodness, they defended so well. They had guys that were either Gold Glove defenders or guys that played like Gold Glove caliber defense.

Nestor Aparicio  20:17

That’s Buck isn’t it, right? That’s

Luke Jones  20:19

like, Well, I mean, it was the players too, but yeah, the attention to detail and fundamentally crisp, and having guys that were really good at certain positions rather than, you know, I mean, Jackson holiday started another

Nestor Aparicio  20:33

Manny Machado is as good a fielder as they ever had in this

Luke Jones  20:36

point. Manny Machado, keep in mind, though, he was hurt in 14 for a good chunk of the season so and they didn’t have him at all down the stretch, but they just, I look at that team, and then I see this team, despite all the all the heralding of how great of athletes these guys are,

Nestor Aparicio  20:56

well, what

Nestor Aparicio  20:56

Nick martakis was and what Colton cows Are isn’t.

Luke Jones  21:00

Well, defense. Colton cows are the bad example. Colton cows are actually, is a good defensive player. No.

Nestor Aparicio  21:05

I mean, as a, as a, as a first

Luke Jones  21:07

round, Oh, of course, yes.

Nestor Aparicio  21:09

Far as Mark cake is giving you 280, and 20, almost rolling out of bed every day, like, literally, that kind of guy. That’s what I thought you were getting with a lottery pick. And Colton cows are right. That’s what we

Luke Jones  21:20

thought we were getting that’s fair enough. Yeah. I mean, I was talking more specifically about the defense, but yeah, across the board, sure. I mean, but you think about that team though, Nestor Matt weeders was gone in May, right? Yeah, Tommy John surgery was out for the rest of the year. They were going with, they were going with Nick Hunley and Caleb Joseph as their battery. You know, they’re there.

Nestor Aparicio  21:41

It was before Tyler Teagarden,

Luke Jones  21:43

yeah? Taylor, no. Taylor Teagarden was a couple years before that. Yeah, okay, so had one big home run, but, but you look at that, Chris Davis hit sub, what? 196 that year had the Adderall suspension in September that year, missed the playoffs. Manny Machado, remember, had had the knee injury at the end of 13, so he was coming back from that, and then the other knee got hurt in he hurt the other knee in mid August and was out for the rest of the year. So, man, you talk about a team on paper that was missing a ton, that 2014 team. Yet one reason why they were so successful, and they did other things really well also, and Steve Pierce had an MBO kind of types, you know, most valuable Oriole caliber season out of nowhere. You know that Adam Jones had a great year? I mean, they had a Nelson Cruz led the Al and home runs. I mean all that. But, man, their defense was so good, and it made their rotation better. And that’s one thing, the one thing I will say about the current rotation as disappointing, very disappointing as it’s been. It’s not like the defense is helping them out much. I mean, there, there have definitely been times where you’d look at radish was a great example of that last Friday night better defense, and he has an even better looking final stat line than what it was. And the stat line was pretty good, even as it was, but was a perfect example of the defense letting down as well. So they just to go back to the point you made a couple minutes ago. I mean, what is their calling card in terms of something that, as a group, they do well and nothing, really, I mean nothing.

Nestor Aparicio  23:26

They do uniforms. They do they do city connect jerseys well and bobble heads.

Luke Jones  23:31

I will say I don’t. I didn’t necessarily like the I don’t necessarily like the combination because I I like the cartoon bird hats. You know, whether we’re talking about the home one or the away one. I do like that alternate B hat. I like that so much better than the O’s cap. That is a far superior alternate cap, but, but, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  23:50

they wore their alternate B caps the other night. They

Luke Jones  23:53

want, the last two nights with the home white. Yeah, I like that cap. I mean, I do as an alternate I like that cap with their black jerseys. I think that that’s a good when

Nestor Aparicio  24:02

you said alternate, I thought you were talking about that Camden Yards green and orange. B

Luke Jones  24:06

Oh,

Nestor Aparicio  24:07

I’ve seen more of that gear like it feels like a lot of people bought that gear this year.

Luke Jones  24:12

As I said to you at the time, look, city Connect is not for you. It’s not for me. I’m more of a uniform purist. I told you my city connect would be a spin on the 66 you know, that era of the script, Orioles, I put Charm City or something like that instead. But people like it, man. I mean, like we’re, I think we’re in the minority in terms of at least people that are buying merch, right? I mean, they’re, they’re buying

Nestor Aparicio  24:36

it looks like 1993 All Star game, Camden yard throwback

Luke Jones  24:41

stuff to and you do think back to that logo, and I do think that, looking back at that, that was a good, good looking all star logo they had on the patch of the jersey, you know, a patch on the on the sleeves. It

Nestor Aparicio  24:51

was a diamond, as I remember, it

Luke Jones  24:53

was a star. It was a star with, I think, a diamond over top of it. Yeah, so, but, but we’re. Talking about that. I’d rather talk about the fact that this team’s winning ball games and doing things that make you think, Hey, this is going to get better. Well, you asked me what they’re good at. I’m telling

Nestor Aparicio  25:09

you what

Luke Jones  25:09

they’re good at, yeah, when

Nestor Aparicio  25:11

I think what they’re good at, it ain’t baseball, it ain’t pitching, it ain’t Fielding, it ain’t hitting, like, literally, I mean, if you’re watching this manure for seven weeks every day. That’s not what they’re good at. They’re good at be more they’re good at bobble heads and Tupac and Nellie concerts. And, you know, Mr. Niece had a good time. Luke is here. He’s Luke Jones. He’s Baltimore, Luke. He’ll be monitoring all things ravens scheduling on Thursday night. Leonard Raskin and I got into it about Rio and how dodgy Rio de Janeiro is, and how I wouldn’t want to be the guy running that group trip down there with passports and policia and, you know, obernagato and all the other things going on down there, corecovado. But schedule comes out Thursday. We’ll talk some football around here on Friday as well, anything you want to I mean, the oral is going to be going down to DC this weekend too, right? Like, I don’t, are we waiting on anything beyond Jackson holiday? Like, I’m just, what are we waiting on at this point?

Luke Jones  26:09

I mean, yeah, Jackson holiday is the one that I guess is semi imminent. You know, I’d still like to see him put together a nice run up at bats in the miners to kind of get himself going. I’ve said it to you, I hard

Nestor Aparicio  26:21

to get yourself going here.

Luke Jones  26:23

Well, sure, but I don’t. I don’t like the idea of him playing third base. I don’t. I think that’s one of those situations where you’re trying to solve a problem and it begets another problem. I think the kid has a lot on his plate right now with coming back from the hand injury, and instead of making him a third baseman for what, you know, I mean, Jeremiah Jackson, go look at his numbers over the last three weeks, right? I mean, what are we doing here? That said, I am looking forward to seeing him back. I’m hoping that he can get himself in a position where he’s feeling good and, you know, I want to see him play baseball. I mean, he’s 22 he’s he’s supposed to be in a really important part of the future. But, you know, Heston kirstadt is rehabbing. I don’t know if there’s a place for him on this roster. I’m not excited about that idea. Pitching wise, Helsley is an imminent I think he’s feeling better. I don’t I think he’s probably going to start throwing again in the not too distant future. I think there’s a hope that he could be back by the end of the month. So that’s, that would be good news for the bullpen that’s hanging in there. You know, again, that’s

Nestor Aparicio  27:26

Rico Garcia may Zach Britton, him or, you know, before, I mean, Rico

Luke Jones  27:30

Garcia has just been phenomenal. I mean, he’s a great story, but, yeah, I mean, Dean Kramer’s, I know he’s been able to throw some because it’s been a quad issue, so, but he’s his returns not imminent. So who are the reserves that are helping? I mean, Westberg. I’m more bracing to hear the more ominous out for the year than any positive update that he’s going to be coming back real soon as a DH. I mean, maybe he will, but I kind of feel we know where that’s going at this point in time. So there’s not a whole lot. I mean, they are what they are at this point. If they’re not going to find solutions internally, then, then if

Nestor Aparicio  28:10

gun or Henderson’s not your solution, or Pete Alonso, then you don’t have a solution. I

Luke Jones  28:13

mean, you know, they’ve got a handful of guys that are playing well, rushman beside oh, I want to see Taylor Ward start hitting for more power. I mean, I think there’s a fine line there. With drawing walks. You still want them to slug, but they need, they need gunner to look like gunner, and he hasn’t looked like gunner since maybe the first couple weeks of the season. They need Alonso to get on a roll more consistently. Go down the list, right? I mean, and I mean the pitching, the starting pitching, they just it has to be better. Again, all the discussion about needing an ace, they could have an ace right now. And if the other guys were pitching the way they are right now, this rotation would still stink right now. So it’s not just an ace. They need to be better. Like I said, you can. I’m fine if, in hindsight, it was a mistake to say Bradish and and Rogers and boss, are your 123, but can those guys at least pitch like a good three, four or five? Then they haven’t even done that much. So just, it’s disappointing, and maybe they’ll win again, winning this series against the Yankees, and maybe they’ll go to DC and win a series there. But I’m tired of having to keep playing this maybe, maybe, maybe it, it feels what much more like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown at this point, whenever they win a game and and you’re trying to hope that that’s the start of them going getting on a little bit of a roll here, 43 years and Luke is still here, waiting, wishing and hoping and hoping and wishing. It’s like an old Frank Sinatra song. He is a Baltimore Luke. You can find him out on the internet. You can find me anywhere good. Crab cakes are being served here this week. We’re going to be at Faith, as it Lexington market on Wednesday during the Yankees game. As it turns out, when they move

Nestor Aparicio  29:55

little feel like playing the game at seven. Y’all get down here one today. I’m sure that’s. Going to work out great. Of course, Luke would say, well, they can’t play it in the rain. And I would agree with that, but it’s less than ideal, as is this trip to Washington Tampa Bay is maybe better than the Yankees. We’ll see them next week as well. The Raven schedule coming out on Thursday night. Luke and I will be here Friday morning to break it all down. As far as I know, the Ravens aren’t dealing Lamar Jackson anytime soon, but I won’t start any rumors here, unless we’re going to take phone calls like they do at the fan. He is Luke, I am Nestor. We are W NST am 1570 to Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. Do.