Nothing has been ideal for the Baltimore Orioles pitching thus far but the past two days of Norfolk rescues for the bullpen have come from unlikely sources. This time it was Brandon Young returning for a spot start on a cold night in Chicago that got the Birds a victory after an ugly sweep in Pittsburgh. Luke Jones and Nestor tip their caps to Povich and Young and wonder when the bats will warm up this spring.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the Baltimore Positive / Maryland Lottery “Crab Cake Tour” stop at Faidley’s on Friday and host the afternoon event.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Complete the upcoming regular health checkup later this month, which will be the first full physical examination in about 20 years.

Orioles’ Road Trip and Game Recap

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning upcoming events and the Orioles’ current road trip in Chicago.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ recent victory, highlighting Brandon Young’s strong performance in his spot start.
• Luke notes that while Young’s performance was good, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a major factor in the rotation moving forward.
• The conversation touches on the Orioles’ need for depth in their pitching staff, especially with injuries to key players like Eflin.

Bullpen and Injury Concerns

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ bullpen issues, including the need for relief pitchers and the impact of injuries on the rotation.
• Luke mentions that Andrew Kittredge is on a rehab assignment and should return soon, which will help the bullpen.
• The conversation highlights the challenges of managing a pitching staff with multiple injuries and the need for flexibility in the rotation.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the unexpected challenges faced by the team early in the season, including the need for unexpected contributions from players like Brandon Young.

Impact of Game Time Changes

• Nestor expresses frustration over the last-minute change in game times, questioning the impact on fans and the team’s preparation.
• Luke defends the decision, noting the cold weather and the need to accommodate the schedule, but acknowledges the inconvenience for fans.
• The discussion touches on the broader implications of game time changes and the challenges of scheduling in professional sports.
• Nestor and Luke agree that while the change was necessary, it was not ideal for fans and could impact attendance.

Orioles’ Offensive Performance and Sloppy Play

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Orioles’ offensive performance, noting that the team has struggled to generate runs despite some good efforts.
• Luke highlights specific plays that cost the team runs, such as Tyler O’Neill’s baserunning mistake and Austin Hays’ injury.
• The conversation emphasizes the need for the team to play cleaner baseball and avoid costly mistakes.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the psychological impact of early-season struggles and the importance of starting strong to build momentum.

Upcoming Games and Player Performance

• Nestor and Luke preview the upcoming games against the Giants and Diamondbacks, noting the importance of continuing to win.
• Luke discusses the potential return of Felix Bautista and the need for depth in the bullpen.
• The conversation touches on the performance of key players like Tyler Wells and Rico Garcia, who have been strong contributors so far.
• Nestor and Luke express optimism about the team’s potential and the importance of maintaining a positive attitude despite early challenges.

Community Engagement and Final Thoughts

• Nestor and Luke express their commitment to covering the team and providing insightful analysis for fans.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, Brandon Young, bullpen, injuries, pitching depth, game times, Chicago, Tyler O’Neill, Austin Hays, Felix Bautista, Tyler Wells, Rico Garcia, Ryan Helsley, Baltimore positive, Maryland crab cake tour.

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are taking the barely crab cake tour out on the road. We will be at faidleys and Lexington market on Friday, next Thursday, we are Costa ctimoni, and then on the 23rd we will be at Koco’s Pub in laurelville. We’re also making our way back to Pete’s John’s you’ll see the Pete’s John’s logo on Luke’s hat there. That makes me strangely hungry for manicotti right now in a chef salad the Orioles in Chicago, cold, blustery, moving game times in the afternoon, right out there in front of the Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox statues in center field at the new Comiskey Park, although it’s 45 years old now, so I don’t I’m not sure that it’s really new. Luke Jones joins us now on the backside of a slightly victorious Monday evening, nice to get off the Schneid certainly call a pitcher up from Norfolk. Get the kind of effort that you’d like to get against the team that is a little bit woebegone on the south side right now.

Luke Jones  01:02

Chicago, yeah. I mean, they have been for a while, and it was good to see Brandon young do what he did. I’m not, I don’t think it’s something where now he’s a major factor in the rotation moving forward. But as we’ve talked about, you know, even before the season started, even before Eflin goes down with an injury, which he’s getting a second opinion on the elbow this week. So maybe we’ll get a little more clarity on whether he’s going to even be available for the rest of 2026 but you’re going to need some other arms along the way. Right? We talked about Cade Povich coming out of the pen Sunday blowout game, but allowed them to allowed Craig Albernaz to not burn through the rest of his bullpen in the process, but you’re going to need some contributions along the way. Brandon Young’s not a guy, in my mind, that you’re hoping is going to make 20 starts along the way, but if he has to make four or five, if he has to pitch out of the bullpen as a long relief guy at a couple for a couple stretches over the course of the season. You’re hoping he can do what He did on Monday night, which was give the Orioles a very representative effort. I mean, five innings of two hit ball, you’ll take that. It wasn’t dominant. He didn’t get a ton of swing and miss or anything like that. But to your point, when it’s against the Chicago White Sox, you’re hoping that can be good enough, and it was, and the Orioles just barely got enough offense going, and Ryan Helsley just barely regrouped enough in the ninth inning to get the save. But hey, after the disappointment of what happened in Pittsburgh, nice to go to Chicago on a cold night and get a win, get get yourselves write it a little bit and now have a great opportunity to, at the very least get a series win, if not better than that. So good to see that, you know, again, not not a game that was overly impressive, other than tip of the cap to Brandon young, because coming up from Norfolk and making the start, he did a very nice job for them and put the bullpen in a position to protect a small lead.

Nestor Aparicio  03:03

Well, he’s mentioned the bullpen in the middle of the night. They’re dealing for relief pitchers from the St Louis Cardinals first week of April, and they’re already all hands are on deck, right with efflin out. I guess Kramer will come back up and be Kramer by next week, right? That that will be that spot in the rotation, but the bullpen with ends and with left handers being a problem, and they’re already, I mean, Elias is already on the trade lines trying to figure out where he’s going to get help for this bullpen that’s not going to come from Norfolk, yeah. I mean,

Luke Jones  03:37

they’ve got to figure it out. I mean, more than anything, they need to get their bullpen healthy. Andrew Kittredge. Kittredge is already in the midst of a rehab assignment. You would think, assuming that’s gone okay, and he’s not shut down or anything like that, you would think he’s going to be back sooner than later, so that should really help the seventh and eighth inning picture. But they lost Keegan akin at the end of spring training, and now Dietrich ends with some kind of infection in his foot. You know, he had to go to the hospital and and have antibiotics. I It sounds like they have a their hands wrapped around it now in terms of what it is and treating it and all that. So I wouldn’t think he’s out too long, but he’s on the 15 day IL, so he’s going to be out for the next couple weeks.

Nestor Aparicio  04:22

So it was bad enough when they were all like, gathered out of out of Sarasota to think, like, what is it going to be? Who’s going to pitch when, situationally, what it’s going to be. And, I mean, we’re a week and a half into this, and it’s nothing like we would have discussed two weeks ago when they came north, right like the bodies are already moving around in big, big ways. And guys we thought were set for innings in certain ways, other than ellsley, the rest of it’s been make it up as we go along.

Luke Jones  04:50

Yeah. I mean, it really. And at times it’s been who’s healthy, who’s available right now, right? I mean, and, and we know that over the course of a 162 game season, you’re. Going to have that, but wouldn’t like it. You don’t necessarily want it to be the first two weeks of the season where you’re scrambling and being in that position. I mean, let’s face it, you and I, two weeks ago, we weren’t talking about Brandon young making a start for the Orioles, right? We were talking about Brandon young not just being at Norfolk, but not really being the guy you’d think of as the next man up, coming up from Norfolk, right? Or also,

Nestor Aparicio  05:24

when they say Kramer, you’re like, he might not be back till May or June, if everyone’s okay, right? Because they had five, you know, legitimate Major League starters in order to put him in Norfolk. They were feeling, I would say, bullish about their pitching, but they were feeling confident about their pitching when they came north. That’s the way Albernaz talked about it. When you were out there for the workout day, it felt like, all right, they’ve had seven, eight weeks to figure this out. There. They’re, they’re so good that Kramer’s can’t even come north with the team. That’s how I felt about it on

Luke Jones  05:54

opening day. Yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t throw the bullpen in there, but the rotation certainly right? And even if Kramer, I don’t know if I’d say June, but was there a scenario where you didn’t see him till May 1, sure, but at the same time, we also knew this was a distinct possibility, because it’s pitching right. Pitching is as volatile as it gets in terms of not just how guys are going to perform, but also are they going to stay healthy. I mean, Zach efflow looked really good in his debut, until his elbow. You know, whatever is going on with his elbow, right? So it’s, that’s why you need depth. That’s why someone like Brandon Young, who, let’s face it, was more bad than good last year. But we also remember what he did on that Friday night, and I think it was a Friday night in Houston where he’s taken a, you know, a no, no, deep into the game and doing something to the point where we’re sending out a wnst text alert about it. So it’s in there for him to at least contribute, in some shape or form, to be a positive, a net positive, rather than a negative. But you don’t know exactly when it’s going to, you know, when that moment’s going to surface. You know when that need is going to arise. And the Orioles have had some need here that that’s popped up, you know, starting with Aiken at the very end of spring training. I mean, that was the last Saturday before the season started when, you know, he loses his footing and and hurts his groin in the bullpen and puts him on the shelf. So you never know. And then you have a couple guys who aren’t pitching well. Someone gets knocked out of a game early. Your bullpens taxed. You get a couple guys who just aren’t pitching well, and that kind of throws your, your managers plans into a into a frenzy. And then that would

Nestor Aparicio  07:39

be Bassett, right? Now, right?

Luke Jones  07:40

Yeah. I mean, with Bassett, I mean, it’s been so bad that if he pitches like anything like this for the next start or two, you got to be talking about putting him in the bullpen. I mean, that’s how bad it’s looked. It hasn’t been, you know, Bradish has been more unimpressive than, Oh my gosh, this looks so like bass. It’s just looked awful, right? I mean, it’s been really bad. Whereas Bradish, even his last start, he was still getting swing and miss, and, you know, kind of had a, you know, it’s been a situation for him where it’s been a bad inning, right?

Nestor Aparicio  08:12

Or, well, hanging in the game long enough to give you a chance to win, to give the bats an inning or three to catch up. So do you leave the game in the fifth or the sixth, not the third or the fourth,

Luke Jones  08:21

exactly, so that and that’s where bassett’s been. I mean, they the outings have been short and they’ve been completely ineffective. So yeah, and let me be clear, I’m not saying that that means he’s on thin ice in terms of his spot on the roster, but I think if he has another start or two like this, you can’t keep trotting them out there every five days, you need to regroup, and you might need to put him in the back of your bullpen to give him a couple weeks to sort it out. Kind of sort of what they did with Charlie Morton last year, who eventually did sort it out to be better at the very least, but we also know he was so bad the first five weeks of the season, and that was a major part of their story, as far as getting off to an awful start. So, yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s definitely been more volatile than you would have hoped based on what how we were talking two weeks ago, right? Two weeks ago, we were talking about the fact that, wow, things are so good that Dean Kramer is going to Norfolk, and now you’re saying, okay, when’s he making his next start? And when does that line up with when the Orioles are going to have a knee going to have a need in their rotation? And you know, because that’s the part we kind of forget. It’s really easy to think about it in terms of a pecking order, right? But whenever your need is, it’s dependent on, all right, who’s set to go down at Norfolk in the next day or two, right? Because it can’t, it isn’t always the guy that you know, your number one option, because that guy might have pitched the day before or two days before, right? So you’re still at the mercy of guys being on regular rest and trying to keep guys in turn and all of that so and as we kind of said, you know, as we broke down the the aftermath of the effluent injury, and looking at Dean Kramer, I think there was. Also a sentiment that the Orioles wanted to get Kramer into a little bit of a better routine. Keep in mind, he pitched in the WBC, and then you tell him you’re sending him to minor league camp and he’s going to Norfolk. And there was all that, I think there was a sense of, let’s get him a start or two down at triple A to really get him ramped up, get him in a better routine, and then he’ll be back, right? So if you’re going to do that, then someone else has to start in the meantime. And you and I thought it might be Albert Suarez, but they end up turning to Brandon young because they had the injury situation with Dietrich ends. I mean, the one thing you can kind of point out, and we’re getting at the tail end of that, but all these guys that were optioned to triple A they’re not options to come right back, unless you have an injury, unless you have an IL situation. So ends has the situation with his foot, and they decided, hey, Brandon young, let’s give him a shot. Let’s see what this looks like. And think they were hoping if he could give them four solid innings, and ended up giving them five shutout innings. So you’ll take that every day of the week, and now you should be relatively well positioned to go out there and and take a series and hopefully do better than that, right? I mean, at some point in time you want to, you know, get yourselves back over 500 and really get this thing going in the right direction after, you know, a very underwhelming first nine games of the season.

Nestor Aparicio  11:23

I gotta ask you this, and this is the old man get off my lawn thing, but changing game times 36 hours before, like, I don’t that used to be a no no from the Players Association mind frame, as well as the umpires coming to the ballpark early after playing on Monday night. Obviously, the people that sell the Elotes and the beer and take the tickets and employees and all of that just a bizarre moving of a game time, I guess, to allay the cold in Chicago. But I’m thinking they pull that here on a Monday morning saying, Hey, we’re going to play in the afternoon tomorrow instead of the night. I don’t understand philosophically, to get the games in part of this, and the television part of this, and the fact where they’re actually trying to, like, have fans come to the games and decide whether it’s a seven o’clock game or a two o’clock game. I just they do it in the playoffs every year, and it’s gotten me onto the I’m going to be holding a ticket, and I don’t know whether the game’s at noon or at nine o’clock at night, and it’s the day after tomorrow, and I’ve got sitters, a job, kids, a family, a car, employee, whatever it is. I just this is a nouveau way of doing this, and I’m not sure that I fully check off on it. I’ll be watching the game on Tuesday afternoon. It’s fine for me, but I’m not in Chicago holding the ticket, and I’m not listening to Katie Griggs in the Birdland telling me we value you as fans. I just a bizarre moving of times that this. They never used to do it this

Luke Jones  13:01

way, Luke, they’ve moved times. It’s going to be 35 degrees in Chicago Tuesday night. I mean, I

Nestor Aparicio  13:09

hear you. I guess it’s going to be 48 in the afternoon.

Luke Jones  13:11

Is that? I mean, it ever be 39 in the afternoon? But you’ll have some sunshine, right? I’m guessing, you know, I’m guessing the wind could be a little bit less of a fact. It’s not an agreement.

Nestor Aparicio  13:21

It’s bad baseball either way.

Luke Jones  13:22

But like, the only thing you really could have done, because you’re you’re you only have one trip into Chicago, right? So this isn’t a division opponent where you can just easily say, All right, we’ll make it up. We have a common off day on a Monday before we come in for three in June. So the only other option is you could have made it a double header on Wednesday. It is warmer on Wednesday. I don’t know. It’s not ideal all. I What I will say, I am fine with doing this, as long as your ticket exchange policy is you can exchange it for anything

Nestor Aparicio  13:56

of equal. That’s gonna be true, yeah, but I’m

Luke Jones  13:59

just saying as long as you’re doing that, you know, don’t, don’t, as long as you don’t have a rigid policy where someone who’s expecting a seven o’clock start or a 640 start, or whatever it is local time is now facing the prospects of not being able to go unless they take off work. It’s just not ideal, right? I mean, it’s not ideal to play that game at 740 or 840 or whatever it is, you know, I guess it’s, I guess it’s 640

Nestor Aparicio  14:23

it will be 38 degrees and sunny at two o’clock. Yeah, so I,

Luke Jones  14:27

I guess that’s, I mean, it’s not much better, but it’s four or five degrees warmer. It’s not ideal, right? I mean, part of this is, part of it is at least snowing. Well, there’s, there’s that, but part of this is also just the setup of the schedule, and we know it’s such a long season. I mean, they’re starting the season in late March now, right? I mean, that wasn’t the case 50 years ago. It’s also the

Nestor Aparicio  14:50

unintended consequences of saying we’re going to play all the National League teams, we’re only going to go places one time. You know, it has to fit in in these three days, because we don’t want to have to go back. Chicago in August and play a makeup game. I mean, that’s probably the stickiest part of all of this, when they decided to not have two series in Kansas City and Chicago and, you know, Minnesota anymore,

Luke Jones  15:12

right, right? And to be clear, just because I’m defending it doesn’t mean that I it’s certainly not ideal. I mean, it’s not ideal that they’re going to be playing in weather as cold as will be Tuesday afternoon even. I mean, it’s it’s not ideal. That’s why you like to think the schedule as much as possible. You start the season in warmer, more southern cities. But there’s no guarantee, and we’re already, we’re pushing on close to two weeks into the season. I mean, the White Sox and the Cubs can’t play on the road for a month to start the season.

Nestor Aparicio  15:44

Rangers doing here the first week? Yeah, they should be playing in Texas

Luke Jones  15:49

that week, right? Especially with climb, you know, any climate controlled stadium where you have a roof, so see getting Minnesota

Nestor Aparicio  15:55

out of there till like, June. But, you know,

Luke Jones  15:56

yeah, I mean, but that’s the thing. I mean, you can only, you can do that the first week or two of the season, but then at some point, it’s like, we can’t be on the road for a month.

Nestor Aparicio  16:05

Dude, I pulled into Minnesota last week, and I flew in for the Springsteen show, and I took the light rail into the city, and I’ve been to Minnesota enough you’ve been to Minnesota with me. It was was much colder when you and I were there at the Super Bowl eight years ago. And I did drive by that armory where the eagles had their victory party, and I text my wife, I’m like, I’m cold, staring at it. I remember standing outside with Tory Smith’s family trying to get in, and Joe Douglas’s family and Jim Schwartz’s family, and being like, 12 below. But when I left Minnesota, it was cold. In Minnesota, it was chilly. I had a jacket, and, you know, it felt like I needed gloves. But it wasn’t awful. It was in the 50s or whatever. When I left there, they got five inches of snow the night I left. And I’m thinking, by Byron buxton’s pictures all over the place, and there’s, you know, there. And I’m thinking to myself, you know, it snows here. It’s freaking Minnesota. It’s it’s early April, it’s late March at the time. And I’m thinking, the this is how you’re going to start the season, and moving games on the south side of Chicago a week into this, to two o’clock in the afternoon should be the least in the Orioles problems. And I guess if you’re pitching and you’re Zach Rogers, you’re, you know, you’re happy enough to get out of bed and go do it. But it is. It’s far less than ideal from a fan friendly standpoint. And I just keep pointing out, like all the little micro aggressions that the Katie Griggs is of the world take on their fan bases, including charging full price. This is one of those things where it’s like, how do they get anybody to the ballpark when they tell them a day before we’re going to play in the afternoon instead of night? And it’s already awful. It’s 38 to begin with. Who wants to go? I’m thinking like, Are there going to be 800 people at the ballpark on Tuesday? That’s I’m thinking about it like, Who are you playing these games for the fans or yourselves, or to make money or to get them in that?

Speaker 1  17:46

Yeah, at the same at the same time, you

Luke Jones  17:50

have 162 game schedule, right? And it’s been that way for 60 some years, 70 years eight, whatever it’s been. You know, 1961 before that was 154 baseball has a long schedule, and if you’re playing, if you have outdoor stadiums, and we all prefer outdoor ballparks, you’re at the mercy of the weather forecast. So at the same I hear what you’re saying, but you can’t just start canceling weeks and weeks of games, because then you’re just like, Okay, are we just not gonna play them? We’re gonna play 120 games. Like, what are we doing? So I hear you what I do think some teams have done, and I know, I don’t know if they’re doing it this year, but I know the Tigers have done it in the past, when the first couple weeks of the season they just play day games. But with the with the idea in mind that the weather is just going to be a bear, and at the very least, everyone’s going to know ahead of time we’re going to be playing in the afternoon.

Nestor Aparicio  18:38

Well, look at last week the Orioles had that afternoon game was glorious. It was an 80 degree day. They got lucky, right?

Luke Jones  18:44

So, so I, I think there’s a little bit of that you can do, but beyond that, I’m also going to take up for these teams a little bit. And I don’t do this very often, but you can’t just start canceling every other game because it’s chilly or or whatever, right? In the same way that if you get some drizzle in the forecast, it doesn’t mean you should just bang it right? I mean, sometimes you have to play it out, let it play out. And sometimes, especially this area, knowing how quickly the weather can change, sometimes you’ll, we’ve all seen times where you look at the forecast and you say, there’s no freaking way they’re playing this game. And then you get to 705, or now 635, first pitch, and it’s beautiful, right? So it’s not ideal, that’s why. Again, I’ll go back to what I said. The remedy here is to either be a little more proactive and schedule a few more day games when it’s really early, when you’re talking about cities like Detroit and Chicago and Minneapolis, or just make sure your ticket policies are as flexible as they can be. So if you do have to do something like that, people can make an exchange without it being a major hassle or making them take a bath in terms of losing money or having to pay extra fees or whatever. It’s gonna

Nestor Aparicio  19:57

be 72 at the bar cost us at two this afternoon. So there you go. Me, you know, there you go. And move indoor. One thing, you know,

Luke Jones  20:03

we haven’t talked too much about the game because, I mean, it was a two to one game. You’re hoping the bats start to come to life here. I mean, I know it’s not easy when you’re talking about the weather, but let’s face it, the Orioles were gifted their first run when Austin Hayes pulls up with the hamstring and Tyler O’Neill didn’t make it to second base because he didn’t run right? So I wanted to make mention to that that was a bad look, even if he jogs out of the box

Nestor Aparicio  20:33

experiment, he’s been Tyler O’Neill, right? It’s not up there with Chris Davis, but it’s it.

Luke Jones  20:38

It’s been disappointing. This has been way disappointing, all of it. I mean, he’s, I will say he’s looked healthier playing the field. And I know, I know he dropped a fly ball the first series, but he’s also, he has made some nice plays in the outfield, and I don’t think he, I think he thought that ball was going way foul. It was a windy night Chicago, right? Even if he jogs just jog out of the box, he’s standing on second base, no problem. I mean, as crazy as that play was, because you see Austin Hayes pull up, and you knew right away he was injured. I mean, walking off the field, basically. And then you look back at as the plays over, and Tyler O’Neill standing at first base, and they would have scored another run, you know, I mean, Mount Castle singles, and should have been another run. Heads up, baseball? No, no. There’s been too much of that. And that’s you. And I talked about it a lot over the weekend. I didn’t want

Nestor Aparicio  21:33

to let this on his third manager here, so let’s just blame it on him. That’s what I want

Luke Jones  21:36

to do. Well, I mean, I’m not gonna blame it on the manager. No, I’m not either. I mean, that’s that’s why I said some of this sloppy play in general, and I wrote this at Baltimore positive.com if we’re seeing the same things that were happening under Brandon Hyde, that makes me think it was way less Brandon Hyde, and it’s the players, and by extension, the general manager in front office picking the players, right? So there’s been too much of that. They need to be sharper. They need to play cleaner baseball. That doesn’t mean I expect defensive players to be Gold Glove fielders right but throw to the right base make when it’s a clean a play that just requires you to make a clean defensive play and to know what to do and just be fundamentally sound, make the play. I don’t expect any of these guys to lead the league in stolen bases, but if you’re going to steal, get a good jump right, get a good secondary lead. Don’t make outs on the bases. Don’t get picked off, right? Don’t get caught stealing and you’re sliding and you’re not even close to getting to the bag, right? Don’t do those things, which we saw too much of last year. And I, you know, I think we saw more of that happening the second half of 24 we kind of forget about the second half of 2024 now, because of how bad things were at the start of last year. But this has been a long time where these things have happened, and it’s even been with different players in the mix. So that’s, you know, what I wrote at Baltimore positive.com that scar tissue that’s there. That’s why you and I talked about it a lot. The need to get off to a good start. And, you know, let’s be clear. I mean, four and six is not insurmountable or anything like that. We all understand that at the same time, I What you don’t want is, you know, the fan base to a lesser extent, but I’ll include the fan base even too. But these players that are going through this, and you have all the good vibes of spring training, and everyone’s saying, Hey, new manager, New Year, everything that happened last year that’s in the past. You need success out of the gate, or it’s really easy to start thinking in terms of, here we go again. So you don’t want that the Orioles aren’t the only team in the division off to a bad start. I mean, Red Sox are two and eight right now, and most people seem to or a lot of people out there thought they were going to be better than the Orioles, right? So they’re, they bought pitching, yeah. I mean, they’re figuring it out. I mean Toronto pitching injuries galore, right? I mean, they’ve lost, they’ve lost multiple starters since the season began. So it’s you never really know, right? I mean, we talked about it as much as we at least I would try to tend to focus on the bad play, because there’s only so much you can say about the injuries, unless you’re just going to make excuses and say, Okay, well, that’s that’s that. But the injuries were a major factor last year, and injuries have been a factor early on here as they’re trying to shuffle their pitching staff and figure out their bullpen. So I’m not not turning a blind eye toward that, but I don’t want that stuff to then make excuses for not running out of fly ball down the left field line, or throwing to the wrong base, or getting someone picked off, or

Nestor Aparicio  24:53

heads up ball. Chris Paul, let’s

Luke Jones  24:55

just be you know, I just want to see more of that, right? I mean, just clean play, right? You. Doesn’t have to be extravagant. I said all along, I don’t expect this defense to be great. Can you be closer to average than bottom five or bottom 10? Though? Is that too much to ask? It shouldn’t be. My goodness, this club loves to talk about all their athleticism, right? I mean, it’s not like these guys are, you know, Cecil field nine Cecil fielders out there. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  25:23

like, Yeah, but when your pitcher doesn’t field, it a clean hit on the infield in the eighth inning, and you lose the game because of it, it kills you absolutely.

Luke Jones  25:31

I mean just, just the idea. I mean that. I mean not being able to protect late leads. I mean, these are the kind of things that it’s not just the loss in the standings, but I think there’s a psychological impact that that has as well. Like I said, when you’re coming off of a season as miserable as the first two months were last year, and the idea that they were done by Memorial Day, regardless of the fact that they played better the rest of the way, you don’t want to be in that, that fragile psyche mode where things start to go south early on, and then suddenly you’re just, you’re thinking about last year, and look, is that fair to Pete Alonso or Craig Albernaz or Taylor ward? No, but it’s the reputation this, this club in the short term, and then, from a fan base standpoint, in the long term has earned,

Nestor Aparicio  26:23

but that’s earned by Mount castle and rushman and Tyler O’Neill. It’s earned by all the guys that were here last year

Luke Jones  26:30

and a part of it, yeah, so, but that said, I mean, just because Pete Alonso’s here doesn’t mean that that stuff didn’t happen, right? He doesn’t have a memory of it, but everyone else that’s still that was here last year, still does. So you have to go out there and play. You’ve got to go out there and perform, right? And it was good to see them, overall, play the way they did Monday night. It wasn’t, wasn’t the most impressive performance in the world, but it was a win, right? I mean, you know, not every game has to be style points.

Nestor Aparicio  26:57

It’s little things like, like catching a guy stealing that would break open an inning, he’s standing on second base. Instead, he’s out.

Luke Jones  27:04

Great job. Mike, great job by gunner Henderson holding that. That’s why you hold a tag right there. I mean, base runner comes off the bag by just, just a little bit, and you got an out. And replay, thankfully, replay, because so many times we talk about this, they had a still camera shot that clearly showed he was off the bag. So, yeah, just do the little things better. And that that’s to me, what

Nestor Aparicio  27:27

a one run ball game. That’s huge.

Luke Jones  27:29

I mean, that’s why I was so adamant, you know, and why I wasn’t happy with what I saw from Tyler O’Neill on Monday night. And that’s the thing, more than anything else, that was an indictment for me with Brandon Hyde last April and May was just how sloppy everything looked. I mean, it’s like what you guys do in spring training. So that’s why it was a little disheartening. Because it’s you say, hey, it’s a new new manager, new coaching staff. I don’t want to see those things continue, because if that happens, does that mean you just hired the wrong manager and the wrong coaching staff again, or is that saying more about the players themselves at that point in time? I tend to think it’s more the latter. When you’re talking about changing a

Nestor Aparicio  28:08

lot of guys that have a lot of smoke blowing up their backsides, you know, being one ones being being guys that couldn’t fail, couldn’t fail, couldn’t fail, until they do so they get to the big leagues in their Kobe mayo on the third go round, and they’re hitting the buck 10, and they can’t figure it out. And that goes for curse that. That goes for just all of these guys that have been disappointing, and that I’ll throw cows are in there. And by the way, where’s holiday close, closer.

Luke Jones  28:35

I mean, I mean he should be close. I mean he’s he’s gotten at bats at Norfolk. I mean, I think what you’re seeing. And I’ve had people ask me this, because if you recall Corbin Carroll and Francisco Lindor, each had a ham eight bone at the start of spring training as well. One difference this was, this was holidays throwing hand. Those those guys, it was their non throwing hand. So I think that probably added a little bit to the timeline for him to come back. And I think, I mean, the reality is, he’s a young player. He’s 22 he missed all of spring training. He is not a finished product in terms of what you’re hoping. He still becomes in the in the way that you might not view Corbin Carroll or certainly Francisco Lindor that way. So I think they, they wanted to slow play his rehab a little bit just to give him at bats and to, you know, this is spring training for him now, but that said, I’d be a little surprised if we’re still talking about him in Norfolk a week from now. I think, you know, by by by next week at the latest, I think you’ll see him at because at some point you say, Okay, well, how many at bats do you really need? And you know, at some point in time, like, Hey, let’s go, right? You need him, you know, you’re hoping that he’s the best, you know, maybe not the best version of himself, you know, coming off of the injury, but that he’s feeling more comfortable and more confident and all well, the Giants

Nestor Aparicio  29:54

come in, and then Arizona comes in. So it’s like, homestand, yeah. Then they

Luke Jones  29:58

go, I feel live. Surprised if we’re not seeing him by the homes. I mean, it could be any day for all we know, but I would, I’d be surprised if we’re a week from now. You and I are still talking about him.

Nestor Aparicio  30:10

Well, I keep wondering where the Calvary is, and, you know, I see it in Brandon young and Albert Suarez and Kate Povich all. I mean, you know, coming

Luke Jones  30:19

in, you know that you need some of that. They’re not the guys that you’re you have any expectation of start, you know, pitching in the playoffs or starting multiple games for you or anything like that. But things happen. You have double headers, you have rain outs, you have injuries. You have someone, a starting pitcher, who gets knocked out in the second inning because he’s bad, or he takes a line drive off the kneecap, right? I mean, those things happen. So yeah, you need to have a bad, you know, a collection of of guys at Norfolk that can contribute here and there. Look in an ideal world. That might be the only start Brandon young makes all year. I’m guessing, probably not. I’m guessing you’ll see him a couple more times at some point, but hey, he just helped him win a ball game. He was one of the biggest reasons why they won Monday night, if not the biggest reason. So good for him. And like I said, Helsley, with a couple walks and his control aside, the bullpen, pitched well, and that was good to see, I mean, really encouraged by what I saw from Tyler wells, it was good to see him. You know, he his last couple outings, he’s looked a little more like what you thought he was going to be. And really, mean, the guy that’s been the best in their bullpen, Rico Garcia, has been excellent for them. I mean, you saw pitch the eighth inning of a of a tight game. So for right now anyway, and obviously, when Kittredge comes back, and you know, we’ll see how things go over the course of the season. But man Rico Garcia has been money for them, and they’ve needed him in some big spots.

Nestor Aparicio  31:49

Chili baseball on Tuesday, warmer baseball on Wednesday. Note the times 310 on Tuesday, 210 on Wednesday. It’ll be Trevor Rogers up against Shane Smith with the era of 19. So that’s kind of an interesting early season 1929, Chris Bassett, like, right there. Yeah, there you go. And then on Wednesday, it’ll be, it’ll be Kyle Bradish and Burke and and then, obviously they, they will make their way back to Baltimore on Friday. We will be at faidleys on Friday, Lexington market. I’ll be there all afternoon. We will have fresh Maryland lottery tickets giveaway. I have my Harlem Globetrotters. You have a handful of those left. We’ll have the Maryland treasures. Then we’re at faidley’s on Friday. We are at Costas and Timonium next Thursday, the 16th, back at Koco’s on the 23rd it is the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery in conjunction with our partners at GBMC, I have my my regular health exam coming later on this month. First time I’ve had a checkup in 20 years, and I did have my H back and AC and certainly my plumbing, checked up upon by the comfort guys at Farnan and Dermer, our newest sponsors as well. We appreciate Zach and the guys certainly my wife appreciated that when we were leaking here last Wednesday, they do plumbing and they do it fast. Thank you, Sean, for coming out so. Big appreciation to the second Jamaican reference I’ve made this week because I had Dave shining on talking about Usain Bolt. So we’ve had some great conversations. Ken singleton joined us over the weekend, as well as Dave shining. We got a lot of baseball here. Luke and I are talking baseball as the birds are on the south side of Chicago, moving game times, running between the sunshine and the and the wind of Chicago will be we back talking to more baseball with you, as well as the Lamar Jackson sighting. You know, I looked up on a television. I was at Cooper’s pub. I looked up every television. Lamar, Lamar. Lamar, Lamar. I’m like, Dude, it’s April. It’s not even football season, but we’re gonna talk some football around here. Luke will be out in Owings Mills this week as well, and I will be at faidley’s on Friday. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.