With the Orioles splitting their first four games of the season at Toronto over the weekend, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The final three games of the series did nothing to quiet concerns about the starting rotation, but Baltimore scored a total of three runs in two defeats and 21 in the two victories. This club can’t afford to waste pitching results like Sunday’s too often. That one was quite winnable.
2. Before hand cramping forced him out after four innings, Tomoyuki Sugano showed pretty good tail on his two-seam fastball and a solid cutter, but he threw a first-pitch strike to just nine of 18 hitters. He’ll need to get ahead much more frequently for his splitter to play more effectively.
3. Before missing Sunday’s game for an unspecified reason, Jordan Westburg reminded how much the Orioles missed him over the second half of last year as he clubbed three home runs in three games. You hope he’s back in Monday’s lineup as Brandon Hyde indicated he would be.
4. There are few situations where a head-first slide into first base looks like a good idea, so you hope Colton Cowser avoided a serious injury when he bent back his left thumb in the seventh inning. This comes after his left hand was fractured on a pitch last October.
5. After his average fastball velocity was down nearly two full miles per hour from 2024 on Friday, Albert Suarez landed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. You hope this is more precautionary for a 35-year-old who was such a great story and important depth piece last year.
6. Meanwhile, Felix Bautista comfortably sat at 97 mph, but his splitter was his best pitch in his first appearance since late August of 2023. He gave up a double and a walk, but a scoreless inning that included three strikeouts was an encouraging season debut in Saturday’s win.
7. Starting 6-for-15 is impressive enough, but Ryan O’Hearn consistently hit the ball hard in the opening series. Though I wasn’t convinced the Orioles would exercise his $8 million option for 2025, he remains a valuable part of this lineup when he’s right.
8. Though Charlie Morton managed some early swing and miss, he struggled feeling out his curveball and was fortunate even to get through the first three innings before being chased in Friday’s fourth. It’s only one start, of course, but a 41-year-old is going to be under more scrutiny.
9. Jorge Mateo is streaky at best offensively, but a couple bad throws Sunday left one wondering if a minor-league rehab assignment would have been better than rushing him back for Opening Day. When Gunnar Henderson returns, does this roster still need both Mateo and Ramon Urias on it?
10. The weekend showed how frustrating Gregory Soto can be as he struck out the heart of Toronto’s order Friday and walked two and recorded only one out before being lifted Saturday. The lefty has good stuff, but the inconsistency makes it difficult to trust him in close games.
11. On Sunday, Cionel Perez allowed his first home run since surrendering two against Cleveland on May 31, 2023. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Adam Frazier led off and Aaron Hicks made his Orioles debut that day.
12. It’s easy to say — and sometimes true — that Baltimore is too reliant on the home run, but consider how many long balls came between the left-center and right-center gaps at Rogers Centre. I’ll take that profile over an extreme pull-happy approach that’s more prone to developing bad habits.
