With the Orioles concluding Memorial Day with a 34-18 record and on a season-high five-game winning streak, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Memorial Day signals that it’s not early anymore, and Brandon Hyde’s club remains on pace to win more games than last year. It hasn’t always felt that way with the Yankees playing so well, but the Orioles are tied with New York in the loss column. An exciting summer awaits.
2. Despite much angst over the offense the last few weeks, Baltimore concluded the holiday weekend leading the AL in runs scored per game (5.06). Yes, you’d prefer more game-to-game consistency, but we often forget scoring remains down across baseball from a year ago.
3. Kyle Bradish was fantastic on Sunday with seven no-hit innings, which was quite the lift for a starting rotation enduring more than its share of health woes recently. His stuff has mostly been very good since his return in early May, so you just hope the elbow continues feeling good.
4. Navigating the current stretch that includes only two off-days through the end of June won’t be easy for this rotation, but Bradish’s gem allowed fans to more easily envision a big three of Corbin Burnes, Bradish, and Grayson Rodriguez in October. Of course, that’s still more than four months away.
5. You feel for John Means as he gets additional opinions on his elbow. With soreness surfacing after only four starts this month as well as after just four last September, I’ve begun wondering if shorter stints pitching in relief might be better for his career moving forward.
6. Acknowledging recency bias, it’s natural to compare Gunnar Henderson to how Manny Machado was perceived at age 22 and wonder if the current Orioles shortstop has a higher ceiling. That’s quite a compliment considering the 31-year-old Machado — 2024 struggles aside — has a real shot to be in Cooperstown one day.
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7. Perhaps the weirdest stat of the season is Adley Rutschman having just 11 walks, equaling his total over his final 17 games of 2023. A more aggressive approach has led to a .483 slugging percentage and .818 OPS, but I suspect he’ll find the middle ground to maximize his production.
8. If someone told you in mid-March that the Orioles’ primary second baseman would have a .250/.300/.470 slash line with 15 extra-base hits through Memorial Day, you probably would have figured that was a strong start to Jackson Holliday’s major league career. Jorge Mateo deserves plenty of credit.
9. You hope three hard-hit balls spark a Cedric Mullins turnaround, but he entered Monday’s game with a .200/.250/.347 slash line dating back to when he hurt his groin on Memorial Day last season. With Colton Cowser showing he can play a good center field, Mullins must start producing.
10. Cole Irvin ranks behind only Burnes for most innings pitched on the club. The lefty isn’t going to blow you away with his stuff, but a 2.84 ERA speaks for itself, especially with multiple starters missing time. This was what the Orioles envisioned when acquiring Irvin two winters ago.
11. Turning 36 on Tuesday, Craig Kimbrel hasn’t allowed a run, hit, or walk over his last seven appearances. As long as the Orioles are quick to adjust when he endures another rough stretch, there’s little reason to think Kimbrel can’t remain an important part of the bullpen.
12. That said, clamoring for Mike Elias to make high-end bullpen additions remains completely justified. Yennier Cano hasn’t pitched as well as a 3.13 ERA would suggest, and the group still doesn’t miss as many bats as will be needed come October. Thyago Vieira probably isn’t going to be the answer.
