Who can Orioles really count on to “pitch” in as innings add up?

Is there an “ace” in the starting rotation deck for the Baltimore Orioles? Sure, we all believed that Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish would make it look easy and that Shane Baz would pitch to his contract and Chris Bassitt would stabilize the staff and Zach Eflin…and then the season began. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Birds’ pitching depth and scraping by on any win possible in Kansas City.

Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the Baltimore Orioles’ 12-inning win against the Kansas City Royals, highlighting the team’s relief pitching and offensive struggles. Despite allowing traffic on the bases all night, Kyle Bradish minimized damage, giving up one run. Leodi Tavares and Jeremiah Jackson were noted as unsung heroes, with Tavares hitting a crucial Grand Slam. The Orioles’ offense has underperformed, with key players like Pete Alonso and Gunner Henderson struggling. The bullpen has exceeded expectations, but the rotation, led by Bradish and Rogers, has been underwhelming. Injuries to key players like Kittredge and Aiken are expected to be resolved soon, potentially bolstering the bullpen.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST radio show at Koco’s on Thursday afternoon and ensure listeners on the WNST tech service receive the NFL draft coverage and related updates.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST radio show at Pizza John’s on Friday the 1st.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST radio show at Planet Fitness and Timonium on the 7th.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the WNST radio show at Faveleys and Lexington Market on the 13th.
• [ ] Monitor and report on whether Adley Rushman and Tyler O’Neal are activated from the injured list this week.
• [ ] Monitor Kittredge’s rehab outings at Norfolk and his expected return timeline, including his paternity-leave delay.
• [ ] Monitor Aiken and Dietrich’s rehab assignments at Norfolk and their expected return timelines.

Outline

Orioles’ Win Against Kansas City Royals

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Orioles’ 12-inning win against the Kansas City Royals, highlighting the relief pitching and the team’s offensive struggles.
• Luke Jones mentions the Orioles’ ability to win games they shouldn’t have, while the Royals had chances to pull away but didn’t capitalize.
• Luke Jones notes the importance of Leodi Tavares and Jeremiah Jackson, who have been unsung heroes for the team so far this season.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses frustration with the team’s lack of hitting, despite drawing walks, and questions the lineup’s performance.

Offensive Struggles and Individual Performances

• Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discuss the Orioles’ offensive struggles, with players like Pete Alonso and Gunner Henderson underperforming.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of Taylor Ward and Jeremiah Jackson, who have been consistent performers, while Leodi Tavares has stepped up as the everyday center fielder.
• Nestor Aparicio emphasizes the need for players like Alonso and Henderson to improve, despite their current struggles.
• Luke Jones mentions the potential return of key players like Adley Rutschman and Tyler O’Neill, which could boost the team’s performance.

Pitching Performance and Rotation Issues

• Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discuss the Orioles’ pitching performance, noting that the rotation has underperformed, while the bullpen has exceeded expectations.
• Luke Jones mentions Kyle Bradish’s ability to minimize damage despite command issues, and the importance of getting strike one more often.
• Nestor Aparicio questions the top of the rotation’s performance, with concerns about Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer’s recent outings.
• Luke Jones acknowledges the need for better performance from the rotation, especially from players like Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann.

Bullpen Strength and Injury Updates

• Luke Jones praises the bullpen’s performance, noting the contributions of relievers like Rico Garcia, Nunez, and Helsley.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential return of key bullpen pieces like Kittredge, Aiken, and Dietrich, which could strengthen the team’s relief options.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of maintaining the bullpen’s performance as the season progresses, especially with the rotation’s current struggles.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential impact of returning players on the team’s overall performance, with hopes for improved offensive and pitching contributions.

Overall Team Performance and Future Outlook

• Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio reflect on the Orioles’ overall performance, noting the team’s inconsistency and the need for better offensive and pitching contributions.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of getting to opposing starters earlier in games to reduce the workload on the bullpen.
• Nestor Aparicio expresses optimism about the team’s potential, despite the current challenges, and highlights the importance of continued improvement from key players.
• Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discuss the team’s upcoming schedule and the potential impact of returning players on the team’s performance.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Orioles, relief pitching, offense, Kansas City Royals, Kyle Bradish, Leodi Tavares, Jeremiah Jackson, bullpen, rotation, Pete Alonso, Gunner Henderson, Taylor Ward, Adley Rutschman, injuries, pitching performance.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, and the Baltimore Orioles are on the road. And you know, we talk about relief pitching and using pitching and getting the bats going. Luke Jones was, was a witness to all 12 innings of the extra inning mayhem. And Leo Tavares, you know you were saying, give them at bats, put them in there. Totally it’s it’s it out. It’s a Grand Slam. We’re waiting on the stars to come. Sometimes it takes 12 innings.

Luke Jones  00:35

It does. And sometimes you win a game that you feel like you have no business winning. Sometimes you lose a game, if you’re the Kansas City Royals, where you look back at it and say, how did we lose that game? Right? I mean, Kansas City with traffic on the bases all night, kind of a miracle that the Orioles had only allowed one run. I mean, I guess you’d say gutsy from Kyle Bradish, he was able to minimize the damage, but traffic on the bases all night. Command wasn’t good, all of that. And I mean, you kind of break it down to you look at the final score, if you didn’t watch the game, you really have no idea how the game went. I mean, it truly is the case, because the Orioles were were down to their last strike in the top of the ninth inning, and they had one hit at that point in time, and it had come back in the first inning. So Samuel besayo, you know, Tavares hits the Grand Slam. Bisayo with a couple big hits. So over the course of the night, got on base four times. That was great to see. But this is one of those games where, if this team starts playing more consistently and starts playing better, then you’ll look back at it and say, Wow, but for one night, regardless, it’s a wild game, really entertaining game, but nice to come out on the winning end of that because of what you said, because of using your bullpen and being down to your last strike and showing some fight. And we’ve talked at length about this team’s offense or lack thereof, contrary to expectations. So good win, really entertaining, wild, weird baseball game where you just kind of look at it and say, Man, baseball’s funny when you consider how Kansas City, in so many ways, dominate, but had their chances to pull away and make it Elementary, they didn’t do it, the Orioles tie and force extras. And then to your point, leodi Tavares, who, along with Jeremiah Jackson, two of the more unsung heroes on this ball club through the first close to a month now of this 2026 season comes through with the big blast that gave them some breathing room, which, by the way, they needed in the bottom of the 12th as Kansas City have made it a little more uncomfortable as well.

Nestor Aparicio  02:43

Well, I want them to walk more, right? I want to they walked a lot. They don’t hit, but they’re walking. Any observations about the lineup and about one hit nine innings after almost being No. I mean, it really is. It’s a rock bottom effort right now, and not the the final score notwithstanding, and extra innings and putting guys on second base. And you know the things that that helps put the guy at second base helps, sure, but, but they, they did draw some walks, but they’re not hitting the ball, and I’m not sure that

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Luke Jones  03:16

they’re going to hit the ball. Well, I mean, if they’re not going to hit the ball, then they’re not going to win. I mean, they’re just not, they were, we talked about this for six months last year, right? And more specifically, the first couple months before things were just over. After that, they have to hit. Gunner Henderson’s hitting under 200 and got picked off twice on Monday night. I mean, you want to talk about the go to the game in the old fashioned way that we used to use that term, if they don’t win that game. We’re talking about the fact that, how do you get one hit for the entire night, and your best player gets picked off twice, right? So, so there’s that Pete Alonso continues to not hit and has been awful, save for about a week stretch where he was starting to come out of it.

Nestor Aparicio  03:59

And there’s nothing you could do about that. He’s gonna play.

Luke Jones  04:01

Of course, he’s gonna play, and of course, Gunner Henderson’s gonna play. I mean, there’s no what’s the alternative, right? I mean, I’m not, I’m not gonna sit here and panic about it, but they have to play better, right? They’re like, it’s non negotiable. But you kind of look at the lineup. I mean, Taylor Ward has been good. Jeremiah Jackson’s cooled off here over the last four or five days, but we know he’s been excellent. Leodi Tavares, at this point, he’s the everyday center fielder, until he plays his way out of that role, because Colton kauser is not doing anything to put any pressure on him, and no one else can handle it defensively. So for for Tavares, it’s go play, and he’s doing a nice job, but they need more. Again, like I said to me, the most encouraging development from the game, other than just the fact that they came away with a win in a game that, frankly, they deserve to lose, is beside getting on base four times and going the other way, going the other way when he was down to his last strike in the top of the ninth inning. So that was really good to see he caught Well, I thought he had a good game behind the plate throughout. A runner trying to steal, and a game that’s close to game where they navigated and were tight rope walking so much with the traffic on the bases. You know, he got helped get Bradish through it, helped some of the relievers get out of some jams as well.

Nestor Aparicio  05:15

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So you got to build confidence in

Luke Jones  05:16

him, especially, no doubt. I mean, I wrote a Baltimore positive.com look the headliners, Pete Alonso has to be better, right? I mean, Captain Obvious. Sign him to $155 million deal. And really the only thing we’ve been talking about consistently, as far as his positive contributions have been what his defense, it’s not what you paid him. You’re not it’s not what you’re paying him $31 million to do. It’s nice, but that’s not what he’s being paid to do. So there’s him. Gunner has obviously slowed down and cooled off considerably after hitting some home runs. He’s kind of been home run or bust, and the numbers reflect that right now. Taylor Ward’s been very good, but we’ve talked a lot about this. I get it they have injuries. That’s part of this. Not going to ignore that at the same time that doesn’t give everyone else who’s in the lineup a pass. I mean, we’ve talked about cows, or we’ve talked about beside Dylan, beaver’s had a big hit in extra innings, and that was great to see. He hasn’t been maybe as bad as some of the other members of the young corps, but they need more from him. You know, he’s hitting over the Mendoza line. That’s good to see. Which is better than some of his, you know, some of his contemporaries in that lineup, but still need more from him. You know, we’ve talked about mayo, who did not play on Monday night. So I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m going to expect much out of the Weston Wilson’s and the Jonathan Rodriguez is because they’re only on the roster right now because of the injuries, but the guys you’re counting on the play, at least on a semi regular basis, they’ve got to produce. I mean, this offense has been below average, and you’re talking about a group that lots of people, not just you and me, but lots of people around baseball, were anticipating this Orioles team having one of the better lineups in baseball, and they haven’t come we’re not close to that

Nestor Aparicio  07:02

so well, that pipe dream in 92 wins, I have included step ups of all the young players, and to

Luke Jones  07:09

this point, they haven’t gotten that so that has to be part of the that has to be part of the theme, that has to be part of the story here. If they’re going to be a team that’s going to be a contender, we’ve talked about it. The pitching hasn’t been great. I’m not going to sit here and

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Nestor Aparicio  07:23

I’ll get to that in a minute. We got to go, Yeah,

Luke Jones  07:25

but the point, but we’ve also said, okay, the rotation is underperformed. The bullpen is over performed. The net result, I think, they were 13th in the majors in team era going into Monday night. I can live with that. That’s that was somewhere within the range of kind of what we talked about. We no one thought this rotation was going to be top five

Nestor Aparicio  07:44

when you said 13th. It’s not bad enough to get you blown up, right?

Luke Jones  07:48

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But it’s good enough to keep you in the game every night. I mean, Monday was a perfect example of it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and and sing the praises of Kyle Bradish, who gave up 10 hits and three walks in five and a third innings that said he did strike out seven, and he did strand runners on base when he needed to. He wiggled out of trouble, and that’s a credit to him. It was not his best stuff. He wasn’t throwing strike one, he was getting behind, but he still got through five and a third innings giving up one run. Now how much of that is him, and how much of that is a Kansas City team that has now lost eight in a row? Well, combination, sure. But point is, with their pitching most nights, it’s generally given them a chance. You know, this isn’t like last year, where their guys, their starters, are getting bombed and it’s six nothing in the third inning. I mean, that hasn’t that’s happened a couple times. It’s going to happen everyone a little bit now and then. But by and large, they’re pitching, while it not great to me, has been good enough in the sense that the strength for this team is supposed to be its offense, and that’s the part that’s no showed right? Pitching, I’m not surprised by what we’ve seen defense. I’m not surprised, even though I’m disappointed, right? I mean, I was hoping the defense would be better, but I’m not shocked that what we’ve seen out of it. But the part that’s really, really underperformed is obviously the offense. So I hope the extra inning explosion gives them a little more confidence moving forward. You know, we’ll see if Adley rushman is activated here this week. We’ll see if Tyler O’Neal is activated here this week. They’re both eligible at this point in time, and rushman is still with the team normally. That’s a sign of someone that might not be going out on a rehab assignment. But I know Craig Albernaz was non committal as they opened the series, but you’re going to get a couple of these guys back, you know, holidays, you know, we’ll see about him. He’s going to be playing at Norfolk again this week, and so feels like he’s not that far away at this point. But again, until we see him back and see what he looks like, the questions will persist, but they’ve got to pick it up. And that’s why it’s great to see Tavares doing what he’s doing. It’s. Wait to see Jeremiah Jackson do what he’s done. But they need some. They need their big guns, you know, talking Alonzo and Henderson. And they need more, a bigger portion of their young Cora, not going to say every single guy is going to do it, but they can’t have no one doing it, which is largely the way it’s been through the first month of the season. So good win on Monday night. But at the same time, I’m not, I’m also not going to sit here and say, oh, okay, this is the turning point. Because, well, we talked about the Arizona comeback, we talked about the Cleveland comeback, and what did they do after those games? Well, they ended up losing a couple games in a row after that. So good win, but I mean, four nights after being no hit into the ninth inning in Cleveland, they had one hit with two outs in the ninth inning on Monday night. I mean, that’s that’s not the formula for anyone to win, let alone a team that is supposed to be constructed with its offense being its biggest strength.

Nestor Aparicio  10:56

Luke Jones is here. The Orioles are in Kansas City. They return home this weekend. We’ll be at Koco’s on Thursday afternoon, the NFL draft on Thursday night. If you’re on the wnsd tech service, you will get all of that. First, the breaking news brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. Also our friends at GBMC and Farnan and dur are putting this out on the road. We’ll be at Pizza John’s next Friday the first. We’re going to be at Planet Fitness and Timonium on the seventh, and then back down at Fayette Lee’s and lexing the market on the 13th I have had an opportunity to at least tour the new fishmongers. Daughter, Luke, I did not mention it, but it is beautiful, and once they get it open over Catonsville, folks going to be flocking over there for those delicious cocktails and the delicious food that I had the other night. Expanded menu a lot different than faidleys. They didn’t even have the crab cakes around. So we’ll have to get the the crab cakes over to fish mongers. Started right now. You get down to fadeleys and have crab cake. Any added guy I met there’s never been favelys Like I got to bring it down to faves on the 13th of May, especially the folks I had last week had never been to the new market. Steve Miles, some other folks, so come on down see us at faveleys at Lexington market on May 13. That is my next entree down there. All right, pitching. Bradish, Rogers, we all bought in all winter that they were going to be top of the rotation. Guys. I don’t you know. I don’t know that it needs to look like 14 strikeouts and seven and a third and dominance even ever, if not on any given night. But the top of the rotation hasn’t been what maybe I thought it was going to be, and we know the bottom of the rotation is not going to be there. You worried about the pitching in a general sense, that it’s not going to be as good as maybe you thought it was going to be bullpen, not withstanding. Or when you go to the bullpen, hey, at least Rogers and Brad is for making their turns. But you know, a couple 434, or five turns into this, I’m not sensing the dominance that we saw last year, and that really it’s kind of kind of be necessary for one or two of these guys to be really good. And we thought two of the guys would be really good, and you had a chance on boss, and you had a chance on Bassett, and you had a chance on Ethel, because they had been good at various points in their career. I don’t know. I think the maybe we overestimated what we saw last year, and I wouldn’t call it Garbage Time, because they weren’t playing all garbage teams last year, but it was garbage time for the for the franchise at the end of the year last year. But every starts its own thing, and there was a real track record there for us to say, hey, they’ve got a Palmer and a McNally in the front of the roof. They got a Messina and a McDonald they got two guys that are going to go out there every fifth day and give you a far better than league average chance

Luke Jones  13:45

to win? Yeah. I mean, as a whole, does the rotation need to be better? No question about it. And obviously losing Zach Eflin hurt Bassett has been better his last couple times out, but Let’s call a spade a spade. I mean, right now, he’s averaging four strikeouts per nine and 6.2 walks per nine. That is, that is not something that ages Well, if those are going, if that’s going to be your strike

Nestor Aparicio  14:06

out to walk ratio, also not worth a million dollars

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Luke Jones  14:09

a year, right? So he has not been very good boss. Has been disappointing to me, Rogers. I mean, Rogers was, Rogers looked like Rogers his first three starts. His last two, not so much. So, you know, you’re talking about a five start sample. You have one or two clunkers in there. Yeah, your ERA is going to be slightly over four. So I can’t say I’m I’m overly shocked or concerned about Rogers. I would also say, and I said this to you, even before last year ended, when you kind of look at his peripherals, I mean, Trevor Rogers, even last year, it’s not like he was going out there and striking out, you know, striking out more than a batter per inning and looking dominant. It’s not like he was looking like Tarik scobel, for example, or Garrett crochet. So I thought there was going to be some regression, in the sense that I wasn’t expecting Trevor Rogers to have a sub two era again. So I think there’s a little bit of that. Work, but he needs to be better than he was the last couple times out. And he’d be the first to tell you that, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  15:04

was he so good last year that we kind of overestimated our own expertise?

Luke Jones  15:09

I mean, I guess, I mean, I guess it depends what your expectations were. I mean, I, I wasn’t expecting him to have a sub two era, right? I mean, I would have told you his era is going to be probably, yeah, I’m not four, and I he needs my you

Nestor Aparicio  15:20

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didn’t expect him to look like a number one star.

Luke Jones  15:23

I wasn’t expecting him to be in the side in a serious member of the Cy Young conversation. I guess. Let’s put it that way. That said, I think he can still be really good, and he was really good his first three starts. Bradish, the swing and miss and missing bats and strikeouts are maybe down a little bit from where they were last year. But I think with Bradish, it’s more so command. I don’t think the stuff has been bad. I think his command. I mean, once again, you saw on Monday night, even with his ability to wiggle out of trouble getting behind 10101010, I mean, that’s just that’s going to make us start a grind. I mean, even, you know, he got through five and a third innings, even with all that traffic on the bases, and he only gave up one run, but drives up your pitch count. It leads to more stress per batter every single inning, and it just it puts you at the mercy of needing to have some things go your way and and I would also say some of the hits he gave up on Monday night weren’t necessarily crushed. I mean, go, you can go back and look. I mean, there were some bloops that just found grass in the outfield, so even times where I thought he made a really good pitch. So you can have some bad luck mixed in there too. But I’m not going to have nearly as much sympathy for you if your command hasn’t been as sharp as it needs to be. But here’s the other factor. So, you know, Rogers and Bradish, they need more out of those guys. There’s no doubt, as I said, Boz, I’ve been pretty plainly disappointed in I mean, he hasn’t been awful, but haven’t really seen a whole lot of the upside to this point in time. You know, even the strikeout numbers aren’t very impressive. He’s also got the

Nestor Aparicio  16:59

money behind him to get the contract there, sure, sure, pressure all the way around when that

Luke Jones  17:02

and there’s pressure. But as we kind of said, I mean, even if you look at that contract, you know, especially when you’re talking about the couple years that they bought out, what is the number three or number four starter even going to be worth at that point in time? So there’s a lot of TBD in terms of how that’s going to play out, but in the present, they need him to be better. Kramer’s the guy that the long ball has been an issue, no doubt, but he’s missing a lot of bats. And, you know, I thought he actually pitched pretty well over the weekend. I mean, he gave up a three run homer. You don’t want that, but three runs over six innings, your number five starter, I’ll generally take that more often than not, right? Because you have an offense that is allegedly, you know, is supposed to score runs so but here’s the other factor, how much is this defense going to help or hurt this starting rotation, and, for that matter, the bullpen as well, right? I mean, the defense, there have absolutely been some times where the defense has let down. Now I will also say part of that has also been their pitcher defense has been lousy. You know what I kind of look at and say, What were you guys doing with all the PFP drills in Sarasota like that? It hasn’t translated. So those guys need to help themselves as well. But there’s no doubt their their rotation needs to be better. It’s been underwhelming. It hasn’t been a disaster. It hasn’t been horrendous like last year. Largely, especially to start out, the thought it

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Nestor Aparicio  18:28

was going to be a strength of the team, though, when we can’t wait, when I think they’re going to win 90 games, that’s the rotation, is going to be a strength, not a weakness. I mean, I,

Luke Jones  18:37

I guess I don’t, I don’t necessarily disagree. At the same time, I also wasn’t looking at it and saying, Okay, this is going to be a top three rotation in the American League or a top four rotation in the American League. It needs to be better, right?

Nestor Aparicio  18:51

We all had, had, had one, two potential in regard to but,

Luke Jones  18:55

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but it’s April 21 you know, I mean, like I just laid out, I mean, Bradish, but

Nestor Aparicio  19:00

if they’re going to be a good team. All of that has to happen. I guess that was my point. The point where they’ve been a less than 500 team, or a scuffling team or a 500 team, the fact that the pitching hasn’t been nearly as dominant as it may be. It was at the end of last year. That’s all where every two out of every five days, you’re getting number one, number two starter, you know, one two era, kind of over four or five innings. And I don’t, I think that expectations gone away from me as for what I’m expecting the ceiling for Bradish or Rogers to look like, they’re not going to look like Jim Palmer. I and I guess maybe when the weather warms up, I don’t know. I That’s why we watch the games. But there’s not this long track record. There is for Bradish, before his arm fell off that

Luke Jones  19:51

Trevor Rogers made 18 starts last year with sub two, sub two era.

Nestor Aparicio  19:55

I mean, I think we sort of expected that out of him in some way, and that’s

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Luke Jones  19:58

not anyone. I He was never gonna have a one 180 era again. I mean, nothing about his peripheral said that whatsoever that that was now, that’s not to say you can’t have a two and a half era. That’s not to say you can’t have a three era. And I still think that’s within the realm of possibility for him. But I mean, even last year. I mean the average 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, that’s not, that’s not Tarik, scoobal Garrett, crochet at his best, Chris Hale at his best, like that.

Nestor Aparicio  20:24

We didn’t expect it to be dominant, right?

Luke Jones  20:27

Okay, so that’s why I always said all along to me, Bradish was the more the higher ceiling guy we’ll see. I mean, again, I don’t think I want to make a sweeping generalization about anyone after four or five starts, right? I mean, they both need to be better. I but Rogers was, Rogers looked like the very similar to the guy he was last year for the first three starts. Now the last two, not as much. I mean, I’ll acknowledge that, just like anyone else, that doesn’t mean suddenly I think, well, he’s the guy he was the last two starts compared to the first three or so. You know? I mean, as is always the case, you need to let the season breathe. You know, Bradish, I think for me, he’s got to get strike one more often. It’s not even that he’s walking a ton of people, but when you’re just down 101010, I mean, it just makes every at bat more of a grind. I mean, his walks are up. It’s that 4.7 per nine innings that’s that’s definitely higher than his career mark, which I think is right around three per nine. But at the same time, he’s got a 396, era. I mean, it’s not, not like he’s been horrendous or anything like that. So, but I will also say, we talk so much about strikeouts, not just for the Orioles, but pitching in general, and that’s they need strikeouts more than maybe some other teams because of how poor their defense is. So that’s going to be a factor as well for any of these guys. So their rotation needs to be better the first five times through. You know, I guess we’re four and a half times through the rotation. It’s been underwhelming. There’s no doubt it’s been below it’s been below average statistically. And I think more than anything, probably there’s definitely a sense of you need to get deeper in the games, because you are leaning on your bullpen quite a bit, and that’s something where you don’t want to have to be doing that constantly as you get deeper into the year, because then then you start to worry about guys burning out in the bullpen. And I don’t think Albernaz has misused guys in the bullpen that much. I think he’s managed it pretty well. And I think the bullpen, by and large, has pitched very well, but yeah, you’re not necessarily get getting quite as many starts of six innings, six and two thirds, seven innings. You know, you’re not getting very, very much of that at all so far this year, which I would also say guys aren’t necessarily stretched out as starters in April to the degree that they’re going to be in May and June and the rest of the season, but they need to be better. I don’t disagree with that, but at the same time, I’m not ready to, not ready to drastically alter what my expectations were for Bradish or Rogers. I do want to see more out of Boz, you know, and really for him, it’s just, I want to see a little more swing and miss. I mean, it’s got a high 90s fastball and a knuckle curve that is an above average pitch, and that hasn’t really shown up in terms of him missing a ton of bats. I’d like to see him miss more bats in that way. So, but, you know, and they they certainly need better from Bassett, he’s at least been better his last couple times out, but that hasn’t looked very good. And you know, Dean Kramer, it’s been two starts. You know, he’s shown a lot of swing and miss, but he’s given up four home runs and two starts like that’s that obviously isn’t going to play that kind of rate, so it has to be better. But in the meantime, their bullpen has pitched quite well and has exceed and has exceeded expectations. But I’ll continue to go back to the offense is supposed to be the biggest strength of this club, and that’s the area where they’ve really underperformed, and it’s good to win on Monday night. But I’m also not going to forget the fact that they had one hit on the night until Samuel besayo goes to left center to tie the game with, you know, a one two pitch with two outs in the ninth inning. I mean, that’s how close they came to being blanked in that ball game. So good to see them get the win. Good to see them do what they did in extra innings and and man up and have some really good at bats, but at the same time, I mean, you’re just not giving yourself much of a chance and get it Seth. Lord goes started. He go look at his era. He’s off to a great start. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the American League. But you can’t just be in this pattern where you’re tipping your cap to the opposing starting pitcher every night. At some point in time, you got to start getting to some of these guys before the sixth or seventh or eighth or ninth inning. I mean, how about, how about jumping out to an early lead, and that would also help your starting pitching as well. How about that? Yeah, maybe get

Nestor Aparicio  24:54

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another inning out of a starter because, like, you’re hanging in. He can, he can grind strikes. Luke, Joe. Is here. The Orioles are grinding right now and trying to wait on the cavalry of Jackson holiday and Adley rushman get some guys back out on the field. As far as pitching goes, kittridge, you know, wells back. I mean, where are they? As far as injuries in the in the rotation, and what they

Luke Jones  25:19

can expect there, they should be pretty close. Kittredge is they’re going to the way it sounds. Are going to give him at least another outing or two at Norfolk. He actually was on paternity leave. He and his wife had a baby last week, so that kind of delayed, but he’s really close. I mean, as far as I know, as long as his shoulders feeling okay, he should be back pretty soon. He’s logged a few, you know, he’s got a handful of outings now at Norfolk

Nestor Aparicio  25:43

second time around here. I mean, you want to he didn’t contribute as much the first time, right? Like that.

Luke Jones  25:48

I mean, this is a guy, whether I thought he’s miscast as their top leverage guy going into spring training or not. He’s a guy that should factor into the late innings. And when you consider what Rico Garcia has done, when you consider what Nunez has done, man, you can add Kittredge to that. That’s when you’re starting to look at like you have a bullpen that has the potential to have enough dudes out there that, you know, you’ve got multiple guys that can pitch in the eighth inning, or a guy that can fill in for Helsley in the ninth

8

Nestor Aparicio  26:19

inning. Well, you’re going to

Luke Jones  26:20

need him every night. Yeah, I mean winning or losing. I mean, that’s and that’s baseball in general, right? I mean, even the best rotations generally aren’t having guys that are going eight innings every night in this day and age. I mean, that’s just not how the game’s played. But Kittredge should be really close. Aiken has started a rehab assignment. Dietrich ends is pitching again at Norfolk. He shouldn’t, you know, he shouldn’t be that far away, considering, you know, he that was just a weird infection in his foot where he had to go on the IL like, it’s not arm related. So I would assume he’s back. So there’s going to be some changes to this bullpen in terms of, you know, some of the guys we’ve seen that have kind of been at the bottom of the totem pole, you know, the bottom of the pecking order, but you’re hoping that you’re going to bring some of these guys back in, and that should help things. I mean, we’ve talked about it. Rico Garcia has been fantastic. Nunes is, you know, I know he gave up the game tying hit to wit in extra innings on Monday night, but overall, he’s been really, really impressive. And I think to me, Helsley has been, you know, maybe, maybe not quite as you would hope, maybe not quite as much traffic on the bases, but he’s largely done the job. He’s introduced the splitter into his repertoire, which is something he worked on in the offseason. I think that’s paid dividends. And I think overall, he’s been really good. So for all my hand wringing and concerns about the bullpen going into the year, that’s the area where it’s looked really good. Now it’s not to guarantee it’s going to continue to do that, but if we’re kind of looking at, you know, air, the arrow pointing up or down in terms of where the trends have been through the first month of the season, the bullpen, it’s pointing up, especially considering they’ve been without some guys, but that group’s done a nice job. There’s no doubt. So the idea that you can now add kittridge Back in, and you’re going to add Keegan akin and Dietrich ends back into that picture. You know that that says something about where they are as a bullpen right now. But in the same way that we use it’s early to talk about the things you don’t like it’s also early when you’re talking about things that are better than expected. For example, as great as Monday night was for him, I’m not expecting Leo to various to continue to hit over 300 right? There’s going to be some regrets to put him in the lineup every night, right? Yeah, until he same thing with Jeremiah Jackson. I don’t know if Jeremiah Jackson’s going to hit

Nestor Aparicio  28:40

300 right? And we’re going to find out,

Luke Jones  28:43

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but you’re going to keep playing them, because those guys deserve it, and other guys in the lineup, frankly, don’t deserve to be playing every day, and that’s just the truth so, but it’s been good to see that, because we’ve talked about it. I mean, as bad as Colton kauser has been, as bad as Kobe Mayo has been, you have two guys in Tavares and maybe Jeremiah Jackson slides over to third some When Jackson holiday returns, right? I mean, we could see that. I don’t know if he’s going to play third base as well as second base, but we can find out, because Kobe Mayo is not really contributing much of anything at the moment. So you know, you take what you can get, especially when you’re talking about a lineup that is not clicking whatsoever, save for a couple guys here and there. So good to see them come out of it in extra innings, and it was a really entertaining, wild, crazy, drunk baseball game, as the kids might say, but good to see them get a win in a game that very much felt like a loss until Samuel beside her tied it up with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, and then they went in extras.

Nestor Aparicio  29:49

Every night there’s a different star. That’s the magic of Oriole baseball. He is Luke Jones. I am Nestor. We’re getting the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road. We’ll see you on Thursday at Koco’s and the birds with a couple of games before they. Head home as well. I am Nestor. We are W, N, S, T AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore, positive. Do.