BALTIMORE — Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins are back for the Orioles.
Colton Cowser returned from a two-month absence last week.
And the rehabbing Tyler O’Neill is expected to be activated by next week at the latest.
Ramon Laureano batting cleanup certainly isn’t something anyone anticipated and Ryan Mountcastle is out until at least August, but the lineup manager Tony Mansolino filled out Tuesday looked as good on paper top to bottom as any the Orioles have fielded since the opening series in Toronto. That feels like a long time ago.
“Looking back on Opening Day and the guys who we started with and just kind of the impact [injuries] had on the team early and to lose a lot of those guys, yeah, it definitely affected the team,” Mullins said Tuesday afternoon. “Guys coming back healthy, especially this early in the season, we’re hoping for good things out of ourselves.”
Unfortunately, familiar names back in the lineup didn’t translate to much offense in a 5-3 defeat to Detroit to open a three-game set.
Despite three losses in the last four contests quieting the optimism from a six-game winning streak, Baltimore has played better over the last 2 1/2 weeks, going 10-5 over that stretch. However, it’s mostly been the pitching leading the way with the Orioles entering Wednesday ranking 12th in the majors in starter ERA (3.92) and third in bullpen ERA (1.80) since May 24. The offense has had some moments, but the Orioles entered Tuesday averaging 3.81 runs per game over their last 16 contests, which is nearly identical to their 3.83 season mark ranking 25th in the majors.
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There were plenty of questions and concerns about the pitching long before the injuries began piling up and the staff went from bad to worse, but the offense — anchored by the club’s much-hyped young core — was supposed to be what drove the Orioles to contention in 2025. Instead of being great, good, or even decent, however, the hitting has been the biggest disappointment of the season when factoring in expectations.
Yes, the pitching has been terrible overall, but the offense being nearly as bad is the surprise.
One of the corresponding moves for the Tuesday activations of Westburg and Mullins reminded of that reality as outfielder Heston Kjerstad — the second overall pick of the 2020 draft who was all but handed an everyday role when Cowser fractured his thumb in late March — was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Instead of establishing himself as a viable major league contributor with that extended audition, the 26-year-old Kjerstad posted a .192/.240/.327 slash line in 167 plate appearances and played poor defense, struggles that prompted Baltimore to send him to the minors for a reset.
“We saw it more as an opportunity to make some adjustments and make some changes,” Mansolino said. “I think what we didn’t want to do is just say, ‘Hey, go get ‘em.’ That’s obviously not the right message when a guy struggles here.”
Kjerstad is just one of many to underperform this season, but there have been some encouraging signs recently, which begin with Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.
Before an 0-for-3 night against the Tigers that included a sacrifice fly and a couple balls hit on the button, Rutschman had arguably his best full week at the plate — 10-for-24 with two home runs on the West Coast trip — since last July, which speaks to how immense his struggles have been for nearly a full calendar year now. One only hopes the elimination of a toe tap at the plate translates to sustained success for a two-time All-Star catcher whose baffling decline has coincided with the club’s overall fall going back to last summer.
Meanwhile, Henderson is batting .379 with a .937 on-base plus slugging percentage so far in June, and that included a 10-pitch at-bat resulting in an RBI single against Tigers lefty Brant Hurter on Tuesday night. That was notable considering it was only Henderson’s 12th hit against left-handed pitching all season. A .952 OPS against right-handers is on track to be a career high, but a nightmare .413 OPS against southpaws explains why Henderson is having merely an OK season overall rather than looking like the MVP candidate the Orioles need him to be.
8Of course, Baltimore collectively has been a disaster against lefty hurlers with a .203/.278/.279 slash line that continues to make opponents look like a Hall of Famer in the composite. The Orioles ranked eighth in the majors in OPS against lefties last season and 10th in 2023, which is why this extreme degree of failure against left-handers is so difficult to comprehend. Unfortunately, a Thursday date with Tigers ace and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal doesn’t figure to help their psyche or their chances.
You’d like to think the return of a healthy Westburg will help. Homering in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s loss, the 2024 All-Star infielder acknowledged “dealing with some things all year” even before the hamstring injury that sent him to the injured list in late April. We’ll also see in the near future whether O’Neill and backup catcher Gary Sanchez can finally help reverse fortunes against left-handed pitching, which was why general manager Mike Elias signed those right-handed bats in the first place.
The Orioles are back to having a more representative lineup on paper.
Will this group finally start living up to expectations after being such a disappointment through the first 2 1/2 months?
Is there enough time to turn things around?
“I hope there is. I really like the way that the team is playing, just from afar watching the last couple weeks,” Westburg said prior to Tuesday’s loss. “I’m pretty confident in this group. I’m going to try and focus on the positives and try and just stack one day at a time. And we’ll see what happens at the end of the year. It’s a long season. I know I’ve said that, and I’m sure you all are tired of hearing that. But it is, and there’s a lot of things that can change between now and then.”
