Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Let’s cut to the chase: these Orioles stink. There’s no getting around it. There’s no putting lipstick on this pig. They have been bad all season and are only getting worse by the day. Yesterday’s loss, which completed a three-game sweep by the previously struggling Twins, was one of the most embarrassing yet, with a teamwide offensive and bullpen failure ruining a great start by Dean Kremer. Check out my game recap to read, as Stacey called it, my real-time descent into madness.

Some other MLB news caught my attention yesterday, as the Pittsburgh Pirates fired their manager, Derek Shelton, after a miserable start to the season. The Pirates were 12-26 and have lost seven straight games. The Orioles are 13-23 and have lost five straight games. Things that make you go hmmm.

Am I suggesting that Brandon Hyde is about to be fired? Not really. Am I suggesting that he should be? Well…yeah, I guess I am.

The Orioles have a slightly better record than the Pirates but have been the much bigger disappointment, relative to the preseason expectations. The Orioles may well be the most underperforming team in baseball. And it’s been an organization-wide failure, from ownership to the front office to the coaching staff to the players.

But what stands out to me most is how utterly defeated the Orioles seem to be when they’re on the field. I’ve said it before, but the O’s often play as if they’re shell-shocked. They know they’re struggling and they don’t know how to make it stop. Their confidence seems to be dwindling by the day, and every game they lose just ramps up the pressure even more. They want to start playing better but they can’t get themselves over that mental hurdle.

That’s where I think a good manager needs to be able to step in, to find a way to boost morale and keep players from falling into a rut. Personally I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea how to do that, but I’m not sure that Hyde does, either. He seems as frustrated and lost as everyone else. Something is very wrong with the general vibe around the Orioles, and while Hyde may not be the cause of the problem, he sure doesn’t seem to be the solution.

It just feels like the O’s need a change in atmosphere, something that a new manager may (or may not) be able to provide. And I say this as someone who has generally been fine with Hyde’s managerial tenure. The guy had to endure years and years of terrible baseball during the Orioles’ rebuild, when the team purposely put inferior talent on the field, yet he never felt sorry for himself or raised a stink about the lousy position he’d been put into. When the O’s finally emerged from the darkness and became a 101-win division champion in 2023, I was thrilled for Hyde. His years of hard work and patience had paid off and he got to lead the Orioles’ resurgence.

But now it feels like the O’s are lost in the wilderness again, even with a roster full of homegrown talent. And that just sucks. Almost nobody is playing up to their capabilities, and the team overall is bad at nearly every aspect of baseball, including fundamentals, which is a weakness that falls partially on the manager and coaching staff. Whatever Hyde is doing, it isn’t working. However much or little blame falls on his shoulders, the reality is that when a team’s performance goes this horribly wrong, the manager is usually the first to take the fall.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, speaking of the fired Shelton yesterday, said, “I believe he was the right person for the job when he was hired. I also believe that a change is now necessary.” Those same words could be said about the Orioles and Hyde. To be clear, the O’s are in dire need of a massive revamp that goes far beyond replacing the manager, and we can only hope all those changes are on the way soon. But for now, they may need to start with a new voice in the locker room.

Links

Orioles players say the right things, but the losing weighs on the clubhouse – The Baltimore Banner
Maybe just for fun, the Orioles should start saying the wrong things. All their post-game quotes would be like, “Two plus two equals five!” or “The moon is made of cheese!” or “The Phantom Menace is the best Star Wars movie!” Just shake things up, you know?

Why did Orioles let Coulombe go? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Among the many reasons the Orioles are in the position they’re in: inexplicable offseason decisions. Seriously, you couldn’t spent $4 million to keep one of your best relievers of the last two years? What are we even doing here?

Orioles surrender three runs in eighth to complete sweep in Minnesota (updated) – School of Roch
You could stop that headline after two words and it would be a good summation of the 2025 season.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You share your day with three former Orioles infielders: Jace Peterson (35), Tom Chism (71), and Ron Jackson (72).

On this date in 1961, O’s first baseman Jim Gentile hit grand slams in two consecutive innings, just the third player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. Gentile, batting cleanup, gave the O’s a 4-0 lead in the first with his first slam off Twins starter Pedro Ramos. In the second, he batted again with the bases loaded against reliever Paul Giel and swatted another granny to deep right. Gentile finished the Orioles’ 13-5 win with nine RBIs, an Orioles single-game record.

The O’s accomplished some more grand slam history the very next year on the same date, as Brooks Robinson hit a salami for his second straight game. His blast came in the bottom of the second to lead a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Athletics. Brooks was the sixth MLB player ever to have back-to-back games with a grand slam.

And on this day in 1987, Eddie Murray homered from both sides of the plate for the second straight game, the first player in MLB history to do so. Murray’s first blast was a two-run homer in the top of the fourth as a right-handed batter off White Sox reliever Joel McKeon, and in the sixth he powered a solo shot hitting lefty against Bob James. The O’s cruised to a 15-6 win in Chicago.