After beating the Mariners yesterday, the Orioles finished with a 5-1 record against that team for the season. For me, it’s another reminder of what might have been this season. If only this team hadn’t been so bad in April and May, maybe they’d have gotten somewhere. This might be their most impressive season series for the year, with their current 6-4 mark against the Blue Jays also looking pretty good.
Unfortunately for the Orioles, in 2025, there are more bad things that far outweigh the good, like their going completely winless against the Twins, who ended up doing a July tear-down perhaps even more thorough than the Orioles did. A 1-5 record against the even-worse Nationals is also rough. Lamenting all of the bad things here can’t change them, but it’s hard to get past the disappointment when we’re still right in the middle of this disappointing season.
The objective over the team’s final 41 games from here on remains the same. We need to see some signs that the position players who are pretty much guaranteed roster spots next year will be able to pull themselves together into being a good offense. Even while winning yesterday’s game, there wasn’t much of a sign of life here! The Orioles only got four hits all game. And it’s not like there was one of the better Seattle starters yesterday. Logan Evans is one of their less-impressive guys this season. Still: Just four hits.
Much of the lineup on a nightly basis right now is players who no one would have imagined would be Orioles at this point in the season. Take yesterday’s 6-9: Daniel Johnson, Jeremiah Jackson, Dylan Carlson, Alex Jackson. Only Carlson seemed like he might get regular playing time at the time he signed. Johnson and Alex Jackson weren’t even in the organization at all when the season began. If it was just this group of guys who were struggling, that wouldn’t matter very much. It’s the mainstays who are, in different ways, an issue.
Not really anything that can be done about it but keep marching on and hope things turn around by season’s end. Well, that’s not quite true. We can hope for Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo, each of whom I’m assuming will appear as soon as Mike Elias can pretend he’s not just nakedly gaming the system by calling them up on the exact day they won’t lose rookie eligibility for next season. I made an August 21 prediction for Beavers on my podcast last week and I’m sticking to that. Basallo, perhaps, will be a true September callup.
It will be exciting when those guys arrive, and hopefully they’ll perform well enough to sustain the excitement. For the time being, it’s about what happens with the rest of the team. This weekend, that will involve some games in Houston against the Astros, including a date tonight with Framber Valdez. Get ready for a slightly late start, since this is happening in Central time. It’s an 8:10 Eastern game start. At least there won’t be any worry about rain with a stadium that has a roof. Brandon Young is set to start for the Orioles. He’s the only starting pitcher who didn’t have a good outing last time through the rotation.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Baffling ticket changes show Orioles don’t understand their own fans (The Baltimore Banner)
The Banner’s Kyle Goon has rounded up some stories from across Birdland of people who, like me, are struggling with what to do about the choices we’ve been offered for season ticket renewals for the 2026 season.
Could Buck Showalter return as Orioles manager in 2026? (Baltimore Baseball)
To anyone who needs to hear this: It’s time to move on from thinking Buck is the solution to any problem that the Orioles need to address.
Orioles announce Ripken celebration plans (School of Roch)
As another reminder that we are all steadily marching towards obsolescence and death, this year is the 30th anniversary of 2131. Yesterday, the Orioles announced a bunch of stuff that they’re going to do to celebrate the milestone.
Ryan Mountcastle looking to find form for Orioles in final stretch of season (Press Box Online)
Do you think Mountcastle could possibly do enough to salvage this from being a lost season? I don’t know, but I won’t mind if he tries to get there.
Mets calling up former Orioles draft pick Nolan McLean for big league debut (The Baltimore Sun)
The Orioles really should have just ignored whatever they didn’t like about the medical and signed this guy.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1975, Earl Weaver had one of the most Earl-like occurrences of his career as a manager in being ejected from both games of a doubleheader by the same umpire. Earl resumed the argument from Game 1 while exchanging lineup cards for Game 2, and so was ejected from that game before it even started. The Orioles lost the first game to Texas, 10-6, and drubbed the Rangers in the second game, 13-1.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2023-24 reliever Jacob Webb, 2002 outfielder Chris Singleton, 1995-96 infielder Jeff Huson, and 1986 infielder Tom Dodd. Today is Dodd’s 67th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: French general/dictator Napoleon Bonaparte (1769), chef Julia Child (1912), actor Ben Affleck (1972), Jonas brother Joe Jonas (1989), actress Jennifer Lawrence (1990), and rapper Chief Keef (1995).
On this day in history…
In 1248, the foundation stone was laid in Cologne for a cathedral intended to hold supposed relics of the Three Wise Men. This cathedral was not completed until 1880, with about three centuries where no work was done. On completion, Cologne Cathedral was the world’s tallest building, until it was unseated by the Washington Monument in our nation’s capital.
In 1461, the conquering Ottoman Empire took the surrender of the Empire of Trebizond, a successor state to the Byzantine Empire, which with this surrender had its lineage fully extinguished.
In 1824, America’s favorite Frenchman, Lafayette, returned to the country for a processional tour that took him through 24 states over the next year-plus.
In 1939, the movie The Wizard of Oz premiered in Los Angeles.
In 1945, the emperor of Japan, Hirohito, delivered a radio broadcast to the Japanese people in which he announced Japan’s surrender to effectively end fighting in World War II.
In 1965, The Beatles played for close to 60,000 fans at New York City’s Shea Stadium.
And that’s the way it is Birdland on August 15. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!