O's Magic: Orioles Wrap up Opening Series winning two over Los Angeles!
Breaking down the best and most concerning parts of the O's just three games in!
Welcome back to another edition of ‘O’s Magic’, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Orioles fan! The Baltimore Orioles finished up their first series of the season in Baltimore against the Los Angeles Angels, winning two out of three and beginning the season with an offensive explosion in games one and two. However, they collapsed on both sides early to lose in the final game of the series. With just a three game sample size, let’s look at how the O’s did in their first series before they start their second later tonight against Kansas City.
Offensively, Gunnar Henderson has had a very good start to the season. He got on base twice in game one, three times with a homer and three RBI’s in game two, and then two times in game three which doesn’t even mention his amazing diving grab that got him on SC Top Ten. Henderson got off to a fantastic start, and is showing signs of a possible MVP campaign.
His fellow superstar Adley Rutschman on the other hand…not so much. Adley started off 3-5, but ended 0-6. He is also yet to smash a home run. Now, I’m not worried about Adley in the least. In the two games he played at catcher, he called great games for Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez. It’s also Adley, and he’ll always be able to get on base with consistent hitting and a great eye to draw walks, something he did really well last season. I’m not worried at all.
Overall, you can’t complain with how the offense played. Jorge Mateo showed some flashes, Ryan Mountcastle was consistent, and Anthony Santander, or I should say Tony Taters, is off to an exceptional start, hitting two homers and seven RBI’s. I would have liked to have seen some consistency from Ramon Urias or some more action in the field from Colton Cowser, since Brandon Hyde didn’t really give him a chance to play. However, over eight runs per game is not too shabby to begin 2024.
The pitching core also did really well. Both Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez posted high strikeout totals with high velocity and spin on pitches and a high strike rate. Neither allowed more than one run, and honestly found their groove throughout the game. Both of their runs allowed came on home runs though, something Los Angeles took advantage of a lot throughout the series as a whole. But if this is what we will be getting from the 2021 Cy Young and GR30, we are in for a fun summer on the mound!
Well that is until any other starter steps in until Kyle Bradish and John Means return. Tyler Wells allowed three earned runs, four total, in his first two innings as a starter in 2024. However, he didn’t allow any more after, actually finishing with an average ERA, high strikeout rate and an overall decent performance. We’ll have to see how Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin do in their starts against Kansas City, but I expect a decent half-season from Wells in the starting rotation.
The bullpen also showed some flashes. None of the games were close for good or bad reasons, so we only saw one inning each from Yennier Cano and Danny Coulombe, though they were productive in their time on the mound, and had no sighting of Craig Kimbrel. You have to wonder when the Orioles will put him on the mound though since you have to wonder how many close games the O’s will have in a three game home series vs. Kansas City.
Dillon Tate had a bad start to game one but dialed in, Cionel Perez was awful in garbage time of game two before going down with an injury that has designated him to the 15 day IL, and Jacob Webb, Mike Baumann and Keegan Akin all did fine jobs. Every reliever on the team got to pitch besides Bryan Baker and Craig Kimbrel, so we’ll see how they do in the coming series.
Overall takeaways are that the Orioles two high-level starting pitchers at the moment are legit, the bullpen is hit-or-miss, and the Orioles middle of the lineup may need some re-tooling, as Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays or Ramon Urias were not able to hit consistently. Two out of three to begin the season against the Angels is not a bad start, and as long as Baltimore takes two or three against Kansas City is in more than fine shape. The Orioles, despite some early-season falters, are looking nice to begin 2024.
Chase Coburn
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