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It is almost time to turn the calendar to July. Over the next month, the Orioles farm could be drained if the team plays well enough for Mike Elias to try to make real upgrades at the trade deadline. Or it could be stocked again if things go the other way. A lot depends on how the major league team plays.

The minor league teams play on regardless. The lone Orioles affiliate that’s doing well is Frederick, who won its first half division title and is guaranteed a postseason berth. Probably by then many of the players who participated in that will have moved up to Double-A. A-ball leagues moved into the second half over the weekend. Triple-A and Double-A start the second half of their season today.

These weekly updates focus on the team’s top prospects, particularly those on Camden Chat’s composite top 20 Orioles prospect list from before the season. They also include other guys who interest me who might develop into prospects over time. I do not tend to spend much time on non-prospect journeymen.

Here’s how things went this week:

Triple-A Norfolk Tides

• Last week’s results: 2-4 at Syracuse (Mets)
• This week’s opponent: vs. Durham (Rays)
• Season record: 28-47, t-ninth/last place (19 GB) in International League East

Jud Fabian will not let us forget about him entirely. The outfielder hit three homers in five games played this week. That didn’t even lead the Tides: 28-year-old journeyman infielder José Barrero hit five, giving him 17 for the season, which leads Norfolk. That was prodigious power, at least among these two guys for this week.

Unfortunately, two guys more worth watching as prospects, Enrique Bradfield and Creed Willems, did not join in on the party. Bradfield batted 6-23, which isn’t bad, but with only one double, the .304 slugging percentage for the week (and .311 for the season) is sad. Creed Willems at 3-17 hitting with no extra-base hits had an even sadder week. Willems, at least, is still OPSing .829 for the year.

Injured major leaguer Dean Kremer started a rehab assignment here over this past week. His first outing saw him toss 3.2 innings with a run allowed on two hits and two walks. Since Kremer has been out for a while, I expect this rehab should go for a few more starts. After Kremer’s rehab start, pitching prospect Nestor German came in for some bulk relief. German also made a start this week, allowing four runs over 10.1 innings. Two dingers elevated his earned run total this week, though this isn’t a recurring problem for him.

Others of interest

• RHP Anthony Nunez – Two outings after being optioned to Norfolk, three runs allowed in 2.2 IP
• LHP Andrew Magno – Just keeps on putting up zeroes, 2.1 scoreless innings in one game this week, now a 0.59 ERA in 26 games. I like the idea of him more than I like Keegan Akin.
• OF Heston Kjerstad – 5-23 with a double and a homer led to a .699 OPS for the week, now .676 for the season. That’s not going to be what gets him back to MLB.

Norfolk season-to-date stats.

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week’s results: 4-2 vs. Richmond (Giants)
• This week’s opponent: vs. Harrisburg (Nationals)
• Season record: 29-39, last place (14 GB) in Eastern League Southwest

We must, of course, first check in on Joseph Dzierwa, and I am pleased to be able to share further good results from him: In his start this week, he struck out eight batters in six innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. That’s a 0.50 WHIP for the start, giving him a 0.949 WHIP in six games since getting promoted here. The hype train is still building steam. That’s a great K/BB.

Not quite as much steam on the hype train for fellow Chesapeake pitching prospect Luis De León, who gave up three runs in 4.1 innings, with five hits and three walks allowed. These are fairly characteristic outings of how both pitchers have been doing so far this season.

The Baysox offense was on a heater this week, fueling what’s been an uncommon winning week for them. Prospects who are worth following on this team were a part of that, with Ethan Anderson as just one of four Baysox who had two homers over these six games. Another, Douglas Hodo, has homered four times in eight games since returning from a nearly two-month stay on the injured list on June 9. My guy Aron Estrada had one homer in 12 AB over four games played.

Others of interest

• OF Dylan Beavers – Hitless in nine at-bats as he started a rehab assignment, though he did draw four walks
• LHP Cade Povich – Also started a rehab: 3.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts
• LHP Sebastian Gongora – 24-year-old pitched twice this week, allowing just two runs in 10.1 innings. Sitting at a 3.42 ERA, 1.259 WHIP for the season to date.
• LHP Micah Ashman – 3.2 scoreless innings across two relief outings with just one hit allowed, 1.73 ERA in 16 games

Chesapeake season-to-date stats.

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week’s results: 5-2 vs. Hub City (Astros)
• This week’s opponent: at Wilmington (Nationals)
• Second half record: 2-1, t-second place (1 GB) in South Atlantic League North
• Frederick won its first half division with a 41-23 record

Frederick continues to be the Orioles farm team most worth checking out and that’s even with Dzierwa not staying for long. I wonder how many of these other guys will be promoted soon. Their offense was led in these games by Victor Figueroa hitting three homers; the big man from last year’s Padres deal leads the whole organization with 20 dingers in 60 games. My sources say that’s good.

Also doing well this week were other hitters, including Ike Irish (6-20 with three XBH and four walks), Braylin Tavera (6-14 with four doubles and a homer), and RJ Austin (7-22, all singles, four walks, four stolen bases). This is a strong lineup with some recent draftees and still-young players. The team earned its first half title and guys like these were part of why.

The pitching staff isn’t too shabby either! Frederick’s 4.07 team ERA leads the South Atlantic League. They are close to the league lead in strikeouts and have a league-best home run allowed rate. Notable over this past week was six shutout innings pitched by Yeiber Cartaya (1.99 ERA in 12 games), a Boston Bateman start with seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings, and JT Quinn striking out six in a game where he allowed two runs over five innings.

Others of interest

• SS Wehiwa Aloy – Did not join in the hitting party this week, just 5-22, all singles
• RHP Kiefer Lord – Nine strikeouts and no walks over a 6.2 inning start; Lord’s struggled for the season so hopefully there’s something to build on from this outing

Frederick season-to-date stats.

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week’s results: 2-4 vs. Myrtle Beach (Cubs)
• This week’s opponent: at Fayetteville (Astros)
• Second half record: 2-1, t-first place in Carolina League North (first half: 23-43, last place)

The records getting wiped between the first and second half of a minor league season is great news for Delmarva. They are off to a nice start in the first handful of games that count as the second half.

Recent attention here has been paid to a couple of infielders, DJ Layton and Jaiden Lo Re. These guys are walking a lot. That continued over these games, with Layton drawing six walks to help his weekly OPS even though he batted just 3-15. Lo Re went 6-20 with three walks. Another young infielder, Elvin Garcia, hit his first homer of the season as part of a 5-17 week. Garcia is up to a .770 OPS for the season after this performance.

Outfielder Jordan Sanchez led the way with seven hits in only four games. Sanchez is batting .500 and slugging .750 in the month of June. The 20-year-old Cuban outfielder is not among the more heralded guys in the system, but if he can sustain a hot stretch of baseball, he might be able to make more of a prospect name for himself.

Delmarva’s pitchers… look, the team has a 5.60 ERA. There are some tough stat lines every week and for the season overall. One of the preseason hype prospects was 19-year-old righty Esteban Mejia. He walked six batters in a 1.1 inning start. This is not an outlier start for his season: He has a 12.3 BB/9. Geez.

Delmarva season-to-date stats.

**

In last week’s minor league player of the week poll, Delmarva’s Jaiden Lo Re was the choice of 50% of voters to make our seventh different winner in seven weeks of the poll. Other winners have been: Victor Figueroa, Payton Eeles, Braylin Tavera, Caden Hunter, Ike Irish, and Wehiwa Aloy.

We could have a repeat winner this week as at least one prior winner has played well enough to end up on this poll. Will this be the first two-time champion of the season? The choice is yours.

Brian Murphy at MLB mothership has an update on Bobby Witt Jr’s recovery.

Bobby Witt Jr.’s sprained right knee kept him out of the Royals’ lineup for the third straight game Monday. But prior to the team’s series opener against the Rays, the star shortstop went through what manager Matt Quatraro called a “very encouraging” workout.

Witt — who has been sidelined since suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain during Thursday’s game against the Cardinals — hit in the batting cage, ran the bases and fielded ground balls on Monday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

He did his on-field activity while wearing a brace over his injured knee, which Quatraro said Witt is still getting used to.

“We’re hopeful that in the next couple days, he’s available,” the manager said.

Jaylon Thompson at the KC Star also covered Witt’s workout.

“Felt good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, he’s been getting accustomed to wearing a brace. So we are trying to get used to that a little bit, but was very encouraging what we saw today.”

Entering Monday, Witt had missed the last two games and was not expected to play in Monday’s road game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

However, the Royals didn’t rule out a potential return this week. The club is hopeful Witt will play during the upcoming seven-game road trip.

Brian also covers Carter Jensen’s hot streak.

When his streak began on June 6, Jensen had elevated strikeout and whiff rates (30.2% and 32.6%, respectively). Since then, those numbers have plummeted to 15.5% and 18.4%. Meanwhile, Jensen’s hard-hit rate, which was 40.2% prior to the streak, is 53.3% over these past couple of weeks. And that rate went up when he smashed a cutter from Rasmussen back up the middle at 109.2 mph to drive in Nick Loftin.

“I think it all starts with just swinging at my pitches,” Jensen said of his recent success at the plate. “Not getting antsy at the plate to swing at everything or try to get the hit in the first two pitches of the at-bat. I think the strong thing that I do pretty well is take good at-bats. I think earlier in the season I was just trying to do too much with pitches that I couldn’t handle, such as pitches out of the zone.”

Pete Grathoff takes a look at the decision to bunt in the ninth inning of the 12-10 loss to the Cardinals.

But O’Brien got his first out when Kameron Misner’s sacrifice bunt put Massey and Thomas in scoring position. According to Baseball Reference, the Cardinals’ win probability had dropped from 98% to 67% when Misner stepped to the plate. The bunt pushed St. Louis’ win probability 4% higher. O’Brien then struck out pinch hitter John Rave, who was batting for Nick Loftin, and induced a groundout from left fielder Isaac Collins to end the game.

Sam McDowell examines two homers from Jac Caglianone’s recent outburst.

Royals second-year outfielder Jac Caglianone ripped a line drive 110.5 miles per hour and 404 feet into the back of the Cardinals’ bullpen Friday — which is directly to the opposite field.

It’s the kind of thing you rarely see: A left-hander hitting the ball the opposite way that hard and that far.

Except that Caglianone did the exact same thing the night before. On Thursday, he also blasted a home run 110.0 miles per hour, also the opposite way.

Witt remains the top AL SS vote-getter for the All-Star game.

SHORTSTOP

1. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals: 1,701,407
2. Andrés Giménez, Blue Jays: 894,926
3. Kevin McGonigle, Tigers: 460,075
4. Jeremy Peña, Astros: 357,049
5. Colson Montgomery, White Sox: 352,828

Witt is having another fantastic season as he is tops in the AL with 28 stolen bases and 4.4 FanGraphs WAR. However, a recent right knee sprain has his status a little up in the air right now. Barring a late surge from the rookie McGonigle or others, it looks like Witt will take on Giménez in Phase 2. Giménez was the AL’s starting second baseman in the 2022 Midsummer Classic, representing the Guardians. Witt is looking for his first All-Star start.

David Lesky takes a second to note that the recent offensive outburst is taking place without the main players we thought it might before the season.

It’s especially interesting because they’re doing so much of this damage without a good chunk of the crew we expected them to do any damage with. Vinnie Pasquantino is out for a bit. Maikel Garcia has been in and out of the lineup and hasn’t done much, at least power-wise, since April. Bobby Witt Jr. missed each of the last two games, and we have no idea how many more. Salvador Perez has played and had some big moments, but the numbers overall remain putrid. No, they’re doing a lot of this with some players we maybe didn’t expect, or, if we did, not this much. From that perspective, it’s been nice. Of course, it would be nicer if they were doing this with last year’s pitching staff because they’d sure have a lot more wins.

John Schreiber was apparently spitting fire last night. I totally missed that in the recap.

Jacob Milham writes about a few minor league players who may be the next guys up.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray may be open to a trade.

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel returned from the IL.

The Brewers placed Luis Rengifo on waivers.

Possible trade scenarios for Tarik Skubal.

Lionel Messi now is the sole holder of the World Cup goals scored record.

Kylian Mbappé scored two goals yesterday as he tries to catch up to Messi’s new record.

Norwegian Erling Haaland also scored two goals in yesterday’s win over Senegal. Not to brag, but my son picked his number 9 for soccer.

Kansas City doesn’t seem to be experiencing any sort of small business boon.

The Milwaukee Bucks have finally traded star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Trae Young is signing a 4/$212M deal to stay with the Washington Wizards.

The Timberwolves are trading Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets.

Michigan basketball coach Dusty May is reportedly set to become the new Dallas Mavericks head coach.

How the Chiefs can adjust their run scheme to accommodate star RB Kenneth Walker.

Oklahoma won the Men’s College World Series with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina yesterday.

Linda Cohn is leaving Sportscenter.

A running list of tech company layoffs in which the company cited AI. The list is not comprehensive.

The Steam Machine goes on sale soon with a $1049 price tag.

Your song of the day is Thank You Scientist with Everyday Ghosts. Buckle up it’s a long one.

On Monday, Colorado Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes met with media to answer questions. Below are a few takeaways from that conversation, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

On trading for Jack McCarthy after noticing his athleticism in the World Series:

The (Arizona Diamondbacks) had a lot of outfielders — left-hand hitting outfielders, so that’s part of it. . . Their athleticism was on display every night, and he was a big part of that, so we wanted to add some more athleticism, versatility to our team. He makes contact. He can play all three positions. So those were some of the things we were looking for — and he certainly had — and he’s played very well for us.

On trading for TJ Rumfield:

I think it’s so hard to evaluate hitting in the big leagues. As much as he’d accomplished in Triple-A, I think watching him, we always said, “He’s a creative hitter. You’re going to face righties, lefties, north, south, east, west, and he just seems like he’s got a very good contact skill.” But he’s very creative, and sort of thinking through at-bats when the count’s in his favor, when it’s not, and the consistency of his production. It’s nice to evaluate a player from afar and what he’s done in Triple-A — until you have to go do this every day. I think part of what makes him really good, we probably didn’t know until after we got him. I think he’s just a creative hitter and really can compete against a variety of major league arms.

On Rumfield’s defense:

He’s been really good. I think, first of all, the wingspan, even infielders’ throws, he saves some errors with that, and he’s done a nice job on balls hit to him so he’s been good there, too.

On having Mickey Moniak back:

He’s been great. Obviously, we missed his production. But from a clubhouse standpoint — all of us coming in here (knew) what his career has been, from first pick to the stops before he got here — I think we sensed he was primed to really be productive, but also be a leader for our group and help us think through how we can win games and all that goes into it, the game planning. I think the production is important, but I think behind the scenes is really important, too.

On what he’s learned about this team at the halfway point:

I feel like I said it behind the scenes. I’m really encouraged by the progress. I think we still have a long way to go. I think we have to always maintain our standards as we climb out of this thing. For two months, series by series, we’ve been very competitive — probably could have won more games, and in May, we just weren’t very good. So I’m really encouraged that we’re making progress. I’m really encouraged by the effort level and how much guys want to be better individually and as a team. And we’ve just got to maintain what we’re really after, which is winning and playing in October. We don’t want to be delusional. We’ve just got a ways to go, but I’m encouraged by the progress.

On areas where he’d like to see improvement:

I think the game is scoring runs and preventing runs. So in April, we’re probably better at preventing than scoring, and in June, we’ve been better at scoring than preventing. There’s a lot that goes into it. We’ve been tested with injuries. I think pitching is always going to be a challenge here when it’s tested over six months. And it’s our daily ritual of who’s available, who’s not. And it’s been done here before — build a pitching staff that’s playoff caliber and hopefully sustainable for several years. Not just the players, but the methods behind it. I think (that) is probably pretty high on the list for like what we’re trying to do.

On acquiring more pitching depth when it feels like there’s a lack of big-league-ready pitchers:

I think we need more upper-level pitching. We’ve found some in various ways. Andrew Baker is about to go to Triple-A, and we acquired him for international money. Blas Castaño was a waiver claim, etc. Eiberson Castellano was a minor-league free agent, so we’ve got to be always looking for that. And then, the bigger swings, if they materialize in a trade scenario or in the draft. But I would say in order to not be short there, which we probably are now, we just have to constantly be on the hunt for pitching, and hopefully up and down the organization

On MLB draft preparation and emphasizing pitching:

It’s not the roster-fill time of year. I think you’re just trying to add talent, and it takes shape as you get organized towards the big leagues. So I would say probably have a balance and just find the best players we can approaching the draft.

On the overcrowded outfield and the coming trade deadline:

We’re talking to teams constantly. I obviously won’t reveal too much about who or what we’re talking about, but I think teams usually make trades because they have depth there and can trade out of it, and then teams usually make trades because they’re “buyers” or “sellers.” I think some of that is pretty clear where our position is right now, so we’ve just got to touch the market, talk to people, and see if something makes sense to us.

On the value of plate discipline:

I think it’s a big ingredient with all things hitting. Really, for the last few years — majors and minors — it had been, like, 30th. And then you add in contact skills, so how hard you hit it. And then, you make good decisions, you make contact. So we’ve had to address that as best we could every day, every direction, and the players we got.

Even in June, we’ve been sort of average with respect to our chase rate and our contact skill across 30 teams, but we’re, like, third in runs scored. So if we get those in a better place, we can do more with them. They all fit together, and it is important to message it. It’s important to message it correctly but also to have guys come up from the minors — and we’re always tracking that. I think there’s been nine or so players who’ve made their debuts. Can you succeed at first when you’re first going through it? We’re trying to get these guys where when they come up here, they can compete and grow from there.

So, with Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP) and Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP), they’ve done a nice job at that.

On what he finds encouraging:

First, the effort and enthusiasm, competitiveness is essential. The curiosity, how we’re going to make them better, and take it out on the field, and see some of the things we just talked about take shape. There’s improvement, and that leads to runs, or wins, or preventing runs. So, I think we’ve seen signs of that. I would still like to say it’s progress, not quite at the standard we’re going to need, but I think progress is a good thing. So that’s where we are now, and all of us are excited about the progress. We’ve just got to keep adding to it.

On what it would mean for fans to have a competitive Rockies team:

I just got off the phone with another GM about an hour ago, and he remarked on that — the sort of level his team had played here. The fans are here, they’re loud, they’re into it. I mean, we know from TV, social media, all that. I think it’s amazing, to be honest. The fanbase here is tremendous. I think they’re very optimistic and waiting, and the most important thing we can do is deliver a team they can root for, a team that wins, a team that plays in October. So, I think it’s added motivation. Our fans are here if we do our part, so it doesn’t go unnoticed.

On how Warren Schaeffer is doing:

I think he’s been outstanding. First and foremost, leadership, communication, the human being, but also the puzzle every day to try to win a game, injuries, bullpen availability, how he’s used our roster and communicated that to players, which is hard. I think he’s just done a terrific job of it. So I’m very, very impressed with what Schaeff’s done.

On what he’s learned about baseball in Colorado:

A lot of hits fall in. I guess I knew that, but when you’re seeing it, and your bullpen is a little short that night, “Are we gonna throw a few more pitches to get out of this?” I actually think that’s the most — aside from how pitches move or a fly ball carries — I think it’s just the amount of space, the availability of hits changes the game enough, and what that really means to you in terms of everything we’re talking about, like pitchers you choose or planning for your bullpen or fast outfielders who can catch a few of them, or in McCarthy’s case, any ball that touches the outfield grass is probably going to second. I just think the space affects the game almost constantly, so I would say that’s probably the main thing,

On valuing positional versatility:

Almost everybody — Ryan Ritter, Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), you gone on down the list, Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP), all these guys — I think being able to play multiple positions at a good level, it’s good for you, it’s good for us. Let’s do it. And it requires some work, but for the most part, with some of those examples, it’s going very well.

On how he approaches promoting prospects:

It’s one of the things with players, I’m always, “Where’s he been?” “Where’s he now?” “Where’s he going?” And you sort of see him on a timeline. So where is he now? And if you’re in Triple-A and you think you should be in the big leagues, I often say to players, “You’re not a human being if you’re not a little, ‘Why am I not getting a shot?’” That’s a human reaction. We can explain a lot of it. There’s a lot that’s individual player’s readiness. What’s going on with the roster. There’s a lot of reasons, and I almost always say, “Maybe we’re right. Maybe we’re not. Your instinct is you’re ready. We’re saying not quite yet.” But I think the other thing, even talking to the teenagers in our system, we’re going to teach you and develop you based on major-league standards, not like passing this test or shooting for this field. From a player’s journey, only one promotion matters: This one. (He gestured at Coors Field.) Communicating that to them and what our thought process is is important.

Takeaways

For me, I thought Byrnes’ most interesting comments were about pitching and the “space” at Coors Field — and how the latter affects decisions they make with the former.

There’s a lot here, and I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts.

Former Virginia Tech standout joins select MLB company with the Colorado Rockies | The Fighting Gobbler

Look, if you can link to a site called “The Fighting Gobbler,” you absolutely have to do it. In this case, the Gobblers in question are the Virginia Tech Hokies, Alma mater of Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield. Scott Roche reviews Rumfield’s trip to Colorado and notes some of his accomplishments in purple pinstripes.

Never use an ABS Challenge in this one weird count | FanGraphs

We’ve been talking on the Purple Row board about the best strategy for using an ABS Challenge. Kiri Oler did some math — and Willi Castro and TJ Rumfield are mentioned.

Rockies’ crowded outfield will lead to tough roster decisions | Denver Gazette ($)

Kevin Henry asks the question we all have on our minds: What will Paul DePodesta do with all those outfielders? Here’s where he lands for now: “Here’s a potential scenario: Moniak and Doyle return to the Colorado roster with Thompson and catcher Braxton Fulford sent back to Triple-A. Beck finishes his rehab assignment with Albuquerque and stays with the Isotopes until he is no longer limited to being a platoon bat.”

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

If you didn’t know any better, if you hadn’t been watching the rest of the 2026 Orioles season, you could be tempted after a game like this one to conclude that things are definitely going to be okay with the Orioles. Maybe we are in the middle of where they’re finally doing it. Maybe. They certainly need games like this one to happen more often than they have been. Kyle Bradish had a masterful outing against his former organization, pitching eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts to help push the Orioles to a relatively easy 6-1 win over the Angels.

The Orioles led this game from their very first batter. Taylor Ward, who hit 36 home runs for the Angels a year ago, greeted his former team with a 419 foot home run over the center field fence. Ward, traded for Grayson Rodriguez over the offseason, has not been homering at such a mighty rate for the Orioles. This was just his fifth long ball of the season.

One run was nearly enough for Bradish to do the thing on its own. That’s not to say that it always looked that way. The Angels threatened to get the run right back in the bottom half of the first after a couple of one-out singles. We’ve seen many a game this year where the defense or the pitcher or both just collapse and give up the lead they just got.

On Monday night, Bradish did not do the collapse. He rocked. That first inning was the closest they ever got to scoring against him. He rolled through the next seven innings, never allowing more than one runner to reach in any other inning. The only time he let the leadoff batter reach base, he induced a ground ball double play immediately afterwards. And, crucially, he was fairly efficient with his pitches, the real thing that let him get through eight. In all, Bradish tossed 101 pitches. It wasn’t a complete game, but it was the kind of start the O’s have been sorely lacking from him and others this year.

While Bradish was dominating, the Orioles offense did not do that thing where they score early and then fall asleep. Well, mostly. Angels starting pitcher Sam Aldegheri did retire nine straight Orioles after giving up the leadoff homer to Ward. That streak came to an end as Gunnar Henderson drew a walk leading off the fourth inning. Pete Alonso muscled a soft liner that floated over the shortstop’s head into left field.

We’ve seen the Orioles blow plenty of “two on, none out” rallies this season. Coby Mayo ended any question about that happening by connecting on a bottom-of-the-zone changeup and driving it out into the seats in left field. It didn’t clear the fence by too much, but enough is enough. This would have been a home run in 28 stadiums, but not Camden Yards. On the road, count it as an Earl Weaver special, with the Orioles now holding a 4-0 lead.

The offense continued to add on for Bradish with a run apiece in the fifth and seventh innings, not that he needed it. In all, it was a strong, 11-hit effort. Henderson collected three of those hits, dragging his on-base percentage back over .300 for the first time since, if you can believe this, April 15. That’s another guy that the Orioles need to be able to have “back” if they’re going to sustain good things this season. Each of the top four hitters in the lineup scored at least one run and drove in at least one run.

Unfortunately, the win did not come without a cost, as there was an in-game injury that caused more than a little bit of chaos. Starting third baseman Blaze Alexander fouled a ball off of his knee on the way to striking out in the second inning. An inning later, Alexander was unable to take the field and the Orioles had to put in a sub for him.

Problem: With Jackson Holliday apparently not available due to groin tightness, with recent Orioles roster decisions leaving them bereft of any further bench infielders, and with Mayo already in as the designated hitter, that meant it was emergency substitute time. I’m talking Leody Taveras playing third base level of emergency, the first time Taveras has ever played anywhere on the infield in a professional career that spans back to 2016. Naturally, the very first ball in play after Taveras entered the game was a grounder to third. He fielded it and threw it to first. Alonso had to make a nice save to stop it from being an error, but still, the chance was completed.

After the game, manager Craig Albernaz said that Alexander suffered a contusion from the foul ball and it locked up on him an inning later. The Orioles don’t seem to be concerned about a long-term injury problem here, but unless Alexander and Holliday can play tonight, they might need to make a roster move for an infielder so they don’t have to get weird again. Taveras only got the one ground ball chance before the Orioles gave up the DH to shift Mayo to third in the eighth inning.

The Angels finally got on board in the ninth. Jorge Soler hit a leadoff homer against Rico Garcia. That continues a tough June for Garcia, as he’s allowed five earned runs in seven innings pitched. Even so, his ERA remains low at 1.95, and in Monday’s game that was the only guy he let on base, so the game never got too dramatic there towards the end.

This is the sixth time this season that the Orioles have won three straight games. They have failed to win a fourth straight the previous five times. Is this the time they can change that, facing the team with the worst record in the AL? Tuesday’s game will answer the question one way or the other. Shane Baz is set to start the 9:38 Eastern game for the Orioles, with the Angels sending Ryan Anderson to the mound. Anderson has a 12.83 ERA in five games. It’s time to finally do this thing, Orioles. It’s long past time.

**

It is the longtime tradition on Camden Chat to choose the Most Birdland Player after each victory. What is “Most Birdland”? It cannot be explained. You just have to feel it. Sometimes, this is the most valuable player of a game, and other times, it is not. Let us know your pick for this excellent victory in the comments below.

After a rousing review of everyone’s favorite Mariners conspiracy theories last week, I decided to come back to a familiar topic: how much we, as Mariners fans, dislike the rest of the AL West. I asked everyone rank the other AL West teams from most hated to least hated in order to get the pulse of the general Mariners fan consensus these days, and the results had a few surprises!

I’ll throw some hot take rankings on the results using my patented and very scientific Mariners Hot Take Ranking System:

Okay, let’s get into it.

THE RESULTS:

• Most votes for #1 most hated rival: the Houston Astros
• Second most votes for #1 most hated rival: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Most votes for #2 most hated rival: the Texas Rangers
• Least amount of votes for any of the top 3 most hated rival spots: the West Sacramento Athletics

ANALYSIS:

Gonna go ahead and give a BEAVAN to ranking the A’s as the least hated rival. We all could have guessed this. Most of us still feel bad for all the fans who had their team sold and moved on them, only to have to suffer the further injustice of seeing the A’s play in a minor league stadium for at least two seasons a few hours away from the Bay Area in Sacramento. It’s a lousy situation all around and the final scores at that lil’ bandbox stadium reflect that. Whatever is going on in West Sacramento right now is none of our business as Mariners fans, even when the Mariners play there. I hope A’s fans find peace.

The Texas Rangers got a lot of votes for number two most hated rival, inserting themselves between the Astros and Angels in some fashion for most. I feel like hatred for the Rangers has increased in last 8 years or so due to their World Series run and their continued refusal to not have a pride night (the only team in MLB!), among other dubious choices and political signaling which I will not be getting into further. In fact, I can’t say any of the other things I despise about the Rangers without inviting commentary that will break the site guideLLines and make Sweezo want to Albert Belle me at the next softbaLL game (details coming soon!). Anyways, I give this one an IWAKUMA.

Ultimately I figured the Astros would continue their legacy of being hated for the top-to-bottom shitbirds they are, but the currently 32-48 (!!!) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim getting so many most hated votes surprised me a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I loathe them. They are a stain upon all that is good and just in the world of baseball. They are the last stop on countless players’ career journeys and have proven repeatedly to be extremely hazardous to pitcher health, even downright hostile. And that’s without even diving into the tragic death of Tyler Skaggs. Nevertheless, I thought that the Angel’s complete nosedive in irrelevancy (more so that usual even!) would have spared them some hatred, but nope! Mariners fans do not forget.

Speaking of not forgetting, ha ha oh yes the Astros. Boy, do we still hate the team that still fields players from the 2019 cheating scandal who were never actually punished. And we should because while MLB fined and suspended the owners, executives, and coaches, it’s still up to the court of public opinion to let these players know that a line was crossed and we still do not approve.

Giving these rankings of the Angels and Astros a BOSIO because to me there is nothing more workmanlike than clocking in to hate these bastards on any given day.

What did we miss? Any other personal pet peeves about the AL West rivals? Disagree with the rankings? Let’s hear it in the comments!