Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The Orioles’ get-right series against the Marlins took a wrong turn at the end. Not only did the O’s fail to complete the sweep by losing in the dumbest way imaginable — a walkoff throwing error — but they also suffered another injury to a starting pitcher. Cade Povich left his start against the Marlins after just three innings with what the team announced as “left forearm discomfort.” Uh-oh.
While we don’t want to assume the worst case scenario, that type of injury rarely portends good news. At the very least, Povich is almost certainly headed for a stint on the injured list, where he’ll join fellow starters Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, and of course Zach Eflin, who is out for the season.
The Orioles’ pitching depth has been stretched thinner than anyone could have imagined by May 8. The Birds have already used nine different starting pitchers and that number could continue to climb as another hole has opened up in the rotation. That spot could be filled by Rogers, who is eligible to come off the 15-day IL in three days. Or if not Rogers, perhaps the Orioles could call up Trey Gibson, who held his own in his MLB debut against the Yankees last weekend. The next time this spot in the rotation comes up will also be against the Yankees, so if it is Trey, good luck to him again.
What a rotten turn of events for Povich, who was trying to pitch his way back into the Orioles’ plans and help offset the loss of some veteran starters. Who knows if Povich would’ve had a breakout performance or if he would’ve ended up in the 5+ ERA range like the last two years, but now he might not get the chance to find out for a while. Injuries continue to wreak havoc on this Orioles roster.
After their 2-5 road trip, the Orioles return home for an eventful weekend series against the Athletics. Tonight they’ll be giving away the wildly popular Tupac bobblehead, and after tomorrow’s game the O’s will be hosting a post-game concert featuring Nelly. If only the concert also featured Tupac, now that would be something.
Links
Orioles should not move on from Jordan Westburg | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
A fed-up reader thinks the Orioles should just “get rid of” Jordan Westburg. Dude, why? He makes the league minimum, is under team control for four more seasons, and is a quality player when he’s on the field. I can think of about 15 other Orioles I’d sooner get rid of.
The O’s walking man: Taylor Ward keeps drawing walks and at a record pace – Steve Melewski
I must say, this is not the version of Taylor Ward that I expected the Orioles would be getting. But I’ll certainly take it.
Holliday restarts rehab assignment, expected back in mid-May – MLB.com
Third time’s the charm for Jackson, hopefully. His previous two rehab attempts haven’t turned out so great.
The theory is basically “keep hitting the ball hard and your luck will eventually even out.” Hard to argue with that.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day, including one of the best pitchers in team history, the late Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Cuellar (b. 1937, d. 2010). Cuellar spent eight years in Baltimore and racked up four 20+ win seasons, 133 complete games, three All-Star appearances, and a 1970 World Series ring. His 143 wins as an Oriole are the fourth-most in franchise history. Cuellar was the co-AL Cy Young winner with the Tigers’ Denny McLain in 1969, the only time that the Cy Young vote in either league has ever resulted in a tie. Other former Orioles born on this day are left-hander Sean Gilmartin (36) and righties Alfredo Simón and John Maine (both 45).
A whole lot of stuff has happened on this day in O’s history, most of it not good. On this date in 1965, O’s second baseman Jerry Adair saw his MLB record streak of 438 errorless chances come to an end when he booted a Bill Freehan grounder to start the eighth. It was Adair’s first error in his last 90 games, since July 21, 1964.
On this date in 2012, the O’s gave up four home runs in one game to the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, who became the 16th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. All four of Hamilton’s homers were two-run shots, all four with Elvis Andrus on base. He bashed his first two in the first and third off O’s starter Jake Arrieta, then added one off Zach Phillips in the seventh and Darren O’Day in the eighth.
In 2014, the O’s were the victims of an immaculate inning — nine pitches, three strikeouts — thrown by Rays reliever Brad Boxberger. What made it particularly unique is that Boxberger did it after coming in with the bases loaded and nobody out, the first time that’s happened in MLB history. Boxberger mowed down Steve Pearce, Jonathan Schoop, and Caleb Joseph for the most impressive possible escape from the jam. Fortunately, the Orioles won the game anyway.
In 2018, Dylan Bundy made dubious history by becoming the first pitcher in major league history to give up four home runs without recording an out. The Orioles starter began the game with a single before coughing up three straight dingers to the Royals’ Jorge Soler, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez. He then walked the next two batters before serving up his fourth homer, to Alex Gordon, which chased him from the game. The Royals ultimately scored 10 runs in the top of the first in an eventual 15-7 drubbing of the Birds.
But not everything that has happened on May 8 has been bad for the Orioles. It was on this day in 1966 that Frank Robinson hit the most famous home run in O’s history, a titanic blast that sailed clear out of Memorial Stadium. The prodigious homer has practically taken on mythical status over the years, but it did actually happen, as Robinson’s first-inning clout off Cleveland’s Luis Tiant sailed over the bleachers, into a parking lot, and rolled under a car. It’s estimated that the ball sailed 451 feet on the fly and another 90 feet on the ground. Robinson received a standing ovation from the fans when he came out to the field the next inning.
