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It’s a weird week to look at the Orioles farm system. The trade deadline is now six days away. Perhaps the Orioles will play well enough between now and then that some of the names in this article will be gone a week from now. They may also play poorly enough that there are suddenly new names to start to focus on, beyond just the 2026 draft picks arriving. This all depends on how Mike Elias assesses the situation. His mind is unknowable.

There are a number of prospects, some notable in this series and some not, who will be headed for the next level of the minors starting with this coming week. The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka reported on the following promotions:

• Double-A to Triple-A: LHP Luis De León, RHP Juaron Watts-Brown
• High-A to Double-A: IF Wehiwa Aloy, IF Victor Figueroa, RHP Joe Glassey, RHP Caden Hunter
• Low-A to High-A: RHP Christian Rodriguez

Not headed to Triple-A for reasons unknown to me is Joseph Dzierwa. It’s time! Not headed to Double-A for reasons unfortunately known is Ike Irish. Last year’s first round pick tore the meniscus in his left knee this past week and is out for the season. I think Irish would have absolutely been among these promotions if not for that injury. It’s a bummer.

Here’s how things shook out for the rest of the top prospects this week:

Triple-A Norfolk Tides

• Last week: 1-5 at Charlotte (White Sox)
• Next opponent: vs. Worcester (Red Sox)
• Second half record: 8-17, ninth place (10 GB) in International League East

This is a sad roster and the team’s record continues to reflect it. That’s not going to change much with De León and Watts-Brown arriving, though at least it makes the starting rotation more interesting to have them around. They’ll be joining a rotation that’s already got Nestor German, who remains modestly interesting. German added a start that’s fairly representative of his season: Two runs allowed in 5.1 innings, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out five. That could be useful for the back of the rotation.

The Tides will also be joined this week by Ryan Mountcastle and Chris Bassitt, each of whom is starting a rehab assignment. I would guess each will be pushed close to the maximum number of days for a rehab, 20 for position players and 30 for pitchers.

Creed Willems is back! You might want to see him at the major league level instead of the guys we’ve got catching. The Orioles have other thoughts. Willems did not put together a “force them to promote me” kind of week, collecting just four hits in 19 AB, all singles. Things went slightly better for Enrique Bradfield Jr., who had six hits in 19 AB, all singles. Bradfield stole five bases, giving him 21 steals in 48 games for the Tides.

One guy did not hit nothing but singles. Heston Kjerstad went 10-23 across six games, driving in nine runs in part thanks to hitting three homers and a double. He is OPSing 1.027 in the month of July.

Tides season-to-date stats.

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week: 3-3 vs. Erie (Tigers)
• Next opponent: at Altoona (Pirates)
• Second half record: 15-11, second place (3.5 GB) in Eastern League Southwest

With Aloy joining the ranks here and Dzierwa inexplicably remaining, this might now be the most interesting affiliate in the system. They’re playing better in the second half, staying above .500. Keep at it, fellas.

My guy Aron Estrada was a big part over the party over the past week’s worth of games. The infielder racked up eight hits in 19 at-bats, including a double and a homer. Pretty good!

Fellow infielder and in my imagination syrup aficionado Brandon Butterworth matched Estrada with eight hits and three of Butterworth’s were homers. The 23-year-old, acquired in the Padres trade last year, has appeared in 38 games at the level this year; he missed some time with an injury. Things are going well in those games: .270/.377/.496 batting line. Outfielder Tavien Josenberger also hit three homers, and he showed patience in drawing seven walks as well.

De León’s final start here before the promotion was the kind of thing that shows why he’s going up a level. The 23-year-old lefty struck out nine batters while allowing just one run in 6.1 innings. Watts-Brown’s final start, not so good, with three runs allowed on seven hits in 5.1 innings. Also not to be forgotten is Dzierwa, who allowed a run in 4.2 innings with only three strikeouts. Pedestrian by his standards. Dzierwa has a 2.48 ERA and 0.957 WHIP in 11 games at this level.

Also of interest

• LHP Micah Ashman – One might also wonder why this reliever didn’t get a promotion too. One run allowed in three innings, 1.93 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 37.1 innings for the season
• RHP Patrick Reilly – First start back at an appropriate level after recovering from Tommy John surgery, three runs allowed in 5.1 innings, all thanks to solo home runs

Baysox season-to-date stats.

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week: 4-2 at Rome (Braves)
• Next opponent: vs. Wilmington (Nationals)
• Second half record: 17-12, second place (0.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North
• The Keys are already guaranteed a postseason spot for their first half title

The just-promoted Aloy hit a pair of homers in his final week for Frederick, finishing with a .300/.371/.503 batting line in 84 games, with 15 homers. He’s cut the strikeout rate as the season has gone along, though he finishes with a high number at 25.6%. Not as good among the promoted is Figueroa, 5-17 hitting with no extra-base hits.

Things went well for the promoted pitchers too. Caden Hunter, a lefty starter drafted in the sixth round last year, tossed 5.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. Gotta like that. Hunter began the season with Delmarva, so this is his second promotion. Joe Glassey, a reliever who was an undrafted free agent two years ago, pitched two scoreless innings across two games; he posted a 2.86 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 28.1 innings with the Keys. Crucially, unlike a number of guys in the system, these two are not walking too many dudes.

Not so fun is the injury news. Irish, as mentioned above, is done for the year thanks to the torn meniscus. Pitching prospect Boston Bateman exited his start this week after just one out due to what the team announced as right hip flexor discomfort.

Others of interest

• OF Braylin Tavera – 21-year-old also hit two homers this week. He’s OPSing .760 for the season but it’s a lot of strikeouts, like, a lot (35.9%)
• RHP Twine Palmer – One run allowed in three innings this week. There seem to have been some command issues. He walked three batters.

Keys season-to-date stats.

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week: 3-3 at Hill City (Guardians)
• Next opponent: vs. Hickory (Rangers)
• Second half record: 12-18, fifth place (4 GB) in Carolina League North

Christian Rodriguez, the pitcher who got promoted here, has not gotten a lot of focus from me in these articles because it’s his age 24 season and he’s been at Low-A. If he was two years younger, he’d still be old for this level. If he was at Double-A right now, he’d still be old for that level. That doesn’t make him much of a prospect, but I don’t want to take too much away from his results, which have been very good. He can only face the hitters the organization asks him to face. Rodriguez heads up to Frederick after five innings with just one unearned run allowed, giving him a 2.57 ERA across 19 games.

Among the hitters, the interesting duo continues to be infielders DJ Layton and Jaiden Lo Re, mid-round picks from high schools in the last two consecutive drafts. Although Layton managed to pick up six hits, including three for extra bases, over his 21 at-bats, he struck out 11 times. That’s tough. Lo Re only struck out one time, hitting 5-21 with a double. Lo Re has an .877 OPS through 34 games since getting promoted here.

Shorebirds season-to-date stats.

Florida Complex League Orioles

• Final season record: 34-23
• Qualified for one-game league semifinals (wild card), lost 7-0 to FCL Astros

Now that this team’s season is done, a few players are also going from this level up to Delmarva for the rest of the season. That group, as noted by Orioles On the Verge, is: RHP KK Clark, IF Hector Campusano, LHP Francisco Morao, and IF Jemone Nuel. Campusano and Nuel are in their age 19 seasons, Morao is 20, and Clark is 22. Nuel, who just batted .283/.456/.483 over 50 games in this rookie league, is probably the most interesting of this bunch.

FCL Orioles full season stats.

**

Our last minor league player of the week poll was two weeks ago, since the minor league teams were off during the MLB All-Star break. A majority of voters picked Luis De León as the winner in that poll, making him the tenth different winner chosen since we were able to create polls. Ike Irish is our only two-time winner. Unfortunately, we already know he won’t win a third this year.

Other single week winners that De León joins: Aron Estrada, Victor Figueroa, Payton Eeles, Braylin Tavera, Caden Hunter, Wehiwa Aloy, Jaiden Lo Re, and Joseph Dzierwa. Will there be a repeat winner this week? Three of the choices have won before. The choice is yours.

Good morning, baseball fans!

Over the weekend, I saw an amazing social media post by a fairly new baseball fan who had a pretty inspiring idea to make baseball more interesting for the teams that are already statistically out of the running for the playoffs. I highly encourage folks to check that out before continuing, but just in case you aren’t able to, I’ll give a bit of a synopsis.

Essentially, she says that when teams are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they should have the option to go Evil Mode and begin pulling pranks on teams that are still in the running. Her ground rules were that pranks couldn’t be anything to do with trying to win the game, or doing anything that would harm anyone. But everything else was on the table.

Honestly, at this point, that would be the only thing that could make the San Francisco Giants a watchable baseball team this season and I love the idea. Some of her suggested pranks include a speaker hidden in the locker room that just plays random Michael Jackson vocals or swapping out their cereal for lug nuts.

My favorite joke of hers was that the scouting report for these teams would primarily consist of the amount of times they’d been spotted at a Party City in the last week.

As a fan of harmless shenanigans, I would absolutely be more invested in the rest of this awful season if we were watching for hijinks and tomfoolery. Maybe they slip a brand new red towel in with the other team’s laundry to turn all of their uniforms pink. Or replace their game tapes with nothing but copies of 2003’s The Room.

The possibilities are endless!

What about you? What would make the rest of this season more tolerable/watchable?

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants continue this three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at 6:45 p.m. PT.

With the off day, it’s a light news day.

Anne Rogers talks with longtime Royals coach Miguel Garcia about Salvador Perez, who has known Salvy since he was signed by the Royals as a 16-year-old.

More than anyone else, Perez says Garcia is the one who gets him ready to play every day with their routine.

“I’ve known him since 2006 in the Dominican in instructional league,” Perez said. “That was the first time I met Miggy. It’s been 20 years that I’ve been with him. All my career in the big leagues. A little bit in the Minor Leagues. He’s a guy who gets me ready, who knows when I’m struggling, sees the video and tells me what I’m doing wrong to try to fix it. I appreciate him a lot.”

So what is the routine that has allowed Perez to turn into the greatest power hitter in Royals history? Garcia says it hasn’t changed too much across all these years.

“The main focus has always been to feel fluid with his swing,” Garcia said. “To be able to feel good, and with a fluid swing, and to concentrate on the pitches that he knows he can hit really well, which is middle to the pull side. Don’t leave the cage without a good swing, good fluid swings hitting the ball that way.”

David Lesky appreciates that the Royals have been trying some new things recently amid the lost season.

This weekend was a perfect example. They had a struggling starter, so they changed a couple of things. Noah Cameron had been pitching exceptionally poorly for the better part of six weeks, so they gave him an opener (that part didn’t work) and had him call his own pitches (that part did, I’ll get to it). As someone who works in marketing, I will tell you that testing two variables is not the smartest thing in the world, but I like that they tried something different. They gave a big save opportunity to someone who I wanted to see in that role. They’ve already started playing Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen against everyone, so that part is done, but I appreciate them doing things like that. First, it provides them with information. Second of all, it’s far more interesting to write about than a Randy Dobnak start, no matter how good he’s been.

Caleb Moody at Kings of Kauffman writes about the Royals’ failure to sign Hudson DeVaughn.

Jacob Milham details 3 Royals players who could benefit if they sell at the deadline.

Cody Bellinger is out 4-6 weeks with a hamstring strain.

Shea Langeliers and Mark Leiter Jr are going to get surgery.

Kerry Carpenter hit the IL.

Long-time Tampa Bay Buccaneers stalwart DT Vita Vea has requested a trade.

Jamal Adams has joined the Minnesota Vikings.

The UNC disaster-class continues – they placed GM Michael Lombardi on administrative leave.

The explosive diarrhea outbreak is expanding in Missouri.

Kansas City is putting together a bid to host matches for the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup.

Sporting Kansas City is trying to make a big splash signing and upped their offer for Olympiacos winger Andre Luiz.

Eric Bieniemy’s son was charged in the shooting of his mother.

The Odysseycontinues making a bunch of money.

Your song of the day is The Reign of Kindo with The Moments In Between.

Ceddanne Rafaela’s first career grand slam lifted the Red Sox over the A’s last night in Sacramento in a game that was otherwise a sleepy affair. Peyton Tolle gave up a first-inning solo shot to Tyler Soderstrom in the most anti-Fenway homer there is:

And then the bats on both sides went silent for a while. A’s starter Jack Perkins stymied the Sox despite an ERA over 6, but ran into trouble in the 6th after a Connor Wong leadoff double. Willson Contreras walked, which brought on José Suarez in place of Perkins, but the result was the same for Wilyer Abreu, who also walked. Then Ceddy called game, albeit just barely:

Here is what happens when you hit a grand slam against the A’s, btw:

Yep, that’ll do it. And did it. With the win, the Sox stayed 2 games ahead of the Guardians for the 2d Wild Card spot and kept pace with the repulsive Yankees. As I said in the preview, these are the games you gotta win. Nice to know they read OTM!

The Guardians were rained out yesterday and will play at 1:40 and 7:10. Slade Cecconi and Gavin Williams will both pitch as the Guardians have an off day on Thursday to get the rotation back on track.

The Guardians have five players in FanGraphs’ new Top 100 prospects list. 11. Angel Genao, 37. Braylon Doughty, 38. Ralphy Velazquez, 67. Juneiker Caceres, 96. Aaron Walton. Khal Stephen also snuck on to the 11 players listed just outside the 100 at 111. Get well soon, Khal.

AROUND MLB:

The Tigers and White Sox lost.

Meet the Mets

The Mets had themselves quite the night in the series opener against the Atlanta Braves, crushing their rivals to the tune of 14-3. Zac Thornton continued his run of success with his fourth straight quality start, and the bats slugged four home runs—including two from Francisco Lindor.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, NY Post, Daily News

Thornton continues to raise some eyebrows after another impressive outing.

The Mets will not have much to play for in the last couple months of the season, but Juan Soto still intends to return from his calf injury before the year is done.

Luis Robert Jr. expressed a desire to remain with the Mets despite the rampant trade speculation surrounding him.

The 1986 Mets are preparing to come together again to be celebrated at Citi Field this weekend.

Angels starter Reid Detmers could be a sensible target for a Mets team that needs to improve its starting rotation between now and next season.

Christian Scott’s addition of a cutter to his repertoire has helped him find success this year.

Around the National League East

The Braves may have lost last night, but they did celebrate the return of Ronald Acuña Jr. from the injured list.

The Phillies entered the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins with a two-run lead, but Jhoan Durán then allowed six baserunners while recording just one out, culminating in a walk-off single from Griffin Conine to give Philadelphia an 8-7 defeat.

Amidst his recent struggles, Bryce Harper is hoping that the Phillies will add the pieces they need to contend at the deadline.

The Nationals’ bats couldn’t get much going against old friend Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays’ pitching staff, resulting in a 3-2 loss for Washington.

Connelly Early threw his first bullpen as a member of the Nationals following his surprising trade from the Red Sox.

Around Major League Baseball

Fans at Comerica Park got to enjoy some squirrel-related hijinks last night.

In news that could have ramifications on the trade deadline, the Reds have placed Spencer Steer on the injured list due to a wrist strain.

Curtis Mead left his first game with the Red Sox early after getting hit by a pitch in the wrist.

The Red Sox are reportedly on the market for a shortstop addition at the trade deadline.

Giants third baseman Casey Schmitt exited last night’s game due to an apparent leg injury.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore previewed the series against the NL East-leading Braves.

Linus Lawrence compiled some of the interesting stats from the past week of Mets baseball.

Chris McShane discussed Carlos Beltrán’s Hall of Fame induction speech from this past weekend.

This Date in Mets History

Speaking of Beltrán, it was fifteen years ago today that the Mets traded him to the Giants in exchange for a young pitching prospect named Zack Wheeler.

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While the MLB Gold Glove odds aren't out yet, it's never too early to speculate who baseball's sharpest defenders will be. 

Established in 1957, the Gold Glove honors players who exhibit superior individual fielding performances at each position in the AL and NL. Overall, 18 Gold Gloves are handed out, making the Gold Glove odds a fun bit of speculation – and ultimately a lucrative market to bet.

As I said, we don't have odds, but we can offer a decent projection on potential winners based on Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) as of July 28.

AL Gold Glove Odds & Picks

Position	Player	Team	DRS
C	Dillon Dingler	Detroit Tigers	+8
1B	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	Toronto Blue Jays	+5
2B	Cole Young	Seattle Mariners	+11
3B	Caleb Durbin	Boston Red Sox	+8
SS	Taylor Walls	Tampa Bay Rays	+14
LF	Cody Bellinger	New York Yankees	+19
CF	Cedanne Rafaela	Boston Red Sox	+17
RF	Wilyer Abreu	Boston Red Sox	+20
P	Brent Suter	Los Angeles Angels	+4

The AL board is loaded up the middle and in the outfield. Wilyer Abreu's +20 DRS in right field leads all AL fielders on this list, with Cedanne Rafaela (+17) and Cody Bellinger (+19) giving Boston and New York outfield candidates of their own. Taylor Walls (+14) paces infielders at short, while Cole Young's +11 stands out as the clear leader among AL second basemen.

NL Gold Glove Odds & Picks

Position	Player	Team	DRS
C	Luis Torrens	New York Mets	+12
1B	Ty France	San Diego Padres	+10
2B	Brice Turang	Milwaukee Brewers	+14
3B	Matt Chapman	San Francisco Giants	+16
SS	Geraldo Perdomo	Arizona Diamondbacks	+7
LF	Daylen Lile	Washington Nationals	+8
CF	Andy Pages	Los Angeles Dodgers	+17
RF	Corbin Carroll	Arizona Diamondbacks	+8
P	Nolan McLean	New York Mets	+4

The NL races center on the outfield and left side of the infield. Andy Pages tops this board at +17 DRS in center, with Matt Chapman's +16 keeping the hot corner competitive for San Francisco. Brice Turang's +14 leads NL second basemen, and Luis Torrens' +12 puts him ahead of every other catcher listed, a strong early marker in a position that's historically hard to grade defensively.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

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If you bounce around the majors, you'll find a variety of MLB ballparks, big and small. No two stadiums are alike, and that's a good thing. 

Baseball sharps take note of which parks favor hitters or pitchers. There are betting advantages and disadvantages camouflaged within each venue's towering wall, short porch, dry air or deep alley. Here's everything you need to know about which MLB ballparks are good or bad for dingers.

Homer heaven: Best MLB ballparks for home runs

If you love the value of a home run player prop, take note of the ballparks that can make or break your bet.

All Park Factor sabermetrics courtesy Baseball Savant.

UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium (129)

Dodger Stadium remains the best home run environment in baseball, posting a 129 HR factor in the 2024–2026 window. That means the park is playing 29% more homer-friendly than league average, giving it a clear edge over the rest of the field. With dry conditions, limited wind disruption, and a lineup loaded with power, games at Chavez Ravine should stay circled for anyone betting dinger props.

Great American Ball Park (122)

Great American Ball Park has long carried a hitter-friendly reputation, and the latest HR factor data backs it up. Cincinnati checks in second at 122, making it one of the best parks in baseball for balls to leave the yard. The compact dimensions can turn well-struck fly balls into quick home runs, especially when the weather heats up. If you're shopping home run props, this is one of the first venues to check.

Yankee Stadium (117)

Yankee Stadium remains a prime target for home run bettors, especially when left-handed power is involved. The short porch in right field gives hitters a clear path to cheap or pulled home runs, and the park's 117 HR factor puts it third in the majors over the 2024–2026 sample. Matchups in the Bronx deserve extra attention any time a power bat gets a favorable handedness split.

Daikin Park (115)

Daikin Park also sits firmly in homer-friendly territory with a 115 HR factor. Houston's home park rewards hitters who can pull the ball with authority, and the Crawford Boxes can make life uncomfortable for pitchers who miss up or over the plate. It may not always get the same betting attention as Cincinnati or New York, but the park factor says it belongs in the same conversation.

Homer Hell: worst MLB ballparks For home runs

Maybe you love old-timey small ball? Maybe you're scanning daily picks and want to fade a team with tons of sluggers? Either way, this will help inform your next move.

Oracle Park (77)

Oracle Park sits at the bottom of the home run park factor rankings, posting a 77 mark in the 2024–2026 window. The cold air, deep right-center gap, and bay-side conditions continue to knock down fly balls that might carry elsewhere. If you're fading power props or looking for a reason to lean under on a slugging market, San Francisco is one of the first places to start.

PNC Park (78)

PNC Park remains one of baseball's toughest home run environments, checking in just ahead of Oracle Park with a 78 HR factor. The deep left-center gap can swallow fly balls, and the park rarely gives hitters the same cheap power boost they might find in Cincinnati, New York or Los Angeles. For bettors, Pittsburgh is still a strong fade spot for homer-heavy profiles.

Busch Stadium (81)

Busch Stadium also lands near the bottom of the list with an 81 HR factor. St. Louis has not played as a friendly home run park in this sample, which can matter when evaluating power props or game totals. The venue does not erase offense entirely, but it makes hitters earn their damage more than most parks on the board.

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Good morning, Camden Chatters.

The Orioles have less than a week to decide whether they’ll be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Their two series before that Aug. 3 date, a three-game trip to Detroit and three at home against the Phillies, could be critically important for deciding the near-term direction of the club.

Last night, the O’s looked like a team that plans to stay in the postseason race, winning the opener against the Tigers in a series with big wild card implications. Even with ace Kyle Bradish suffering a rare bad outing, the Birds used a 12-hit, three-homer offensive explosion and a superb combined effort from four relievers to secure an 8-5 victory. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the high-scoring affair.

With so many teams jostling for position on the fringes of the wild card race, we’re at the point where every win (and every loss) shuffles the Orioles’ status in the pecking order. Their victory last night pulled them back within two games of the rained-out Guardians for the final wild card spot, and inched them a game behind the idle Twins. The O’s also pulled even with the Mariners, who lost yesterday, and possibly a half game ahead of the Astros, who were trailing in Anaheim at the time of this writing. (Morning update: the Astros overcame a two-run deficit in the ninth to win, because the Angels are useless.)

When you see the standings laid out like that, it’s more than reasonable to think that the Orioles have a good shot at earning a postseason spot. But all it takes is another losing streak and suddenly the O’s could find themselves in a lousy position again. Two days from now, they could be four games out of wild card position and languishing behind three or four other teams once more. The margin for error at this point is incredibly slim, even with so many other AL teams struggling to get hot.

For now, the O’s have put two games of distance between themselves and the Tigers. Another Orioles win tonight would deal a further blow to Detroit’s fading playoff hopes. In fact, I think the Tigers might as well just call it a season and trade Tarik Skubal today. No need to let him face the Orioles in the series finale tomorrow. It’s the responsible thing to do.

Tonight, it’ll be Dean Kremer on the mound for the Orioles, hoping to bounce back from his six-run outing in Boston last week, while the O’s offense will hope to greet the Tigers’ Troy Melton with the same offensive firepower they brought yesterday.

Links

O’s continue to build Deadline case with big win in Detroit – MLB.com

Jackson Holliday had four hits, Coby Mayo homered against a righty, and even Tyler O’Neill had a pinch-hit dinger. It was a big night for some of the most-maligned Orioles hitters.

Mountcastle and Bassitt beginning rehab assignments, Rodríguez traded, latest on draft signings – School of Roch

Some might say that getting Ryan Mountcastle and Chris Bassitt back is just like making trade acquisitions. They would be wrong, but they might say it anyway.

Will Orioles extend Trevor Rogers? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

I didn’t expect the Orioles to extend even one starting pitcher this year, and they’ve already done two. But three? No chance.

Kyle Goon: How can David Rubenstein be ‘very pleased’ when the Orioles are this disappointing? – The Baltimore Banner

Kyle Goon is flummoxed about the Orioles owner’s recent vote of confidence for his GM. Is it possible that Rubenstein was just being so dryly sarcastic that we all missed it?

A squirrel on the loose at Comerica Park steals the show during Orioles-Tigers – The Baltimore Banner

Craig Albernaz says, “The whole squirrel thing was nuts.” Alby’s got puns!

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: outfielder Drew Jackson (33) and right-handers Chad Paronto (51) and Bob Milacki (62).

A lot of stuff has happened on this date in Orioles history. In 1971, 16-time Gold Glover Brooks Robinson committed three errors in one game for the first — and only — time in the Hall of Famer’s 2,896-game career. The miscues led to two unearned runs against the Athletics, who took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But it turned out okay anyway when fellow Hall of Famer Frank Robinson hit a walkoff three-run homer against yet another Hall of Famer, Rollie Fingers.

In 1978, Rich Dauer set an Orioles record with his 10th consecutive multi-hit game, giving him a .583 average over those 10 games. It was a remarkable hot streak for a hitter who batted just .257 in 10 career seasons.

In 1990, Cal Ripken’s MLB-record 95 consecutive errorless games as a shortstop came to an end when he flubbed a grounder from the Royals’ Jeff Schulz in the sixth. It was Cal’s first error since April 13, the third game of the season.

The O’s have also made a bunch of trades on July 28. In 1995, they made a splash by acquiring slugger Bobby Bonilla from the Mets for outfielders Damon Buford and Alex Ochoa. Bonilla provided a big boost to the O’s lineup, batting .300 with an .877 OPS and 39 homers for the Birds from 1995-96. And he is still to this day getting paid by both the Orioles and Mets, thanks to a deferred-payment arrangement he made with each club. He’ll receive $1.19 million annually from the Mets through 2035 and $500,000 from the Orioles through 2028.

In 2000, the Orioles made another trade with the Mets, the only one of GM Syd Thrift’s fire-sale deals that season that paid any dividends for the Birds. They sent shortstop Mike Bordick to New York for three players, including 28-year-old utility man Melvin Mora. Mora blossomed in Baltimore, emerging as a versatile OBP machine with power over the next decade, and was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame after hitting .280/.355/.438 with 158 homers for the club.

And in 2017, the Orioles made a useless trade, sending fan-favorite outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and minor league southpaw Garrett Cleavinger to the Phillies for washed-up starter Jeremy Hellickson, who spoke openly about how much he disliked pitching at Camden Yards. Hellickson bombed to a 6.97 ERA in 10 starts for the Birds, while Cleavinger has since emerged as a solid lefty reliever, currently with the Rays.

Phillies News:

• What are the Phillies biggest needs in the trade market?
• Speaking of, Phillies are getting linked to Kevin Gausman and Robbie Ray
• Taking some stock of the Phillies top trade pieces
• Alec Bohm sets a record, and not a bad one this time!

MLB News:

• The MLB Rumor Mill is in full churn with updates on the Mets, Foster Griffin and Tarik Skubal
• Uh Oh, Ronald Acuna is back for the Braves
• Pirates Top Pitching Prospect, and one of the best in the minors, is heading to the IL