Baseball’s back in action for the second half! But not the Phillies, who are off today. So it goes.

On to the links.

Phillies news

Brad Keller will be out for the season with a UCL tear.

What awaits the Phillies in the second half?

Here’s the story behind the Sandlot tribute during the All-Star Game. ($)

An appreciation of Kyle Schwarber. ($)

MLB news

The 2027 schedule is out. The Phillies will be opening in Washington, and welcoming the Nationals to Citizens Bank Park for the home opener the following week.

The Mets will be sellers at the deadline.

Pitcher power rankings, with a pair of Phillies in the top 5.

Chase Burns has signed an extension that’ll keep him in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future.

Let’s see. What to write about? Jordan Walker and the HR Derby? JJ Wetherholt and his extension or MVP run or ROY run or all three? How about noting that the Cardinals as a team are exactly where they were this time in both 2024 and 2025 (although they got here a different way)? What about that 2026 Amateur Draft? So many topics. But they’ve all been pretty well covered, so as usual, we will zig as everyone zags.

This is an article I’ve been contemplating for a few weeks now but am putting the finishing touches on it as the Cardinals drag into the All Star Break. The end of the Cubs series and the beginning of the Brewers’ series dropped like a thud, with the pitching (particularly the bullpen) badly exposed. Instead of mourning an outcome we could all see coming, I choose to shift my gaze away from the present to a longer view. This is a rebuild year, after all, no?

As usual, the premise of my article is based on following a line of curiosity I have and then putting that into words. Last week, I looked at the Cardinals overall MiLB system. Today, I have narrowed down and parsed through the various starters the Cardinals have throughout their minor league system and taken a look from an organizational depth perspective. Why? I have a few of questions I’m curious about.

1. Assuming the Cardinals sell (at least a little bit), what kind of pitching prospect might they be looking at to add to their system?
2. Where might they fit such an acquisition in?
3. How do they handle all the starters already in the pipeline?
4. Where and when is “reliever risk” realized? Can it be anticipated, or does it just happen organically?

Who is in the pipeline?

The first thing I did was create a table of all the starting pitchers, organization-wide. Without it, it is hard to keep all the pitching prospects in my head at the same time. This is a good thing since it means there are lots of interesting pitchers at all the levels. Since I created a table, you get to read a table.

I laid it out by level-by-level (MLB, AAA, etc.) first, and then placed each pitcher in a column (1 through 6) based my perceived sense of each pitcher’s rank within their respective rotation. Nothing scientific, just based on usage patterns. I should note that this is where the rosters stand on July 6. Things will change a bit between now and when the article publishes. I will do my best to keep this current.

Authors note: True to form, even as I’m drafting this article Cardinals are re-shuffling it with Zimm to MLB (and then to limbo), Aita to AA, Cijntje to AAA. I’m leaving the table unchanged, because I’m not sure how these movements map out. Who drops out of the AAA rotation? Who steps into High-A rotation? All this presages some additional moves TBD.

A couple of notes:

• I didn’t try to engineer the ordinal ranks too much, especially in the 4-6 positions of the rotations. You might disagree with my placement a bit and you might be right, but I don’t see it as crucial to this mental stroll I will euphemistically call analysis.
• The top ranked (1-2) guys at each level is a mix of my perception of them as a prospect (in terms of FV) and my sense of who would be next to be promoted if a need/opportunity arose.
• The #6 guys are not regular starters in all cases, but more guys that get pushed into starter roles as weather or promotions complicate things. I think High-A is really the only team on a true 6-man rotation and even that is inconsistent.
• I don’t know who Palm Beach has as their #5 starter. There have been so many rehab guys run through PB (currently Robberse) that I just put a placeholder there. Don’t be shocked if Clarke is the next name you see here after Robberse and Ixan Henderson after that.
• In general, pitchers would be expected to snake up the development chart. Today’s #1 starter at Low-A could move up and would become tomorrow’s #5 starter at High-A, and so on. In real life, it doesn’t happen in quite this linear fashion (and some people fall away instead of moving up), but I imagine it that way just to have some structure as I look at potential movement in the system. However, one can never tell when an Odle or a Molina will leapfrog the line, until it happens.

Some observations about the depth

In ways, this list appears to have 20-25 guys who could legitimately be viewed as prospects. Meaning that on their current trajectory, MLB is a realistic outcome for most of them. Injuries and performance will undoubtedly complicate this picture, but as of right now, this group might be as deep as back in 2012-2013.

Without quibbling over any one pitcher (is Thompson a legit prospect?), think about it as a group. The Cardinals have excellent depth. As you look at the chart, you realize they don’t really have any gaping holes. In fact, as some of the injured pitchers roll back into action, they are going to displace someone with real talent on this list. Displace doesn’t necessarily mean off the roster, but it will steer some guys to reliever roles (or into trades that re-balance the system).

If they were to sell off Stanek or Nootbaar or May, and seek a pitcher in return, what would they be looking for? Fundamentally, the ask would have to be a pitcher that is better than what is on this list. That is the floor. And it appears that floor has been raised, perhaps quite a bit.

Another depth observation … this list doesn’t even include a few guys that I suspect they’d like to get into starter roles like Dutkanych IV and Findlay. Sometimes, there is just no room at the inn.

Strategically, they really aren’t in rebuild mode anymore. Now it is more about improving on what they have incrementally. It is easier to do this when you have holes in the system where a true prospect represents a significant upgrade. Now, not so easy. For example, if a team offered a High-A or AA pitcher as part of a package for May, who would you willingly displace out of the Springfield or Peoria rotation? Start thinking that through and it might make for some more interesting trades than a straight “sell”.

Let’s talk “reliever opportunity”

You probably notice I didn’t list or rank any MiLB relievers. In my view, there are very few relievers in the system that project to stand on an MLB mound. Gastelum for sure. Hence probably, although his star dims. Maybe Mason Burns before he was injured. That is pretty much it.

It is noticeable the vast gulf of talent (or performance) there is between the starters and the relievers up and down the system. It is enough that it can be tempting to just ignore the relievers. This probably explains why in many circles, people prefer the term “reliever risk” or “failed starter”. In the Cardinals’ case, the abundance of starters is likely to seed their pool of relievers, more from a numbers standpoint that a failure to launch. For some, relief may be a faster path to MLB, which could be good for both player and organization. Given how few MLB rotation spots there are, the bullpen might be their only path to MLB, at least in the Cardinals’ organization. Since these guys are bound to the organization for years, the needs of the MLB staff are important. I’d bet if asked, most of these guys would rather be a reliever on the MLB team than a starter in the minors. Just a guess…

In the modern game, relievers are most valuable if they have lots of whiff in their repertoire, but they do not need a deep pitch mix like a starter does and teams don’t sweat higher walk rates with this style of reliever. Spin is still useful, but no one worries about third time through the order kind of stuff with relievers. A lot are one inning and done, but there is a rising group of MIRP that are basically once through the line-up. 2+ innings (hopefully, a full 3 IP).

Strategically, the Cardinals are probably looking to further the transition from pitch-to-contact (P2C) to spin-and-whiff (SnW) oriented pitchers that are more well suited for these high leverage reliever roles. I don’t think this means abandoning pitch-to-contact, but P2C is more starter oriented and perhaps bulk or MIRP types than high leverage. So, the way I see it…if you are going to get your high leverage relievers out of the starter pool, you need more SnW types in the starter pool. My guess is, we may see this aspect of organizational improvement play out more in the draft than the trade deadline.

With the 2026 draft in the books, we see that the Cardinals indeed focused on guys who might project to high-leverage relievers, looking for live fastballs, spin-and-whiff and not demeriting fringy command. While they seemed to more focus on hitters early, one can wonder where pitchers like Kuhns, Montesa, Randall fit. For fun, study these guys and try and picture inserting them in the table above.

From a deadline and off-season standpoint, it seems possible that other organizations lacking depth in their pipeline might come to view one or more of the Cardinals “reliever risk” guys as potentially having more value to them (as a starter) than they will with the Cardinals (as a reliever). Someone like a Brycen Mautz, who is about to get passed up by 3-4 guys from AA. This may present the Cardinals with opportunities to consolidate or churn in ways they really haven’t had in some time.

Let’s look at timelines

One can never really tell how long it will take an individual pitcher to develop enough to begin a sojourn down MLB lane. One artificial constraint that guides, though, is their spot (or lack thereof) on the 40-man roster, which must be done within 4 years (generally). Do the Cardinals ever pick high school pitchers? They get five years, no?

Mathews and Lin will need to be protected on the 40-man roster this fall, so that effectively starts their clock. Being on the 40-man, either or both could find their way into the 2027 Cardinal bullpen if their command doesn’t improve enough to advance in front of the starters already ahead of them. This outcome would not hurt my feelings a bit.

At AAA, Hansen and Rincon are both Rule V eligible and look the most displaceable. Not necessarily from a talent standpoint (ok, maybe a little), but both require protection to guarantee their spot in the organization. If they aren’t protected, it is arguable that the Cardinals might want to look at acquiring a prospect that does not require 40-man protection and can fit at a lower level, which then would open up 2 slots in the AAA rotation either later this year or next season. Those spots might better be used on guys like Doyle or Lin (or Roby or Fitts or Hjerpe).

So, from a timeline standpoint, those four guys (Mathews, Lin, Rincon, Hansen) will have some transaction in their near future. The rest are either on the 40-man or do not need protection until after the 2027 season, earliest.

Another timeline-oriented decision could be in store for Hjerpe. He counts in the SnW profile. If the Cardinals wish to continue his development as a starter, they will have to burn one of two remaining options next year to do so. Or they could imagine a role for him on the left-side of the bullpen, which will be vacated by Romero and Bruihl this off-season (if not sooner). Decisions. Decisions. Funny how a ticking clock can push a decision towards “reliever opportunity”.

Let’s talk pathways

A couple of years ago, there was frustration among Cardinal fans because established veterans were “blocking” promising young players. Arenado played, while Gorman yo-yo’ed around. Contreras moved to first while Burleson continued to roam the outfield. Fedde started while McGreevy toiled in the Land of Blue Suede Shoes. Etc.

We may see another, similar phenomenon develop with the pitching. Ostensibly, the Cardinals will come to 2027 spring camp with Leahy, Liberatore, Pallante and McGreevy as established starters under contract control. That leaves one spot in the MLB rotation. Behind them will lurk Dobbins, Fitts, Mathews, Mautz and potentially Roby. Depth is good, but if health is good, too, there really won’t be room to move but one of Lin, Doyle and Hjerpe into the AAA rotation, effectively stalling their development. Assuredly, health will equalize some of this, but unlikely enough to eliminate the logjam. Outcomes? Some of these guys may become relievers and some of these guys may get packaged to fill MLB team needs (third base, anyone?) or acquire younger prospects.

Closing

Ok, this is a future look so I’m not closing, I’m just stopping for now. This discussion will recur, particularly as we get a little distance away from the draft.

The need to move players up in a timely fashion, roster rules and the depth in the system may well conspire to make for some interesting deadline and off-season trades. Likely not the traditional rebuild/sell-off model where expiring contracts are dumped for wild card prospects. I am anticipating more strategic trades in the next round. We’ll know more about what that might look like after the draft.

Above I noted how few MiLB relievers have MLB profiles. I believe the MiLB starter pool is really the entirety of the coming MLB pitching pool. In this viewpoint, the depth looks a bit thinner. From this, I begin to suspect the next step in the development of the pitching pipeline is to bring more high-end starters in to push more of the MLB prospects into the reliever pool. Ie. more competition. The floor has been raised, now it is time to raise the ceiling.

In the end, it appears that the Cardinals potentially have a surplus in the pitching area in addition to catching, although it begs the question of can a team really have a surplus of pitching? It is less clear if the surplus starters profile into strong reliever candidates. Can that “surplus” be consolidated into a higher-end starter? or higher-end bullpen help? As other teams lacking depth (but having MLB talent) take stock of their future and recognize their backslide, such as the Astros (Brown), Padres (King), Angels (Soriano, Detmers), Giants (Webb), it seems like some possibilities could materialize somewhere. And the Cardinals just might have the depth these organizations need to improve.

Welcome back from the All-Star break, Detroit Tigers fans! AJ Hinch and Co. open up the “second half” of the 2026 campaign on the road against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim starting on Friday night. It will be a late start for those of us in the more easterly time zones — and will be even worse on Saturday night.

Taking the mound in the first game after the All-Star break for the Tigers is right-hander Troy Melton, who will make his ninth start of the season. The 25-year-old is riding a four-game streak that saw him allow one or fewer runs, posting a 0.76 ERA and 2.68 FIP over that 23 2/3 frame stretch while increasing his strikeout totals in each appearance until reaching his career-high of nine in his most recent outing in just 5 2/3 innings.

For the home team, left-hander Reid Detmers will toe the rubber looking to turn things around after a rough couple of games heading into the break. The 27-year-old’s starts were brutal, posting a 10.00 ERA and 7.77 FIP over nine frames of work, allowing 14 hits (four home runs) and four walks while striking out 11 and throwing a pair of wild pitches.

Here is a look at how the two match up on paper as both teams open things back up at Angel Stadium.

Detroit Tigers (44-52) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-59)

Time (ET): 9:38 p.m.
Place: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, California
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 97: RHP Troy Melton (5-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

MELTON

DETMERS

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The unofficial first half of the season is officially in the rearview, as the Brewers will kick off their post-All-Star break slate tonight in Milwaukee. At 59-37 this year, the Brewers sit ahead of the Cubs by five games in the NL Central and currently hold the second-best record in baseball behind only the 61-36 Dodgers. The Brewers come out of the break with a nine-game homestand, as they’ll host the Marlins, Mets, and Rockies over the next 10 days.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Don Kessinger, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1941 – In front of more than 60,000 fans at Cleveland, Joe DiMaggio‘s hitting streak is ended at 56 games. Indians P Al Smith and Jim Bagby Jr., plus sensational plays by 3B Ken Keltner, stop the Yankee Clipper, but New York edges the Indians, 6-5, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1900 – At Brooklyn’s Washington Park, the Superbas tie the score against the Giants in the 5th. Then, with two men on base, New York sent in rookie Christy Mathewson, just brought up from Norfolk where he was 20-2. He hits three batters, walks two, and gives up six runs in a 13-7 loss. The New York Times says, “Matty has lots of speed and gives promise of making his way.”
• 1922 – At Boston, Ty Cobb gets five hits (and a walk) in a game for the fourth time this year, setting an American League mark. Only Willie Keeler had done it before. The Tigers roar, 16-7.
• 1925 – Tris Speaker is the fifth hitter to get 3,000 hits.
• 1934 – Babe Ruth draws his 2,000th base on balls at Cleveland. He will retire with a walk record of 2,062. Rickey Henderson will break the record.
• 1936 – Carl Hubbell starts his 24-game winning streak, beating Pittsburgh, 6-0. The Giants hit a National League record-tying four triples in the first inning: Jo-Jo Moore, Mel Ott and Hank Leiber hit them in succession, and Eddie Mayo adds one later in the inning to equal the major league record.
• 1950 – Yankee rookie Whitey Ford wins his first major league game, beating the visiting White Sox, 4-3. 
• 1954 – With Jim Gilliam (2B), Jackie Robinson (3B), Sandy Amoros (LF), Roy Campanella (C) and Don Newcombe (P) in the starting lineup against the Braves, the Dodgers field the first team which consists of a majority of black players. The historic five helps Brooklyn beat Milwaukee at County Stadium, 2-1.
• 1960 – Batting just .244 and not hitting for power, Willie McCovey, 1959 National League Rookie of the Year, is sent down to Tacoma (Pacific Coast League).
• 1961 – Following a year-long illness, Ty Cobb succumbs to cancer at age 74 at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
• 1967 – During a 6-2 defeat, concluding a dismal 2-and-4 road trip for the Pirates, the rarely disappointing Roberto Clemente does what he does so well – break the other team’s heart in their own house and have their fans thank him for it. As Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “Clemente robbed Joe Torre with a lunging catch of his pop fly in the third inning with two on and the hometown Atlanta fans applauded him en route to the bench. They even applauded him when he went to bat in the fourth inning.”
• 1970 – Roberto Clemente, just a double shy of the cycle, scores the tying run, drives in the go-ahead run and keeps his team ahead with a crucial ninth-inning outfield assist, leading the Pirates to a 4-3 win over Cincinnati in a preview of the National League Championship Series. Clemente’s 150th career triple leads to the tying run in the sixth and his 400-foot first-pitch bomb over the right-centerfield fence off rookie Wayne Simpson unties it in the eighth. To keep it untied, Clemente puts down his bat and lets his arm do the talking as he guns down Tommy Helms at the plate in the ninth to seal the victory.
• 1971 – Juan Marichal allows just one hit through eight innings, but the Reds score three in the bottom of the ninth to win, 3-2. Tony Perez hits a two-run single to win it.
• 1974 – Cardinals pitching great Bob Gibson fans the Reds’ Cesar Geronimo to become the second hurler after Walter Johnson to strike out 3,000 batters.
• 1989 – White Sox C Carlton Fisk gets his 2,000th career hit in a 7-3 win over the Yankees.
• 1991 – Randy Johnson takes just four innings to rack up ten walks. He fans four, tosses a wild pitch and allows one hit and four runs in his stint, a 6-1 loss to the Brewers. 
• 1992 – Baltimore P Mike Mussina tosses a one-hitter against the Texas Rangers, striking out ten as the Orioles win by a score of 8-0. 
• 2009 – Jim Thome drives in a career-high seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run home run as Chicago defeats the Orioles, 12-8.

Today in Cubs history:

• 1906 – The Cubs beat back the Giants, 6-2, as Three-Finger Brown tops Christy Mathewson. Joe Tinker‘s two-run homer in the sixth is the big blow for Chicago. The loss drops the Giants to six games behind the Cubs.
• 1908 – In another classic match-up, Three-Finger Brown and Christy Mathewson pair off with Brown winning, 1-0. The Cubs pitcher allows six hits, with Matty giving up seven. The only run comes on a 5th-inning inside-the-park home run by Matty’s nemesis, Joe Tinker, who runs through the arms of third base coach Heinie Zimmerman to score. In the 12 match-ups between the two pitchers, Brown has won eight.
• 1909 – Brooklyn and Chicago swap shutouts, with George Bell topping Chicago’s Orval Overall, 1-0, in the opener. Ed Reulbach comes back in the second game to beat Kaiser Wilhelm, 4-0.
• 1915 – The Cubs end Grover Cleveland Alexander‘s nine-game win streak, 4-0.
• 1918 – In the longest errorless game, Cubs beat Phillies 2-1 in 21 innings.
• 1964 – In Los Angeles, the Cub–Dodger contest becomes the first Pay-TV baseball game as Subscription Television offers the cablecast to subscribers for money. The Dodgers beat Chicago, 3-2, with Don Drysdale collecting 10 strikeouts.
• 1966 – The Cubs clip the Cardinals, 7-2, behind the pitching of Ken Holtzman and the slugging of Billy Williams, who hits for the cycle.

Cubs Birthdays:Herb Hutson, Don Kessinger*. Also notable: Lou Boudreau HOF.

Today in history:

• 1917 – Royal Proclamation by King George V changes name of British Royal family from German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.
• 1937 – Elmer Fudd, originally Egghead, is a Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, first debuting as Egghead in “Egghead Rides Again”.
• 1959 – Paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey discovers the partial skull of a new species of early human ancestor, Zinjanthropus boisei or “Zinj” (now called Paranthropus boisei), which lived in Africa almost 2 million years ago.
• 1967 – Jimi Hendrix quits as opening act of the Monkees’ tour, after playing 7 of a planned 29 shows.
• 2018 – Oldest evidence of bread made from wild grains is discovered by archaeologists in a 14,000-year-old dig in the Black Desert, Jordan

*pictured.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: Offday

Double-A Somerset Patriots: Offday

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades: Offday

Low-A Tampa Tarpons: Offday

Florida Complex League Yankees: Canceled by rain vs. FCL Blue Jays — weather’s the only thing that can keep George Lombard Jr. from homering

Dominican Summer League Yankees:W, 4-3 at DSL Rangers Blue

CF Isaias Castillo 1-4, 2 K, 2 SB
SS Stiven Marinez 1-3, BB, SB
DH Yostin Pena 1-4, HR, RBI, K
2B Juan Torres 1-3, BB
1B Juan Martinez 1-3, BB
C Cesar Lopez 1-2, HR, RBI, BB
RF Manuel Aguilar 0-1, 3 BB, K, CS
3B Adrian Feliz 1-4, K
LF Kendry Diaz 0-4, 3 K

Victor De Leon 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Freddy Lopez 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Dariel Chalas 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K (blown save)
Jose Vargas 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (win)

Dominican Summer League Bombers:W, 13-2 vs. DSL Rangers Red

DH Ruben Castillo 0-3, RBI, BB
PH-DH Kenneth Melendez 1-1, BB
2B Dariel Santana 1-4, BB, 2 K, HBP
C Alessandro Rodriguez 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, HBP
3B Carlos Bello 0-3, 2 BB, K
RF David Carrera 2-2, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB — Carrera pushes his season OPS above 1.000
PH-LF Eddison Charles 0-1, K
1B Poly Ojeda 2-3, 2 BB, K
SS Germayhoni Beltre 0-3, RBI, 2 BB, GIDP, fielding error
LF-RF Sebastian Pinto 1-2, 2 RBI, BB, 2 HBP
CF Alfiery Matos 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, K

Cesar Acosta 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 4 K (win)
Jose Sanchez 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K (hold)
Andre Avila 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Hello, friends.

Are you ready to start to think about the 2027 Orioles? This isn’t a statement about the team’s postseason chances. Rather, MLB released the regular season schedules for every team for next year, setting Orioles Opening Day for March 25 for a season that will run through September 26. That’s early!

The looming expiration of baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement at the beginning of December does mean there is a certain amount of optimism in thinking that the season will actually begin on that date. The owners are going to lock out the players as soon as the deal expires, which will put a halt to player movement until there is a new deal reached.

There is a lot of doomerism that goes around regarding whether there will even be a 2027 season. I don’t go in for that. I think it will probably look a lot like it did the last time around, five years ago. It will take the soft deadline of spring training starting up and regular season games being imperiled to solve whatever brinksmanship is going on. The last round of negotiations actually saw the league cancel a week’s worth of games before later deciding, no, we’ll still play 162, just the scheduled first week will happen last instead.

That’s going to make for a boring December and January for people who like to follow the flow of a baseball offseason. There will be no player movement during the lockout period. No major league free agent signings, no trades. Orioles fans are used to this already from Mike Elias’s typical offseason behavior, though that joke is a bit more stale after Elias did do some major moves over the last offseason.

The situation will probably feel apocalyptic up until the calendar hits February and they start to get serious with the negotiation. If the owners feel like they have leverage as the situation winds to its conclusion, that will probably result in worse things happening to the game of baseball overall. If the players end up with the upper hand, they may be able to make things a little better for themselves. Once a deal comes together, there will be a frantic week or two before players report for spring training, then everything can go from there.

Or at least that’s my guess. Despite my inherent pessimism, things often go worse than I figure they will. This would hardly be the first time. The 2026 Orioles season so far is another such example. I didn’t have high hopes for these dudes, and they’re still disappointing me. It won’t be the last time either.

The non-mathematical second half starts in Houston at 8:10 tonight. We’ll start to find out if they can rally out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves early on. It’s not as deep of a hole as last year, but it’s still a hole and they’re going to have to keep playing well to get out of it. On Thursday evening, the Orioles announced the rotation coming out of the break. Dean Kremer starts tonight, with Trevor Rogers on Saturday and Kyle Bradish on Sunday.

The Orioles also made the roster move putting Blaze Alexander on the injured list yesterday. The team recalled infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand from Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move. The 26-year-old righty batter has played in parts of three MLB seasons before this, compiling a .233/.275/.404 batting line with spotty defensive numbers, mostly at first base. He’ll fit right in. He’s posted a .273/.309/.555 line with the Tides, knocking 17 homers in 61 games. If he hits a lot of homers in a short span for the Orioles, we’ll probably like him. First impressions are worth a lot.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Pondering the future of Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias (Baltimore Baseball)
Headlines like this one appearing in outlets like this one do make me feel like there could be a change if things don’t stay on a better course by season’s end.

Orioles arms need to keep pitching in for second half run (School of Roch)
Kind of as a companion to the above, one thing that will keep Elias from getting fired is if the pitchers that he has assembled deliver better collective results than they did before the break.

Replacement-level killers: Center field, left field (FanGraphs)
The Orioles check in for having the second-worst center field situation of any contending team. If Colton Cowser was hitting overall, this would not be so bad. But, he’s not.

How Blaze Alexander adjusted his swing to become one of MLB’s top bats (The Baltimore Sun)
Let’s just be plain, Alexander isn’t one of MLB’s top bats under any range of “top” that I’d accept. He did very well from May 1 until his injury, though, and his absence is going to be felt. Hopefully the team can manage to get a couple of its still-struggling guys to find adjustments that will work for them too.

Favor to ask MLB: Please start doing better in marketing your young talent (Steve on Baseball)
Steve Melewski thinks that the timing of the draft and Futures Game were not very good. He’s correct. It’s a shame that MLB is burying these events.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1991, Sam Horn set a record by becoming the first position player to strike out six times in a row within the same game. This lamentable feat occurred over the course of a 15-inning Orioles loss to the Royals.

There is one lone former Oriole who was born on this day. Happy 32nd to Josh Lester, who appeared in 11 games for the 2023 Orioles.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Declaration of Independence signer, 5th vice president, and enduring congressional district-shaping namesake Elbridge Gerry (1744), actor James Cagney (1899), pianist Vince Guaraldi (1928), longtime German chancellor Angela Merkel (1954), and DJ Darude (1975).

On this day in history…

In 1203, soldiers of the Fourth Crusade, who had been organized to capture Jerusalem, assaulted Constantinople instead, sending the Byzantine emperor of the time, Alexios III Angelos, into exile.

In 1453, the final battle of the Hundred Years War was waged as the English and French clashed in Castillion. The French victory in this battle led to England losing all possessions on the continent except for Calais. It took until October for the war to officially end.

In 1821, Spain transferred control of Florida to the United States.

In 1918, deposed Russian tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed while being held in captivity in Yekaterinburg.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 17. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (46-46)

NO GAME: SCHEDULE

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (33-54)

NO GAME: SCHEDULE

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (36-49)

NO GAME: SCHEDULE

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (39-46)

NO GAME: SCHEDULE

Rookie: FCL Mets (23-28)

FCL METS 3, FCL CARDINALS 2 (BOX)

• LF D’Andre Smith: 2-2, R, 2 2B, RBI
• RF Mike Tauchman: 0-3
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 1-3, K
• C Yovanny Rodriguez: 0-3
• DH Josmir Reyes: 0-2, BB
• PR-DH Vladi Gomez: 0-0
• CF Bohan Adderley: 1-3, R, SB
• 2B Anthony Frobose: 0-2, R, BB, 2 K
• 1B Yeider Mindiola: 1-2, K
• SS Diover De Aza: 0-1, RBI, K
• P Camden Lohman: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
• P Austin Brown: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• P Wilmer Lugo: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Rookie: DSL Mets Orange (17-17)

DSL METS ORANGE 9, DSL TIGERS II 8 (BOX)

• SS Wandy Asigen: 1-1, 2B
• 2B Roni Garcia: 1-3, R, 3B, RBI
• DH Cleiner Ramirez: 1-3, 2 R, BB
• C Cesar Acosta: 1-3, K, E
• C Jesus Griman: 0-1
• 3B Sebastian Toro: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
• 3B Oscar Pena: 0-0
• RF Jhonael Cuello: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, K
• 1B Yadier Fuentes: 0-1, R, 2 BB
• CF Ryan Rudas: 0-2, R, 2 RBI, BB
• LF Aiberson Blanco: 1-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K
• 2B-SS Jose Padilla: 0-3, K
• P Maxgregori Harvey: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• P Isaac De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• P Randy Guzman: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• P Frandy Lora: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Rookie: DSL Mets Blue (14-19)

DSL ARIZONA BLACK 7, DSL METS BLUE 4 (BOX)

• SS Johnderis Sanchez: 0-1, R, RBI, 2 BB, SB, E
• 2B Dayron Oramas: 1-3, BB, SB
• 1B Jonnhan Sanchez: 0-3, BB, K
• DH Henry Manrique: 0-3, R, BB, K
• C Frank Moreno: 1-2, R, 2B, RBI, BB, K
• CF Royner Bravo: 1-4, RBI, K
• 3B Michalle Mercedes: 0-3, SB, E
• RF Emerson Estevez: 0-3, 2 K
• LF Elvis Teran: 2-3, R
• P Leyvi Rodriguez: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 1 K
• P Jhony Osoria: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

STAR OF THE NIGHT

D’Andre Smith

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Jhony Osoria