Despite The Orioles Committing 5 Errors, They Squeaked Out A Win, Plus Let's Also Check In On The Prospects They Received From Trades
What an ugly win that was last night for the Orioles. They committed 5 errors in the game, including 2 by Caleb Joseph, 2 by Tim Beckham, and 1 by Jonathan Villar in the bottom of the 9th, and somehow pulled out the win. I would say “it is just the Rays”, but the Rays are lightyears ahead of the Orioles on the field and in the standings. With this win, the Orioles are now 35-79, tied with the Royals for the worse record in all of baseball. The offense hasn’t been bad since the All Star break, scoring 101 runs in the 18 games they’ve played since the break, that’s good for 5.3 runs a game. Their 101 runs scored are good for 5th in baseball over that time, and 2nd in the AL.
Who would have thought without Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado, the Orioles offense would be better than when they had them. Now the defense on the other hand has been god awful, I mean just terrible. Flip my thoughts on the offense, who would have thought without Machado and Schoop on the field that the Orioles defense would be this bad? They had 5 errors in their win last and it almost cost them a win, but they look like a little league team out there. It doesn’t help they have a third baseman in right field most of the time, we’re talking about Danny Valencia. Danny V just let a ball drop right in front of him last night on what looked to be a routine fly ball, it allowed the go-ahead run at the time, but the Orioles were able to rebound. This was the first time the Orioles had 5 errors in a game since 1999. I’m old enough to remember a time, just a few years ago, when they had the best defense in baseball, now I want to eat my eyeballs out of my own head when they step onto the carpet in Tampa.
How were they able to rebound? Trey Mancini, that’s how. Top of the 9th with the Orioles down a run, he laced a 2 RBI double that just missed the left fielders glove. That ended up being the game winner in a nice comeback with for the Orioles. Mancini struggled in the first half of the season, but like the Orioles offense, since the ASB, he’s been pretty damn good at the plate. Pre ASB he was hitting .216 with an OBP of .292, since the ASB he is batting .299 including a 4-4 performance with a bomb on his bobble head night a few weeks back, he also has 4 bombs, 10 RBI, and an OBP of .329. Its a nice bounce back for a guy who had a ton of success last year, but fell into a rut this season. Last year he was one of the best hitters in baseball with RISP, last night he showed that with the double. He also told me yesterday that he enjoyed Season 3 of Last Chance U more than the first 2 seasons, I argued with him, but in the end we both agreed Coach Brown is a clown.
The Orioles got another pretty good start from Andrew Cashner as he went 7 innings, gave up 3 runs (1 ER), only 1 walk, but only 2 Ks. He’s been about average for the Orioles, and like Bundy, when he isn’t giving up bombs, he’s solid. The bullpen did their job for the most part, Tanner Scott got in a jam, but was able to limit damage. Mychal Givens worked the ninth for his third save of the year, my guess is he’ll see a decent amount of closing opportunities with the trades the Orioles made the last 2 weeks.
Life After Manny, Schoop, Gausman, Brach, and O’Day
The Orioles got 15 guys back from their trades at the deadline, let’s check in on some of the bigger names they got back and how they are doing in the Orioles organization.
Josh Rogers – AAA Norfolk
Josh came over in the Zach Britton trade from the Yankees and has been great in his 3 starts for the Tides. Last night against his former squad he went 7.1 innings, gave up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, and 3 Ks. Stud. In his 3 starts he’s 1-1 with an ERA of 1.33, a WHIP of 0.93, and opposing batters are only hitting .192 off him. Jim Palmer was raving about this lefty the other day, I hope we get to see him in Baltimore pretty soon.
Jonathan Villar – Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles new second baseman has been pretty good in his time in Baltimore. Since coming over from the Brewers on July 31st he’s 9 for 25 (.360) with a homer and 2 RBIS. 3 of his first 4 games with the Orioles he had multi-hit games and he’s only gone hitless twice since coming over. I like what I see out of him, especially the speed. He’s only stolen 1 base so far, but I expect him to run every chance he gets.
Luis Ortiz – AAA Norfolk
Ortiz was also part of the Jonathan Schoop deal with Milwaukee and had a decent debut with the Tides the other day. 5 innings, 3 runs, 8 hits, 4 walks, and just 1 K. Nothing to write home about, but also not the worst start in the world. I’m intrigued in this kid and want to see a few more starts out of him before properly trying to grade him.
Dillion Tate – AA Bowie
Tate was the big piece in the Britton deal, but hasn’t performed too well in his first few appearances. Everything I read and heard about him from the Yankees side were that he was not projected to be a top of the rotation guy, and may even end up as a closer. Obviously the Yankees pitching situation is much different than the Orioles pitching situation, but his first appearances don’t look too good.
In total he is 0-2 with an ERA of 7.15, has given up 9 earned runs in 10 innings pitched, gave up 17 hits, 2 HR, only 6 Ks in his 11 innings, his WHIP is 1.68 and opponents are hitting .354 off of him. Not great at all. His first start he went 5.1 innings, gave up 8 hits and 4 runs. His second start he was cruising through his first 5 innings, than hit a speed bump. He ended up going 6 innings and gave up 5 runs with only 2 Ks. Need to see Tate finish this season out strong and show why he was a top prospect with the Yankees.
Yusniel Diaz – AA Bowie
Diaz will always be known as the guy the Orioles got back for Manny Machado, whether he likes it or not, that is going to bring pressure. So far that pressure may be getting to him. Last week he had a 4 game stretch where he had 3 multi-hit games, since then he only has 1 hit. In his 15 games with the Baysox, he is hitting .192 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 doubles, 8 walks, 14 Ks, and an OBP of .300. Maybe it’s the new pitchers he is seeing, maybe its pressure, maybe its a slump. It’s a new place for a guy who was just trying to adjust to AA ball, so I’m not worried. I’m actually intrigued to see how he bounces back from this adversity.
Going to be interesting to see how many of these guys make their way up to Baltimore with September call ups just a few weeks away, I expect to see some before as well. The #QuitForWitt campaign is starting up now too, as the Orioles and Royals are going to be fighting for that #1 draft pick and the right to draft Bobby Witt Jr first overall.