The Orioles won the weekend series, Irvin was impressive, and more in today’s Bird Droppings
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you had a nice weekend and that you’re ready to stay up late the next few days. The Orioles start a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels tonight, game time for the first two is 9:38 ET.
Yesterday the Orioles wrapped up their season series with the Royals with a resounding 5-0 victory. They took the weekend series two games to one and went 4-2 against the Royals this year. If the Orioles are to play the Royals again this year, it won’t be until October. And I know I’m not the only one who cringes at the idea of watching the Orioles playing the Royals in the postseason again. I just hate those guys.
If you watched the full series over the weekend you know there are things to be happy about and things to be concerned about with this team. The bullpen gave us a scare in games one and two, but it was nice to see a bounce back yesterday. The starting rotation beyond Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez has been scary, but Cole Irvin pitched excellently yesterday and Dean Kremer did better than his pitching line on Friday.
One thing that seems to be true is that you cannot hold this offense down for long. They have scored 122 runs in 21 games, an average of nearly six runs per game. They’re maybe the best team in baseball at hitting home runs. They do need to take more walks, but hopefully that’s a work in progress. And as long as they keep slugging the way they are, no one is going to notice.
Team chemistry is off the charts and I don’t know about you, but I have been totally charmed by besties Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg. They have very different personalities, with Cowser being goofy and Westburg serious, but as Westburg said in their joint postgame interview yesterday, they are yin and yang.
They are also both playing very good baseball. They both have five home runs (that’s a pace of 38) and have OPSs over 1.000. Yesterday’s starting pitcher for the Royals, Seth Lugo, hadn’t allowed a home run in four starts this year. Cowser and Westburg fixed that in a hurry, hitting back-to-back dingers in the third inning. They adorably celebrated in the dugout by, yes, going back-to-back.
This is a very easy Orioles team to like, and these two are just one of many reasons. I personally haven’t shipped an Orioles bromance like this since the heyday of Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop. If you missed their interview yesterday, check it out now:
The yin to his yang pic.twitter.com/cArmU5IG5H
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 21, 2024
Links
Orioles bats back Cole Irvin in impressive shutout win over Royals – The Baltimore Banner
Colton Cowser was the story over the weekend, from his mishap on Saturday when he threw Craig Kimbrel’s game ball into the fountains, to when he hit his own homer into those fountains yesterday. He’s a lot of fun.
Irvin and bullpen combine on shutout, Cowser has more fountain fun (updated) – Blog
Not to be missed in the news is Cole Irvin was pretty great yesterday. Hear quotes from him here.
The Orioles can’t afford to wait too long for Austin Hays to start hitting in 2024 – Birds Watcher
How long of a leash does Austin Hays get? He is currently day-to-day with a sore calf.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies:
- Rylan Bannon (28) was part of the Manny Machado trade between the Orioles and Dodgers in 2018. He appeared in four games with the Orioles in 2022 and is currently playing at Triple-A in the Mets organization.
- Jimmy Key (63) is best known as a Blue Jay and a Yankee, but he finished his career with two seasons from 1997-98 and was a key member of the ‘97 playoff team. Key member!
- Dave Schmidt (67) pitched for the Orioles from 1987-89, part of his 12-season career.
- John Orsino (b. 1938, d. 2016) appeared in 274 games from 1963-65.
On this day in 1999, the Orioles traded for Jason Johnson. Johnson spent five seasons with the Orioles, putting in his time as a rotation stalwart for some truly bad baseball teams.