The 2025 Orioles team has many signature moves. Not many of them are fun for fans.
Hello, friends.
Forgive me for this repeat observation that the Orioles have inspired me to make again: The truest talent of the 2025 team is the way that they are absolutely incapable of leaving anybody feeling good about them for too long. With the team obliterating the Rays in a 22-8 win on Friday night, the opportunity was there on Saturday to build on some good feelings, stitch together a couple of good games in a row against a good team, maybe re-light the candle for the longshot playoff hopes.
Did they do that? No, of course not. In Saturday’s game, the Orioles trailed, 4-0, before ever even coming up to bat. Their starting pitcher, Zach Eflin, was yanked from the game after just an inning, which the team announced was due to lower back soreness.
It’s not just that they were bad on the way to an 11-3 loss. They were also really stupid. That four-run first by the Rays included a variety of dumb baseball, including missed cutoff men and failure to react properly to a stolen base attempt. Later, Jackson Holliday tried to stretch a single into a double for no benefit, and ended up going into the TOOTBLAN (thrown out on the basepaths like a nincompoop) category. Not to bang too much on Holliday, because he had three hits overall.
We don’t even need to talk about the pitching that had to scramble after Eflin’s injury-shortened outing. A position player had to pitch starting in the eighth inning, again. Luis Vázquez managed to pitch two scoreless innings to preserve a 0.00 ERA, so good for him.
What’s being lined up is a month of July that’s pretty much the worst of all possible outcomes. The team will not make the postseason, so there’s nothing left to hope for there. This does likely portend a sell-off at the end of next month. There’s only one problem. Eflin, if he wasn’t hurt and bad, was going to be probably the most valuable player available. If he goes on the IL, he might not even come off before the deadline, or if he does, he won’t have many chances to show he’s in better form.
Among other Orioles who, as free agents at the end of this season, are bandied about frequently as trade fodder: Cedric Mullins has a negative bWAR; Ryan O’Hearn is slumping over the last month; Tomoyuki Sugano hasn’t been doing well since first getting socked by summertime heat. It is not looking much like there will be a bounteous harvest of other teams pitching prospects that might compete for 2026 rotation spots. So there’s not even that to look forward to!
Whether we like it or not, another game awaits today. I’m assuming so does an injured list move for Eflin, but we’ll what comes along with that. A player hitting the IL would allow the Orioles to bring back Brandon Young without waiting the usual minimum number of days staying back in the minors. Kade Strowd could end up being optioned for a fresh arm as well.
The Orioles will close out this homestand with a last game against the Rays at a 1:35 scheduled start this afternoon. Dean Kremer is the scheduled O’s starter, with Taj Bradley set to pitch for the Rays. Each of these guys has an ERA in the mid-4s. After that game, the Orioles will be off to Texas.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Elias hoping to avoid seller status at trade deadline, says Orioles must be realistic (School of Roch)
This headline makes me think about my grandfather, who was the kind of person who would say, you can wish in one hand, and (you know) in the other, and we’ll see which one fills up first.
First All-Star Game ‘would mean everything’ to O’Hearn (Orioles.com)
Much as this season sucks, Orioles fans need to find a way to rally for the motivation to try to vote Ryan O’Hearn to the starting spot for DH in the AL All-Star Game lineup.
Westburg ‘very day-to-day’, Rivera returns, Suárez update (Baltimore Baseball)
One might wonder if perhaps the Orioles should have just put Jordan Westburg on the injured list to let him rest for ten days instead of optioning Dylan Carlson to add an infielder.
Five things we learned about the Orioles through the first half of the 2025 season (The Baltimore Sun)
They pretty much all fall under the umbrella of the one thing we learned about the Orioles: They’re not very good.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
There are two current Orioles who have a birthday today. Happy 24th to Gunnar Henderson! Also happy 29th to Emmanuel Rivera, who made it back to the MLB roster just yesterday. Big league meal money is probably a nice birthday present.
Former Orioles born on this day: 2020-22 pitcher Travis Lakins Sr., and 2010-11 pitcher Pedro Viola. This is Viola’s 42nd birthday, so happy birthday to him as well.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Along with Gunnar and those others, your birthday buddies for today include: propeller inventor Josef Ressel (1793), Mayo Clinic co-founder William James Mayo (1861), baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew (1936), and comedian Colin Jost (1982).
On this day in history…
In 1613, the original Globe Theatre of London burned to the ground. The theater was owned by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a theatre company for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays.
In 1971, as Russia’s Soyuz 11 craft was about to re-enter the atmosphere, a faulty ventilation valve led to the landing craft depressurizing, leading to the deaths of the three cosmonauts on board. These three men were the first humans to die in space.
In 2007, the first iPhone was released to the public.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 29. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!