At the end of the 2018 season, the Baltimore Orioles were abysmal and easily the worst team in baseball. The reset button was pushed, and an announced rebuild, from the bottom on up, was put into motion.
During the last five years, the Orioles have built the top farm system in baseball led by franchise cornerstones Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson and supported by veterans Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins.
Today, the Orioles stand alone in first place, two games up on the Tampa Bay Rays, another team with a strong system to support a talented big league roster. Starting Thursday, the first place O’s, who hold the second best record in the majors with the third lowest payroll, will host the Rays in an AL East four-game battle with first place up for grabs.
The Orioles hold a 6-3 edge in the season series, which is one of the biggest since the turn of the century. The Birds need just one win to secure the tiebreaker against Tampa Bay.
The vibes will be great at Camden Yards this weekend, as O’s legend Adam Jones will retire in orange and black on Friday night. But maybe even bigger for this club, top prospect Heston Kjerstad has officially been called-up to help take down the Rays.
The Orioles will send team ace Kyle Bradish (11-6, 3.03 ERA) and his team-leading 16 quality starts to open the series. He will be followed by Jack Flaherty (8-8, 4.98 ERA), Grayson Rodriguez (5-4, 4.88 ERA) and Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.25 ERA) to close the series.
The Rays will counter with Aaron Civale (7-3, 2.96 ERA), Zack Eflin (14-8, 3.53 ERA), Tyler Glasnow (9-5, 3.15 ERA) and Zack Littell (3-6, 4.25 ERA).
ROSTER MOVES
The Orioles made it official, as they have selected the contract of outfielder Heston Kjerstad from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear No. 13 and his first appearance will be his major league debut.
Kjerstad, 24, has been on fire through two levels of minor league ball this year. Across 122 games, the slugging left-hander slashed .303/.376/.528 with 21 home runs and 55 RBIs. He totaled 145 hits, including 29 doubles and eight triples, while scoring 87 runs and walking 42 times.
To make room on the 28-man roster, the O’s have optioned outfielder Ryan McKenna to Triple-A Norfolk. In order to put Kjerstad on the 40-man roster, the O’s have recalled Terrin Vavra from Triple-A Norfolk and have placed him on the 60-day injured list.
Also, the club has recalled right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned left-hander Nick Vespi to Triple-A Norfolk.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
With such a big series ahead, there is many directions to go in deciding what the BATTERY ❌ -FACTOR should be.
Unfortunately, after dropping the series to the St. Louis Cardinals, when the offense scored two runs over the final two games, the Oriole offensive production almost has to be the BATTERY ❌-FACTOR.
The O’s offense is averaging 5.15 runs per game (fifth in baseball) and is hitting .259 as a team with a .325 on-base percentage. They will face a Rays pitching staff that has a 3.77 ERA (third in baseball), which is why the offense will need to step up big time to help determine the outcome of the series and the division as a whole.
Key bats like Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins will have to pick up production, and the likes of Gunnar Henderson, Austin Hays and Ramón Urías will have to continue the type of production they’ve had over the last two weeks.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
The first game of this ever important series will be on FOX, with a start time of 7:15 p.m. EST. Friday and Saturday will have 7:05 p.m. EST start times, with Sunday’s game slated for 1:35 p.m. EST.
On Friday, September 15, Adam Jones will officially retire as an Oriole in front of a sold-out crowd at Camden Yards. As per request, Jonesy asked for fans to wear black for the game, and The Baltimore Battery will be in attendance, helping cheer on our Birds.
Will the Orioles force the Rays out to sea, or will Tampa Bay flood The Nest and slow the Orioles’ postseason push? It all starts tonight from Charm City.
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