Well, it’s over. The Orioles’ sweep-less streak has come to an end after 106 series of winning at least one game.
And just like that, we move on. Now, it’s onto Chicago to face the White Sox, who record-wise are the worst team in baseball.
Unfortunately, it seems the O’s starting rotation will be without John Means for a bit, as he underwent testing on his left elbow that he felt discomfort in during his start on Wednesday. The Birds placed the veteran left-hander on the 15-day injured list with what they are calling a left forearm strain.
However, the rotation for the Birds will be unaffected in this series by that news. To kick things off on Thursday evening will be Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 3.15 ERA), followed by Corbin Burnes (4-2, 2.56 ERA) in game two, with Dean Kremer (3-4, 4.32 ERA) and Kyle Bradish (0-0, 2.41 ERA) in games three and four, respectively.
For Burnes, this will be his second career start in Guaranteed Rate Field. In his first, while a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Burnes faced 22 hitters, struck out 11 of them and allowed just one hit.
Luckily for the O’s, arms like Rodriguez and Burnes are exactly who you want on the bump after a three-game skid.
Again, like we have said in many Series Previews during the month of May, the Oriole offense just needs to wake up. So far this month, the Birds are hitting a collective .218 with a combined .681 OPS. The most concerning part is that the teams’ .280 on-base percentage. It doesn’t matter who is on the mound; this will not get it done.
This offense will be tasked with facing Mike Clevinger (0-2, 5.56 ERA) in game one, followed by Chris Flexen (2-4, 5.48 ERA), Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.10 ERA) and finally, Garrett Crochet (5-4, 3.75 ERA).
ROSTER MOVES
As noted above, the Orioles have placed left-hander John Means on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm strain. The team recalled right-hander Jonathan Heasley from Triple-A Norfolk.
With the Tides, Heasley posted a 0.45 ERA in seven games, allowing just one run over 20 innings pitched with a 0.70 WHIP.
https://x.com/NorfolkTides/status/1792259835683012947?t=09QziSFeHST8dXLE90SyNQ&s=19
The O’s also made a late night trade last night, sending right-hander Mike Baumann and catcher Michael Pérez to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for catching prospect Blake Hunt.
Hunt was Seattle’s No. 23 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and is slashing .293/.372/.533 with a .905 OPS, nine extra-base hits and 20 RBIs.
BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR
The BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR for this series will be simple. Just get on base.
The offense is hitting a decent bit better this year with runners on as opposed to without. However, having runners on is happening so much less this month that is has been a detriment. Being a little more selective at the plate will be crucial.
The offense collectively have been giving opposing pitchers outs and letting them work in their favor on the mound far too much. In turn, the offense’s overall production has dropped significantly. The walk and strikeout rates have stayed consistent this month, but the team’s BABIP has dropped significantly, and that comes from the offense not putting themselves in the best hitting counts and having to play defense with the bat more than offense.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
https://x.com/Orioles/status/1793729933405237394?t=URGJoJ90fq9URfd4VzVkCA&s=19
This four-game set will begin Thursday evening, with games one and two scheduled for 7:40 p.m. EST and games three and four set for 2:10 p.m. EST.
Friday’s match-up will be exclusively broadcast on Apple TV+, but you can catch the remainder of the series on MASN or on your local Orioles Radio Network station.
How do you see this series playing out? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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