The Orioles have started a stretch of baseball that will see them have just two days off over the next month-and-a-half.
The Orioles faced the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox this past week, and there were some ups and downs during the two series.
The Orioles 106-series sweepless streak came to an end in the series against the Cardinals, which had numerous rain delays, odd bounces and some unlucky moments. The Birds were able to right the ship and sweep the ChiSox in four games to end the week 4-3.
Let’s see who our standouts were and who would like the week to disappear all together.
The Great: Kyle Bradish
It wasn’t long ago when many people were worried that Bradish might not even pitch this year. Five starts later, he’s proving those doubters wrong.
This week, Bradish showed how valuable he truly is by flirting with a no-hitter against Chicago and allowing just one run against St. Louis.
Bradish pitched five innings, allowing a run and four hits against the Cardinals, then followed that up with seven no-hit innings with a career-high-tying 11 strikeouts to pick up his first victory on the year.
https://x.com/MLB/status/1794850520953496043?t=P6sLWWfiRGdlgt2HKou_Cw&s=19
The crafty right-hander totaled 12 innings, four hits and one run (0.75 ERA) while striking out 17 batters with five walks for the week.
Bradish has not allowed more than two runs in any outing this year while holding opponents to a .176 batting average. He is now 1-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 25.2 innings, collecting 34 strikeouts to just 11 walks.
The Good: Ryan Mountcastle
One of the fun parts of being on this Orioles team is the amount of talent that is coming through the system. A sometimes overlooked player who is only in his fourth big league season is Ryan Mountcastle.
Mountcastle has carried over his second half surge from 2023 to the 2024 season and this week showed how valuable he is to the team.
Mounty collected hits in five of the six games he played, including a four-hit effort against the White Sox to raise his average from .256 to .271 on the year.
https://x.com/kambrice1tv/status/1793823632038199371?t=W6Z6_XOgDk0Q5gC3tSzysw&s=19
In the midst of a five-game hitting streak (six games after three hits against Boston on May 27), Mountcastle was 8-for-21 (.381 avg), collecting three doubles, two RBIs and scoring three runs.
The O’s slugging first baseman is now slashing .271/.309/.459/.768 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in the season. Mountcastle has 14 doubles and one triple, as 36 of his 52 hits this season are for extra bases.
The Bad: Anthony Santander
One of the better power hitters on the team, Santander is off to a slow start this season, but that seems to be dragging into the second quarter now.
Santander did hit two home runs and collect four RBIs on the road trip, but he also went 3-for-22 (.136 avg).
https://x.com/Orioles/status/1794466951017672946?t=7iB-QHk9c-nE3b0AX_9eXw&s=19
For the month of May, Santander is slashing .183/.275/.423/.698. He does have five home runs, two doubles and 11 RBIs for the month. When he hits the ball, he’s making it count, but he’s striking out 26% of the time for the month.
For the season, Santander is slashing .201/.284/.425/.709 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs. He has a total of 36 hits, with 21 of them going for extra bases.
The Orioles will play six games this week, two home series against the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays, respectively.
Will Santander turn things around? Will Bradish continue his dominance? Who will make our list next week?
What do you think of our selections? 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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