Did you enjoy the Orioles’ day off on Thursday? Good, because we’re not seeing another one for a while.
On Friday evening, the Orioles kick off a series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Not only is it the first against the Rays this season, but it also marks a stretch where the O’s will play 30 games in 31 days.
The start off this stretch will be Albert Suarez (2-0, 1.53 ERA) in game one, Kyle Bradish (1-0, 1.75 ERA) in game two and finally Cole Irvin (5-2, 2.84 ERA) in game three.
For the Rays, Aaron Civale (2-4 5.72 ERA) will take the bump in game one, followed by Taj Bradley (1-2, 3.13 ERA) in game two and Zack Littell (2-3, 3.03 ERA) in game three.
Last year, many Oriole players had monumental moments against the Rays, including Gunnar Henderson. In 13 games last year, Henderson had 12 hits, four of which were home runs, an .880 OPS, as well as the most electric shallow outfield triple you’ll ever see against Tampa Bay.
However, to find success in this series, it will take more than just Henderson.
BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR
The BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR for this series will be the O’s offense’s ability to take pressure off the pitching staff to start this long stretch of games.
In the previous series against Boston, the offense finally seemed to give their starters some run support, and it will be needed even more in these games.
We have gone over this before, and it has improved recently, but the walk rate and pitches seen per plate appearance need to be better. Doing this will keep traffic on the base paths for the bottom part of the lineup, which has been great for the last few games.
Not only that, but some run support and longer innings from the offense are really what this whole pitching staff will need for the next couple of weeks, especially with only one off day in the entire month of June.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
Game one of this series starts on Friday evening at 7:05 p.m. EST, with games two and three starting at 4:05 and 1:35 p.m. EST, respectively. You can catch each game on MASN2 or on your local Orioles Radio Network station.
UPDATE: Orioles GM Mike Elias said in a press conference this afternoon that John Means and Tyler Wells will be out for the remainder of the 2024 season and will both need UCL repair surgery.
He also stated that Dean Kremer has an inflamed tricep and could return sometime in the middle of June. He will more than likely need at least one rehab assignment outing, according to Elias.
How do you feel about this series against the Rays? 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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