The Baltimore Orioles season has started with a bit more bumps than originally expected.
Between injuries to start the season, (Grayson Rodriguez, Andrew Kittredge and Gunnar Henderson), plus injuries that have happened after the season started, (Colton Cowser, Albert Suárez and Zach Eflin), the Birds are building losses faster than they have fallen to the cellar of the AL East.
The Orioles are now 5-8 on the season and have lost four of their last six games. The offense either blows teams away or completely disappears, causing an enigmatic team to be more frustrating than ever before.
As the Birds have their off day on Thursday before returning to The Nest, let’s take a look at The Great, The Good and The Ugly from this past week.
The Great: Tomoyuki Sugano
After a 2-4 road trip, the Orioles have very little to find positives in. But there is one that stands out from the foray away from home, and that is 35-year-old rookie starter Tomoyuki Sugano.
After failing to reach the five-inning plateau in his big league debut, Sugano showed the Orioles and the league why he could be a crucial piece to the starting rotation this year.
Sugano left his first start after four innings of work due to hand cramps, when he allowed only two earned runs but was unable to progress further in the game.
This time, Sugano made sure there was no repeat by going 5.1 innings against the Kansas City Royals and yielding only one run to pick up his first big league win.
Sugano, who will open the weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays at home, is now 1-1 with a respectable 2.89 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 9.1 innings of work. Of the nine hits allowed, only two of them have gone for extra bases.
With Zach Eflin now on the IL, Sugano becomes one of the key components of the rotation going forward.
The Good: Adley Rutschman
One of the few bright spots to start the season has been former No. 1 overall draft pick and top prospect, catcher Adley Rutschman.
One of the team leaders, Rutschman has started the season with a 12-game on-base streak and goes into the Blue Jays series with a six-game hitting streak.
Rutschman went 5-for-18 (.278 avg) with a double, one RBI and three walks this past week. The switch-hitting backstop has reached base multiple times in six of the 12 games he’s played and is reaching base at a .365 clip.
For the season, Rutschman is slashing .267/.365/.422/.787 with two home runs and four RBIs. He appears to have put his second-half struggles behind him from last season and looks to continue improving this year.
The Ugly: Cionel Pérez
It feels so long ago since Cionel Pérez was one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball.
After struggling last season before an IL stint, Pérez righted the ship to finish off strong. This season, Pérez is back to struggling, and it might be shortening the leash that is left on the soon-to-be 29-year-old.
Pérez’s latest outing allowed four base runners across 1.1 innings of work while giving up a run and increasing opponents to a .409 batting average against. He allowed six runs in 2.1 innings of work this week, as opponents hit .410 against him.
For the season, Pérez is barely throwing 60% of his pitches for strikes (59.6%). He has had one outing out of five where he has not allowed a run and has given up eight walks to only three strikeouts.
Pérez has now pitched five innings across five games with a 16.20 ERA and a 3.40 WHIP. Opponents are slashing .409/.581/.727/1.308 and hitting a .444 BABIP.
Needless to say, Pérez has to find a way to turn things around, or he may find his way designated for assignment.
The Orioles will return home and start a nine-game homestand beginning with the Blue Jays on Friday.
Will Sugano continue to be a veteran anchor for the staff? Will Rutschman continue his strong start to the year? Can Pérez turn things around and save not only his season but his job?
Tune in next week to see who steps up, who continues to stay strong and who needs to forget about the week on the next edition of The Great, The Good and The Ugly.
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