Well, the month of April ends, and just like the first day of the season, it ended on a high note.
The Baltimore Orioles went 2-4 over their last six games, but they were able to take two of three against the AL-East-leading New York Yankees, cutting their deficit to 5.5 games and leaving the Birds six games under .500.
While it doesn’t completely stave off the beginning of the year, it is a strong indication that things can and might be turning around. The Orioles are now 2-6-2 in series and have scored four or more runs in two of the last three games.
The Birds head into an off day before starting a three-game home series with the Kanas City Royals. Before they start their next series, let’s delve right into this edition of The Great, The Good and The Ugly.
The Great: Tomoyuki Sugano
Three weeks and counting with Sugano taking the great spot, but this time, he might very well have exceeded his previous performances.
In improving to 3-1, Sugano took his game to another level against the rival Yankees and set the tone for a series the Orioles would go on to win.
Usually, Sugano is one who lets the defense do the work by inducing soft contact. This game, he showed that he could also be a power pitcher when needed.
In Sugano’s five innings of work against the Yankees, he allowed five hits, hit a batter and walked his first batter since April 12. But he went into another gear by striking out a season and MLB career-high eight batters.
He showed off his splitter, keeping the Bronx Bombers at bay and not allowing a single run in the outing. Sugano improved to 3-0 in five April starts and finished the month with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.
Sugano is now 3-1 through six starts with an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.15 across 33 innings of work. He is holding opponents to a .252/.296/.417/.713 slash and has two quality starts while allowing no more than three runs in any outing. He has struck out 17 batters while walking just six.
Sugano has easily established himself as the ace of the staff through the first 30 games of the season. Hopefully, that pattern continues to follow.
The Good: Félix Bautista
Félix Bautista has had few opportunities to start the season as he returns from Tommy John Surgery. The one thing that The Mountain has displayed in his outings is how much the Orioles missed his presence last season.
Though he picked up only two saves in the two series, Bautista did so in exciting and dominant fashion. Both opportunities came against the Yankees in one-run games, and the emotion that Bautista exuded after each save bodes well.
Bautista picked up his saves in grand fashion. He struck out Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger to end game one and then struck out Trent Grishom, leaving Judge waiting in the on-deck circle in the series finale.
Bautista now has converted all five of his save opportunities and has appeared in nine games this season. He has pitched nine innings, striking out 11 and posting an ERA of 2.00 and a WHIP of 1.22.
All of his saves have come over his last seven appearances, and his fastball is touching 99 mph again. Bautista appears to be regaining his swagger, which is something this team needs greatly.
When that Omar Whistle sounds, get ready because Bautista is proving once again why he is one of the best in the game and also ensuring the Orioles that he is regaining the dominance that he has during the 2023 season.
The Ugly: The Injured List
One thing that has plagued the Orioles through the first 30 games of the season is an injured list that appears to keep growing by the day.
This past Monday, it was announced that both Jordan Westburg and Gary Sánchez joined the ever-growing list, giving the Orioles 13 players from the 40-man roster on the IL.
- Jordan Westburg (hamstring)
- Gary Sánchez (wrist)
- Grayson Rodriguez (lat strain)
- Zach Eflin (lat strain)
- Trevor Rogers (knee subluxation)
- Andrew Kittredge (knee debridement)
- Tyler O’Niell (neck inflammation)
- Colton Cowser (thumb fracture)
- Cody Poteet (shoulder inflammation)
- Albert Suárez (subscapularis strain)
- Kyle Bradish (Tommy John Surgery)
- Tyler Wells (UCL repair)
- Chayce McDermott (lat strain)
The Orioles lead the American League with the most players on IL, and the injury bug has also hit the minors, giving the Orioles nearly 50 players in their organization on the IL for various reasons.
While this is no excuse for the way the season started, it does play a role and has also been a big part of the rotational struggles and overuse of the bullpen.
With May arriving, hopefully, the baseball gods will let the Birds get healthy and return to the team that holds postseason and World Series expectations.
At 12-18, the Orioles do have some work to do, but it still is a long season and one that the O’s are very much a part of now that they finished April winning their series against the Yankees.
With the Birds set to face the Royals over the weekend and then head to Minnesota for a date with the Twins, who will step up and provide the first great moments of May?
Will Sugano continue his growth and emergence as an ace? Will Bautista continue towards the form where he dominated baseball in 2023? Can the Orioles start to return to health?
Be sure to tune in next week for the next edition of The Great, The Good and The Ugly.
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