Things seem to be going in the right direction as the Baltimore Orioles are getting healthier.
Yes, they have lost four out of five, but that comes after winning seven of eight with a six-game winning streak sandwiched in there.
Key players are returning, and you can already see a different step in the team. While it’s still far from where it needs to be, it’s not as bad as it has been, and at least there is some promise to look forward to and some hope to end the season stronger than recently expected.
With that being said, let’s dive into The Great, The Good and The Ugly from this past week of O’s baseball.
The Great: The O’s Bullpen
What was considered a strong aspect of the team headed into the season is now rounding out to early season predictions, as the Birds’ bullpen went 32.2 innings this week, allowing just two runs (0.55 ERA) into Friday.
Unfortunately, Dean Kremer followed a scoreless inning by Keegan Akin, pitching seven innings and allowing four runs, all of them in the fourth inning.
Even with Kremer’s outing, the bullpen has pitched 38.2 innings this month, allowing just six runs over that time frame for a 1.56 ERA. As one of the top bullpens in baseball, they have easily become the strongest part of this team.
With the return of Andrew Kittredge, Félix Bautista gaining strength and Bryan Baker finally living up to his potential, the Orioles’ hope of turning the season around will hinge on the bullpen picking up the starters, who have seen improvements as of late as well.
The Good: Zach Eflin
Since his return from the injured list, Zach Eflin has looked like an ace many teams have envisioned him to be.
Most recently, Eflin pitched 6.2 innings of one-run ball in the Orioles’ 10-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. It was his third straight quality start and second time in three outings where he pitched into the seventh.
Eflin improved to 6-2 through nine games this season. He has totaled 53 innings while compiling a 4.08 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP while striking out 36 to seven walks.
Eflin is proving his value as a front-line starter and could be the center of trade talk unless the Birds extend him a contract before the end of the year.
The Ugly: The O’s vs. LHP
The Orioles are on pace to become the worst hitting team against left-handed pitching in baseball history.
After facing and losing to Tarik Skubal on Thursday, the O’s are hitting just .202 against lefties this year, ranking last with a .283 slugging percentage and a .562 OPS.
To make matters worse, the Orioles have just three victories this season against left-handed pitching while collecting 14 losses.
With the Birds being 13 games under .500, it’s easy to see that if they were performing better against left-handed pitching, their season would look a lot differently.
The O’s continue their homestand by welcoming the Los Angeles Angels to town for three games. Baltimore is currently in the midst of a 16-game stretch before their next off day.
The team will need their starters to continue pitching six-plus innings and the bullpen to continue being lock-down. It would be nice to string together some series wins through the next 13 games to end the month strong.
Will the bullpen and Zach Eflin continue their recent run of dominance? Can the Birds turn things around against left-handed pitching? Be sure to come back next week for the next edition of The Great, The Good and The Ugly.
What are your thoughts on our selections this week? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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