The Orioles are just more than two-thirds of the way through the 2026 season and it remains difficult to figure out just how to describe them. They are a collection of underachievers who are playing much worse than the sum of their ostensibly-talented parts. They are a resilient group of underdogs who refuse to be sunk by their obvious, seemingly-fatal flaws. They don’t lack for those fatal flaws, particularly a defense that’s got them on pace to give up the most unearned runs in Orioles franchise history. They are 2.5 games out of a wild card spot with three games to go until the trade deadline.
Yesterday’s absurd rollercoaster of a win over the Tigers was wholly representative of the season. Check out my recap for more of the confusing, maddening, yet ultimately lovely totals. The defense was terrible. The bullpen was a disaster. They got shut out for six innings against an extremely tough lefty in the form of Tarik Skubal. The catchers who are trying to fill in for Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo were regularly exposed to clutch situations where they were the last people you’d want to see batting.
All of that is true, and yet: The Orioles won the game. It was as close to a must-win game as you can get at the end of July, coming against another fringe wild card contender against whom they really, really needed to find a way to take a series on the road. They were coming off of absolutely getting their butts kicked on Tuesday night. They had to find a way to win with Rogers on the mound and they did it. They might have knocked the Tigers into selling territory by doing so, guaranteeing that Skubal will be traded to the Dodgers or something. The stakes were high, the pressure was on, and they won.
After the game, manager Craig Albernaz told reporters, “I like our guys.” The phrase came up often in the Buck Showalter years, Buck’s way of pumping up the clubhouse and deflecting from the fact that his boss was not making big signings or trades that helped the team. They put it on a giveaway t-shirt – remember when they actually gave away t-shirts multiple times per year? – that I’ve still got in my gym rotation, a word art Oriole Bird on the back with the Bird made out of names of players who were on the 40-man roster. I didn’t like all of those guys, but I liked most of them. I don’t like all of this year’s guys either, but I want to like all of them.
Albernaz has been steadfast about his belief in these guys, so much so that he has seemed foolish at times. He caused a minor stir earlier in the season in the middle of a bit of a rough patch for the team when he proclaimed that anybody who wants to jump ship, don’t ask to come back on. The season would be going better if the players were validating his faith more often.
Instead, we get stuff like Gunnar Henderson staying near the top of the lineup no matter how often he struggles, Rico Garcia continuing to get high leverage spots he keeps messing up, and so many other things. It’s often been a bad product. Occasionally, there are signs of improvement. Jackson Holliday is lately starting to look like he might be building up into a player who deserved to be the #1 prospect in the game.
I don’t know if it’s going to be enough. I certainly don’t think Mike Elias is going to make additions that will help it all be enough. I have the sneaking suspicion that Elias could prematurely pull the plug even if the team is not that far out of the race when the day of the deadline dawns, like he did with the 2022 Orioles.
The top of the wild card math isn’t going to change today. The Guardians, who the Orioles are chasing, are also off today. Elias could surprise everyone and swing a deal; it wouldn’t be the first time and it probably won’t be the last. Nothing says he has to wait until 5:45 on August 3 to improve (or implode) the roster. Short of that, today is the calm before the weekend storm. The next Orioles opponent, the Phillies, are recently reeling. They’ve lost eight of ten. The O’s are going to have to find a way to win two of three.
This week, we’re running a poll asking whether Elias will still be the GM this week. Have you voted yet? If not, make your voice heard here:
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Trevor Rogers doesn’t want to be traded at the deadline (The Baltimore Sun)
Unfortunately for Rogers and also for the rest of us, what he wants doesn’t matter all that much. It’s about what Mike Elias assesses as the team’s chances compared against what other teams offer for Rogers.
With deadline drawing closer, trade talk surrounds Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
My opinion is that if you hear or read some headline about trade talk about Adley Rutschman or Jackson Holliday, you just shouldn’t take it seriously. Even if there is a sell-off, I don’t think it’s going to be those guys.
Caden Hunter is enjoying a meteoric rise up Orioles prospect rankings (Orioles.com)
The 2025 sixth round pick just got promoted to Double-A, and he pitched seven shutout innings with ten strikeouts in his first start there. Dare we hope that Elias has finally figured out how to draft useful pitchers after seven years of trying?
Chris Davis reflects on ‘Crush Davis’ days and more (Baltimore Baseball)
With Davis getting inducted into the team Hall of Fame this weekend, he’s making the rounds. I think whoever decides these things was determined to induct Storm Davis and thought it would be fun to induct Chris at the same time. That wouldn’t have been my choice.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1954, third baseman Bob Kennedy hit the first grand slam in Orioles history in a 10-0 win over the Yankees. The game was also notable because the paid attendance put the O’s over the top of any year of attendance for the previous incarnation, the St. Louis Browns.
In 2011, the Orioles traded Koji Uehara to the Rangers for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter. A lot of home runs resulted from that trade.
In 2024, the Orioles made several trades, bringing in three players: Eloy Jiménez, Trevor Rogers, and Gregory Soto. Who knows, maybe another Rogers trade will happen today.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025 one-game reliever Cody Poteet, 1977-80 outfielder Pat Kelly, and 1955-62 catcher (and Herc from The Wire favorite) Gus Triandos.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: novelist Emily Brontë (1818), automaker Henry Ford (1863), baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel (1890), actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947), musician Kate Bush (1958), TV chef Alton Brown (1962), moviemaker Christopher Nolan (1970), and gold medal beach volleyballer Misty May-Treanor (1977).
On this day in history…
In 1419, an angry crowd threw seven members of the Prague city council out of windows, killing them. This is recognized to history as the First Defenestration of Prague.
In 1619, the Virginia General Assembly met for the first time in Williamsburg. This marked the first time a representative body from one of the colonizing European powers met in North America.
In 1729, Baltimore was founded.
In 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank in the aftermath. 883 members of the crew died as a result of this attack, though many survived the sinking only to perish in the waters over the following four days, before an aircraft spotted the survivors. In popular culture, this event is narrated in the movie Jaws by a character who survived.
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 30. Have a safe Thursday.