BALTIMORE—What happened? On Tuesday, Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias was asked about starting pitchers Charlie Morton and Dean Kremer, who are off to difficult starts.
“They both look fine in terms of their stuff and velocity and their track records that they’ve laid down at the major league level certainly suggest that there’s good reason to believe that this is an aberration,” Elias said. “But, yeah, especially while we have pitcher injuries, you also don’t want slow starts from some of your proven major league starters at the same time. But unfortunately, that’s what we’ve gotten. So, they both have a chance to get the turnaround going this turn through the rotation, and I hope that happens.”
Kremer will get another chance on Wednesday night. The 41-year-old Morton lost his fourth straight, allowing five runs in five-plus innings, and the Orioles dropped their eighth in the last 11, 6-3 to the Cleveland Guardians before a chilly 14,203 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles are 6-10, and four games below .500 for the first time since July 7th, 2022.
“I certainly haven’t see any signs of panic, and we’re continuing to retain the same approach on a night-to-night basis,” Elias said. “I try not to get too high when things are going great, and try not to get down when we’re losing. That’s how you have to approach baseball. That said, we’ve got to stay on top of what we do, and look at how we do things and why we do things, and where we do things, and try to be in a mode of looking to improve at all times. So, we’re doing that, too.
“But, look, we’re in a very competitive division and despite our record right now, there’s not a ton of separation in the division … and we’ve still got a great chance and a ton of games ahead of us. So, we’re going to push ahead, we’re going to get as healthy as possible. The guys who aren’t performing the way they’re used to, we’re going to get them on track, and we’ll see where we’re at here a little later this season.”
Morton is 0-4 with an 8.84 ERA.
“I go out there and I’m giving up four or five runs every start,” he said. “That’s four starts right there where — I don’t know how many games we’ve played, but it’s like, ‘Man, I’m making it tough on our team.’ It’s like I don’t know where we’re at if not for me. I don’t know. All I know is that the room is full of good people, and really talented people. So that, in my experience, has resulted in really good outcomes.”
Morton allowed a run in the third on José Ramírez’s sacrifice fly, three in the fourth, two by Steven Kwan’s home run. Morton was removed after Gabriel Arias led off the sixth with a single, and Cionel Pérez allowed that run to score, too.
Scott Blewett, who was claimed off waivers, pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his Orioles debut. He gave up a hit and struck out two.
“I’ve watched this team from afar. Young, talented team, so I’m excited to get going and help this team any way I can,” he said.
Logan Allen (1-1) gave up two hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Cedric Mullins hit his fourth home run in the seventh. Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle doubled in the eighth, and Gary Sánchez’s RBI single made it 6-3.
Hyde has been through a lot with the Orioles, and he’s trying to make sense of it.
“You have honest conversations, but you also stay positive,” Hyde said. “We have a lot of talent in that room and just not playing our best baseball and we’re not putting things together. We’re having a tough time keeping us in the game early.
“But we’re not helping us out offensively, either. We haven’t played our best defense. I thought we played well tonight. But there’s a long way to go in the season. We’ve got to keep our heads up. You’ve got to stay positive. Be honest, also, about some things, but stay positive. Try to correct some things.”
Jorge Mateo doubled in the seventh inning, his first hit of the season.
Will Orioles extend any young players? Elias said they’re working on it.
“I’m aware of what’s going on, and I’m aware of the conversation around us. I guess I’ll be a little more revelatory than I have been,” he said. “This is something we’re working on. There’s guys on this team that we would like to have on this team longer than they’re currently slated for. It’s not a point-and-shoot thing. It’s case by case.
“There’s different players, different skill levels, different representatives, different philosophies around how to handle players at different age levels. We’ve got some really good ones, and on top of that, we’ve had a very recent ownership change after a kind of protracted thing during a rebuild.
“These guys are great, but they’re relatively new. There’s only so much I can say about it other than it’s something we want to do if it makes sense, that we are working on it and if it happens, we’ll be out here talking about it. It’s certainly not something that I can or want to force unilaterally, so we’ll continue to work on it. In the meantime, the players, I think they love being on this team together, and the way we let them be themselves and play and surround them with good players and good resources. I hope we have a great season, but we will work on the business behind the scenes the best I can, and hopefully we have something at some point that makes sense.”
What does it mean? Elias still believes in his team, but some of his prime additions in the offseason — Morton, Sánchez, Mateo and outfielder Ramón Laureano aren’t performing well.
Laureano is 1-for-13 (.077). Sanchez is hitting .105, and Mateo has an .071 average.
“Believe in some guys’ track records,” Hyde said. “Some of those right-handers had some pretty good numbers against left-handed pitching and it just hasn’t happened this year for whatever reason. Keep doing the best we can.”
What’s the word? “Overall, would like to have a better record at this point, and there’s a couple of close games that we feel like we could have won. But still see an enormous level of talent in this team. Still see a playoff team. We’re going to keep pushing away and working to get things back into place, to the degree that they aren’t in place, and doing everything we can across the organization to improve things and improve our record, and I think it’s going to happen.”-Elias on Orioles’ early season
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Kyle Gibson allowed three runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings as Triple-A Norfolk lost to Omaha 9-8. Second baseman Vimael Machin had three hits.
The Orioles released left-handed pitcher Luis González. He was designated for assignment on Monday.
Centerfielder Douglas Hodo II hit a two-run home run and first baseman Creed Willems had two RBIs as Double-A Chesapeake beat Richmond, 4-1.
Ryan Long pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, striking out three without a walk.
Trey Gibson allowed eight runs, three unearned on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings as High-A Aberdeen lost to Brooklyn, 8-7.
Designated hitter Maikol Hernández drove in three runs in Single-A Delmarva’s 11-10 loss to Carolina.
What’s the stat of the game? 1-for-20. Jordan Westburg is 1 for his last 20.
What’s next? Dean Kremer (1-2, 8.16) will face Gavin Williams (1-0, 3.46) on Wednesday night at 6:35.