It was a subpar week for the Baltimore Orioles as they won 3 of 6 against division foes, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays. After dropping 2 of 3 in Toronto, the O’s bounced back to take 2 of 3 in Tampa. In fact, their performance in Tampa helped propel them to the number one team in all of baseball, as they became the first team to reach 70 wins at the end of Saturday’s game.
It was an average week offensively, as the birds put up 7 runs in half their games this week. However, they did not manage to put up many runs in the other 3 starts, only confirming that this team continues to rely on their bats to win games with the number of pitching injuries we have seen. This lineup as a whole continues to be well-balanced and getting production from top to bottom. We did see some great pitching performances this week to help keep this team moving in the right direction. However, going .500 on any given week is not good enough for this team that was built to make a deep run toward a World Series. There were several debatable moves made by manager Brandon Hyde throughout the week that may have contributed to some of the O’s losses this week.
Nonetheless, there is always some room for optimism when you have a group of young, talented players like this ball club has. Let’s take a look at this week’s who’s hot and who’s not:
Batting
Who’s Hot: Colton Cowser
Colton Cowser has been a completely new man ever since taking over as the leadoff man for this Orioles team. Despite only batting .214 this week, he continued to produce in the leadoff spot, blasting 2 home runs and driving in 5 runs on 14 total bases. He also has turned into one of the Orioles’ most reliable defenders.
Cowser is currently the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year, which would be the 2nd straight year an Oriole takes home that honor. Any question of whether Cowser deserves a spot on this team after his terrible stretch has been put to rest. He has become one of the most consistent and reliable hitters for the O’s since the All-Star break and has filled the leadoff spot well. Pair that with his stellar defense, and Cowser will continue to play a huge role down the stretch for this Orioles team trying to make the World Series. Cowser will look to get that average up a bit and reduce some strike-outs next week at home against the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox.
Weekly Stats: .214 Avg / 2 HR / 5 RBI / 1 BB / 7 K / 1 2B / 0 3B / 14 Total Bases / 0 SB
Who’s Not: Gunnar Henderson
It was not the best week for star short stop, Gunnar Henderson. The man who was in the MVP race all season long has certainly cooled off a bit in recent weeks. Gunnar began the first 4 games of the week with no hits but began to bounce back with back-to-back 3 hit outings to close out the week. He unfortunately had no home runs or RBI to go along with those hits, as he collected 8 total bases on the week and only walked twice.
There is no doubt that Gunnar Henderson is the best player on this young Orioles team and will be for a very long time. He has shown resilience after slumping, and we can already see that he is beginning to bounce back after his back-to-back 3 hit performances. But there is no denying that the team and fans alike would feel better if Gunnar was helping drive some more runs in for an offense that has been very streaky since June. Gunnar will look to bounce back this week back at Camden Yards.
Weekly Stats: .250 Avg / 0 HR / 0 RBI / 2 BB / 4 K / 1 2B / 0 3B / 8 Total Bases / 0 SB
Pitching
Who’s Hot: Albert Suarez
Nobody on the Orioles has stepped up when it matters most, more than Albert Suarez. A relatively unknown player coming into the season, expected to be a fringe bullpen contributor at best, has been one of the most reliable starters for the team. After Grayson Rodriguez was scratched just minutes before his planned start against the Blue Jays, Suarez made a spot start, and went 5 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 in a no-decision. He then followed it up with 6.2 scoreless innings against the Rays on Sunday in a no-decision. He only allowed 4 hits and 1 walk in that outing while striking out 5.
With the injury to Rodriguez, Suarez will certainly be relied upon to be a big part of this rotation for the next month or so at least. At this rate, I would not be shocked to see Suarez contribute in a big way in the postseason either. Suarez actually has the most shutout starts of any AL pitcher this year with 7. He is ahead of guys like Tarik Skubal and Corbin Burnes in that category. With the number of injuries and amount of inconsistency from the Orioles’ rotation this year, Suarez will need to keep this hot stretch up if the O’s are to continue fighting for the AL East title. He will hope to have another solid outing against the Red Sox at Camden Yards next weekend.
Weekly Stats: 11.2 IP / 6 H / 3 BB / 0.00 ERA / 11 K / 0-0 / 0 HR
Who’s Not: Dean Kremer
I have mentioned the number of injuries to the Orioles pitching staff more than a few times this year. That is why it is crucial to identify what starters will be reliable come the playoffs. Dean Kremer did not help his argument this week. Kremer took a loss against the Blue Jays after allowing 5 runs off of 4 hits and 5 walks in just 4.1 innings pitched. The only bright side of the outing for Kremer this week was the fact that he struck out 6. Other than that, there was nothing too encouraging.
Kremer is currently the Orioles’ 3 starter and is expected to be the 4th man in the rotation come playoff time. However, if Kremer continues to struggle and shows no sign of consistency, he could see himself out of that position to someone like Albert Suarez or Trevor Rogers. Kremer will continue to be pivotal in the division chase over the next 1.5 months, and he will need stronger performances than the one this week to be a contributor of any sort. Kremer will look to bounce back next week.
Weekly Stats: 4.1 IP / 4 H / 5 BB / 10.98 ERA / 6 K / 0-1 / 1 HR
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