Two hours before the Orioles would lose their seventh straight game and their 18th in a row on the road behind shoddy fundamentals, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias talked about other issues regarding the team.
He revealed that last year’s top draft choice, Heston Kjerstad, who has myocarditis — an inflammation of the heart muscle — has suffered a setback in his attempt to play this season. That 2017’s first-round pick, left-hander DL Hall, will be shut down for a while because of soreness in his left elbow. And that manager Brandon Hyde won’t be judged on where the team finishes in the standings this season.
That’s a good thing for Hyde. The bad thing is that he had to watch an unsightly third inning when the Cleveland Indians scored five runs on their way to an 8-7 win over the Orioles at Progressive Field on Wednesday night. It included another overthrow of a cutoff man and an embarrassing rundown gaffe that Hyde described as “botched.”
Fans won’t soon forget the image of José Ramirez getting out of a rundown between first and second and somehow winding up on third base as several Orioles became spectators instead of fielding their position.
The broken rundown and breakdown weren’t all that went wrong. Starter Keegan Akin (0-2) allowed eight runs in 5 2/3 innings, the last two of which were inherited runners who scored when Hunter Harvery gave up a triple to the first batter he faced. In that third inning, the first six Cleveland (37-28) batters reached base, and five scored. But it was the Ramirez play that stands out for a team that is in search of fundamentals.
The Orioles (22-45) haven’t won a road game since May 5th when John Means, who’s in Sarasota, Florida rehabbing a strained left shoulder, pitched a no-hitter. They were 15-16 after that win. Since then, they’re 7-29.
Their 18 consecutive road losses are four away from the record set by the 1963 New York Mets and 1943 Philadelphia Athletics. They have just one more game on this awful trip to Tampa Bay and Cleveland before they return home for six games with Toronto and Houston.
The Orioles hadn’t scored more than four runs or had more than seven hits in their previous six losses. They had seven runs on 12 hits, and had strong offensive performances from Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle, who each had three hits.
Mountcastle drove in four runs, with run-scoring singles in the first and third, and a two-run home run in the fifth.
The Orioles led, 3-1, going into the bottom of the third.
Bradley Zimmer singled and César Hernandez walked. Amed Rosario singled to left, and DJ Stewart’s throw home missed the cutoff man and allowed Zimmer to score and the runners to advance to second and third.
Ramirez singled to right, scoring Hernandez and Rosario but was caught in a rundown between first and second. Mancini cut off Austin Hays’ throw from right field and tossed the ball to shortstop Freddy Galvis, who started to chase Ramirez toward first and threw to Pat Valaika.
But when Ramirez changed direction and started to run toward second and away from Valaika, there was no one covering the base. Galvis had stepped out of the basepath and third baseman Maikel Franco was moving toward second but wasn’t there when Ramirez reached the base.
Ramirez then saw that no one was covering third and took that base, too.
“We didn’t do many things right on that,” Hyde said. “We didn’t follow our first throw. We stood around a little bit [at] second base, and kind of botched [it]. We’ve got to follow our throw. We’ve got to follow, and we can’t be standing around. You’ve got to make it at second base.”
Harold Ramirez and Eddie Rosario followed with RBI doubles, and the Orioles trailed, 6-3.
Mountcastle’s home run brought the Orioles within 6-5.
“It’s been a rough little stretch here, but we’ve just got to keep on coming out and playing hard every day and we’re going to come to the field tomorrow with a good attitude and try to keep moving forward,” Mountcastle said.
Hernandez’s two-run triple put Cleveland up, 8-5. RBI singles by Austin Hays and Maikel Franco brought the Orioles to 8-7 in the seventh, but pinch-hitter Anthony Santander struck out on a pitch out of the strike zone to end the Orioles’ final threat.
Akin showed composure after the disastrous third by retiring 11 straight batters. He struck out seven.
“Definitely one of the weirder outings that I’ve had,” Akin said. “It kind of happened pretty quick there in the third inning. I felt like I had all my stuff. It was one of those nights where it didn’t pan out, it didn’t work out.”
James Karinchak retired all three Orioles in the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase picked up his 11th save when he set the Orioles down in order in the ninth.
Adam Civale (10-2) allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings.
Notes: Hays’ single broke an 0-for-19 stretch. … Jorge López (2-7, 5.64 ERA) will start against Eli Morgan (0-1, 20.25) on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. … Norfolk released outfielder JC Encarnacion and infielder Wilbis Santiago. Encarnacion was acquired from Atlanta in the trade for Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day on July 31, 2018.
Elias on the rebuild: “I wish that there was a quicker and surer and easy option than this for the Baltimore Orioles to get back to the playoffs, especially in our division, but I know that there isn’t.
“I’m going to continue to do what is right and necessary and disciplined to get us there. It’s not going to go perfectly. I’m going to make some bad decisions. We’re going to have some bad luck, we’re going to have some good luck, we’re going to have some good decisions, and we want our approach to be sound so that over time, with all these little decisions we make over and over and all the things that happen, we come out ahead. And we’re moving along there.”
Elias on reports of housing issues for minor league players: On Tuesday night, there was a tweet from, Advocates for Minor Leaguers that claimed that multiple members of the Bowie Baysox were considering sleeping in their cars because the team wasn’t paying for their housing.
Because of the pandemic, the team paid for housing in Bowie for the first few weeks of the home season.
Elias denied that there was an issue.
“It was a tweet with some reference to hearsay and any information there was not accurate. I can assure you all our players in Bowie have accommodations, all of our players. I can’t verify anything that was in there based on that. This is actually a topic that all of us in the organization have been very proud of, the approach in the organization so far, especially in this coronavirus period of time.
“We have kept all of our scouts and coaches on staff on payroll. We kept paying minor leaguers last summer and actually if you scroll down in the tweet, we were receiving praise a few weeks ago for being one of the teams to extend some extra accommodation funding into this part of the summer. And we’ve been making a lot of strides in this area. We’re providing extra buses this year, a lot of extra funding across player development year over year.
“So our players did know and continue to know that we’re available to them should they have any types of hardships arise. It does happen from time to time and we handle them quietly from time to time. We’re here as a resource to them, we’re here to help them.”
Minor Matters: In his first Triple-A start, left-hander Kevin Smith allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits in 4 1/3 innings as the Norfolk Tides lost to Durham, 7-5.
Smith, who had a 1.04 ERA at Bowie, struck out four and walked two.
Centerfielder Ryan McKenna had four hits, including his third home run, and leftfielder Domingo Leyba continued his hot hitting. Leyba had two hits and drove in three. Since he was acquired on waivers from Arizona on June 3rd, Leyba is batting .357 with a 1.114 OPS.
Ofelky Peralta, David Lebron and Tim Naughton combined on a six-hit shutout as Double-A Bowie beat the Akron Rubberducks, 1-0. Peralta (3-0) worked five innings and allowed five hits. Lebron gave up one hit in three innings.
First baseman Adley Rutschman had two hits.
Designated hitter J.D. Mundy, centerfielder Zach Watson and first baseman Andrew Daschbach each had two hits in Low-A Aberdeen’s 7-5 loss to Asheville.
Left-hander Ryan Wilson (1-2) allowed three runs in the first inning.
Right-hander Zach Peek (1-2) allowed three runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings as Low-A Delmarva lost to Salem, 8-5. Peek was one of four pitchers acquired by the Orioles in the trade of Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels in December 2019.
Leftfielder Dylan Harris had three hits and three RBIs. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson had two hits and scored two runs. Henderson is batting .331 with a 1.002 OPS.
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This major league team wasn’t expected to do anything but lose games this year. Vegas had the over/under win total at 64.5 before the season and another site gave them a 0.0% chance to make the postseason. Having said that, I don’t think anyone thought they’d have the fundamentals equivalent of a 10-12 little league team. The coaching staff, no matter how good or bad the players are, should be held accountable for having guys hit the cutoff man, make sure they’re getting signs, covering bases in a rundown, base running in general, etc. They look like they have no idea what the situation is before the ball is hit. Opposing Runners continue to advance on balls that they shouldn’t and good teams take advantage and bad teams let it happen. For as bad as the players are playing, I think the coaching staff needs to look in the mirror and figure out why these mistakes on the field are happening. I know this is mostly and antiBuck thread, but he preached defense and it showed.
Agree, I coached HS baseball for about 10 yrs, we stressed fundamentals, we practiced situational baseball, told our kids that every pitch they should be asking themselves what will I do if the ball is hit to me, our kids had a pretty good baseball IQ, the O’s don’t seem to have a very high, not even average baseball IQ, all things can be taught at EVERY level, if the players want to get better....part of the reason I got out of college coaching was the uncoachable athletes, the last 15-20 yrs athletes know everything & don’t need coaching, BS...go O’s...
That in the words of The announcer was pathetic, the only infielder moving appeared to Galvis. The rest of the infield should have paid admission, and no one at third; where was the pitcher?
CalPal, your right Buck would have had a field day. I live in Arizona (yes we are hurting too), the manager here does not hesitate to huddle the players and teach during the in between innings time.
Definitely not sticking up for anyone during the ugly rundown, Valaka looked like he did his job, maybe could’ve run him back further to first, but someone missed the rotation behind him, I believe that’s at least the 2nd time they’ve done that this season, fugly...go O’s....
It’s embarrassing. Granted the shifts today maybe get complicate it, but rundowns are basics that I learned by the time I was 10. That’s on the manager & coaches as much as the players. As to how this season plays out: it all started going south in the first Met series. Going in we were 15-20. Since then: 7-25. Just doing the math, that’s 43-119 if we continue the 7-25 win percentage of .218. Unless we have some roster shake ups after the All Star break, where some AAA guys come up and some of the young pitchers like Zim continue to make progress, it’s going to be a long season. And how can pitchers make any progress with some of the worst fielding in the majors? Ok, I’m done.
Ask Zack Britton about Buckie and his managerial skills .
That’s an insult to 10-12 little league teams. Pretty sure the Dominican republic is the only place left on earth where they teach baseball fundamentals properly.
Strange and disturbing report that players at Bowie actually had to contemplate sleeping in their cars due to a lack of financial support from the Orioles organization ... whether its cutting MASN coverage, firing the pitching coach to save a couple hundred grand, or fielding the lowest payroll in MLB, an ongoing pattern indicating something is seriously amiss with ownership.
They need to have a franchise MRI to see what is really wrong, lol...go O’s...
I'd prefer an EEG.
I heard they had some kind of program that allowed local homeowners to host some minor league players at their house.
That apparently was stopped during Covid. Either way, it’s disturbing.
I'm told that Annie Savoy's boarding house takes them in on a case by case basis.
Marty, Aberdeen is now advertising for host families. This is a common practice in the lower minor leagues.
Agree Birdman. I'm not a huge Elias fan, but I do understand that he's severely handicapped by the shoestring budget allotted to him by ownership. From "under slotting" draft picks to cleaning house at MASN, it seems to me that every decision made is done so with the premise of saving money. Our player payroll is already excruciatingly low.
Is the Angelos family trying to get the "books" right for an imminent sale ?
I know they have stated the team will never leave Baltimore, but that doesn't preclude a sale to new local ownership.
Boy, wouldn't that be dandy.......new owners willing to spend appropriately, and the team staying put as well.
One can dream.
Yes, new local ownership seems like the ideal scenario ... of course, the worry remains that some out of town billionaire, with no commitment to Baltimore, makes the Angelos family an offer they can't (or won't) refuse.
Hey ... Rich has assured me on many an occasion, that there is no way the team wil ever leave Bal'more.
Brian, I'm not a fan of "under slotting," but there's a common misunderstanding among fans. They end up spending the amount of money they're permitted to spend, they're simply spending more on later round choices, high school players, to get them to sign instead of going to college. I would prefer getting a better player, a higher-rated player. Each team is allowed to spend a certain amount of money, and the Orioles spend it. Last year, they didn't spend it on Kjerstad.
I think I understand Rich. This allows the possibility of signing more players with their allotment. Every player who underslots frees up $$ for others or possibly more picks can be signed
Every pick is slotted a certain value.
Are there enough funds in the pool to sign the "Best Player Available" to the "slotted value" when it's your pick ??
If not , why ?
Brian, teams that "under slot" talk to the players or their reps in advance, and tell them what they have in mind. They don't blindly pick a player and hope he signs.
Money talks. Is there any big money people left in Baltimore City?
Boog, how close are we with money collected to by the O’s?...lol...go O’s...
Ummmmm.... after dinner and drinks last week, we've got $103.21 in the til.
Not even gonna bring up last night's game. Getting old. What irks/worries me is this increasing bad news at the minor league,developmental level. I understand the thinking on passing on Austin Martin for Kjerstad(well maybe I really don't) but isn't that really taking the 8th best player and slotting him at number 2 so you don't have to pay as much? Kinda like going after mid level FA's because you can't afford the big fish? I fear that will be next year's approach too--end up with the number 1 or 2 pick only to chase after a second tier ballplayer. Why even bother tanking then? This rebuild is actually a handful of injuries away from derailing. The true rebuild to me won't really kick in until the International signees start kicking in--look at some other rosters--(Cleve/Tor)etc. McKenna 4 hits. Hmm he plays a good LF too.
Tanking? Did I hear some say "tanking"? Say it ain't so Joe.
Boog, this team looks like they're tanking but they're not. They truly are the worst team in MLB, and after last night, no one can dispute that. Stink is a complement. Thanks Elias you are the worst of the worst, you really STINK! End of rant, thank you
But see .... Elias could try to fix a few things but he's electing not to. Nobody in the world can convince me that Rutschman wouldn't be an immediate upgrade over our 2 current catchers. And you're telling me that it took Elias 2 months to figure out that Urias wasn't a major leaguer? There are other things I could call out, but then I'd be beating the dead horse, and after 2 years of me crying, even I'm getting tired of my tanking rants.
Somebody around here (I forget who) recently suggested that our AA team could beat the Orioles as they stand now. I don't think that's too awfully far from the truth.
Elias is still tanking.
Boog - doesn’t tanking imply the team might be good enough to win but opts not to? I don’t think this team is capable of even pulling that off! What’s below tanking?
Tx, I think what you say is true if you are talking about the players taking a dive. But the players can be controlled by others in a way that does not put them in a position to win. I think the players are making an honest effort because their livelihood depends on it here an now, not five years from now. I am concerned when management is adamant that what they are doing is the only way to do something because it's the only way they know. And they don't know how to rebuild a team, only how to destroy one and hope they get lucky with some decisions after consciously and admittedly making numerous bad decisions.
Tank, when I'm talking about tanking, I am never referring to the players. The players wouldn't lose intentionally themselves. I'm talking about the management of the team not putting the best product on the field that they possible can. In the O's case, it started when Elias took over ... and in my OPINION ... held certain players back in the minors and combined that with jettisoning a few pitchers here and there. Case in point ... Cashman was traded mid year for a couple of young players. Literally sixteen years old. To the SOX no less, and under the guise of saving $$. IMO...Sisco, Santander and Hays were all held back in the minors an extra year...certainly Mountcastle was held back waaaay too long. This is all Mike Elias' work. What kind of pitching did they add to replace the Guasmans, Bundy, Cashners and Cobbs? Tommy Milone? Wade Leblanc? C'mon man ... These are all very 'suspect' moves by management. To me it appears that they don't give a rats behind about the product they've put on the field for the past 3 years. THIS is what I'm talking about when I think they're tanking for Draft Picks. Opinion...not fact. But I'm not alone in my opinion. Google Orioles tanking and I think you'll find quite a few articles on the subject for the past 3 years.
100% agree Will. Most of the players are trying their best to win. I’m concerned about Elias saying this is the only way to win - unless too many bad decisions get made. This is ominous.
I didn’t think Akin pitched that bad. The defense definitely let him down. Everyone was out of position on the rundown except Galvis and Mancini. Good thing today is a a day game if I was manager the whole damn team would be doing early fielding work. At some point there needs to be some accountability for this screwups defensively. It’s always the same guys making the errors Severino Stewart and Wilkerson or Vailika. I saw the Bowie thing on Twitter and didn’t really believe it. Why would you piss off your future stars before they even get to the majors. This is the second time a false article has been written about the orioles.
Fake news has reared its ugly head at the minor league baseball level. It’s everywhere!
They guy behind the account is sticking to it. Saying he’s talked to the players. There’s an article in the Baltimore Sun about it
Agree that Akin didn’t pitch badly, but how can any pitcher keep a team in a game without some hitting? Add in crappy defense, and That helps (helps) explain the 4-5 inning outings and team ERA.
They are who we thought they were.
Serious question: Sometimes there seems to be a link between the corona virus and myocarditis; any talk of this and
Kjerstad?
Kjerstad hasn't talked with us, so we haven't been able to ask. It's an issue of medical privacy.
More bad news. I just read that Rutschman is suffering from an extreme case of Uromysitisis.
Where did you see this at? I looked it up and didn’t see anything on it. He played last night.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/news/a26249/journal-seinfeld-disease/
I’m talking about Adley having it.
O's20, have you figured out Boog's humor and wit yet ?
Hello, Newman…….
Yeah...maybe we can get her in the booth for play-by-play. She's a looker for sure.
MORE SCREEN TIME FOR MELANIE PLEASE
I know boog has a sense of humor but that’s not something to joke about.
Uromysitisis ... an imaginary condition which causes people to urinate in public places, first introduced on the most successful sitcom of all time .... not something to joke about?
We take it for granite that humor translates here. For all intensive purposes, we should be careful. Pacifically regarding sarcasm.
Sounds like somebody went to happy hour after the game.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
No, not at all.
Love the highly nuanced “Seinfeldisms”
I think O’s fans need some questions answered about Kjerstad. I propose asking Elias these following series of questions:
1. Was there a complete and thorough physical completed on him before he was drafted?
2. Did the physical show any signs of the myocarditis?
3. If answer to 2 is no, did he have any history of myocarditis?
4. If answer to 2 or 3 is yes whose decision was it to draft him with the #2 pick in the draft?
The O’s are doing a complete rebuild without spending money on FAs, meaning they’re relying almost exclusively on successful drafts to accomplish the rebuild. You CANNOT blow a #2 overall pick. Had he been healthy I’m guessing he’d be at Delmarva and maybe knocking on Bowie’s door. Bowie is the real step away from Baltimore. I wish Kjerstad the best, even if he never plays a day in Baltimore, but this situation is a worst case scenario that O’s fans deserve answers to.
His medical history is none of any fans business. How about this… I hope the guy makes a full recovery!
While a draftee's medical history is none of my business as a fan.
It most certainly is the management's business to know every aspect of that potential draftee's health. Elias states he was checked out medically when drafted, and the myocarditis was post all of that.
I'll take him at his word. There's no reason not to believe him.
But bottom line.....you can't draft sick players and make it to the promised land. Stating the obvious
I respectfully disagree, Shamus, with the absoluteness of your phrasing. An athlete's body and its performance is public, and it's what the public pays to see. My inner Perry Mason suggests that the door to these questions has already been opened by the publication of the statement that he has myocarditis. If an athlete is not performing, the public has an interest, if not an absolute right, to know why he is not performing. The NBA, for example, has had issues with sitting players for games without a serious cause beyond a day off. If the reason alleged for the non-performance is publicized as physical and a diagnosis is broadcast, public interest is reasonably aroused. So, some sports, like hockey, are intentionally vague with "upper body" and "lower body" designations. As my previous question indicates, myocarditis may be related to a national public health issue, the corona virus. If the player's myocarditis is a result of viral contact, this is something of public interest. In general, I respect people's privacy, but there are times when the person's health is of public concern and the health issues need some transparency.
Dave, Elias was asked about the team knew about the condition. He said they didn’t. Draft choices are thoroughly examined, and yes, I agree with Shamus.
An absolute right???!!. Are you serious? I guess after three days off you want him to present a doctors note. Whether he got the condition from the virus, the vaccine or his parents, you have NO right to know
I guess you’re right. I mean, that’d be like asking someone if they’re vaccinated.
Listen, my comments weren’t made to cause a backlash on privacy rights. How do you think I knew he had myocarditis? The O’s went public with it, I’m assuming with his approval. My only point is when did they know? As stated very clearly by me, in fact my exact words were “ I wish Kjerstad the best, even if he never plays a day in Baltimore”. I was simply making the point that when you’re relying solely on the draft as the basis for your rebuild then you can’t screw up the #2 overall pick.
I’ll sound like a broken record. Fundamentals are killing the watchability of this team!
I blame Hyde for the continued lack of basic baseball fundamentals that continue to plague this team. Hyde may be OK to manage this team now but I am not so sure he can handle a contending team.
Managers have some influence, but they can't overcome a lack of ability/talent. Joe Maddon was a genius in Tampa, but not so much in Anaheim. The Orioles need four starting pitchers, a couple of relievers and about four position players in order to contend.
jjmcarter, so the O’s need 4 starting pitchers, a couple relievers and about 4 position players. Other than that they’re good enough to contend tho. I’m sorry if that wasn’t meant to be humorous but I got a good chuckle out if it. You are exactly right, it’s just when you say it like that, well, you either have to laugh or cry. I’ll always choose laughter.
Once again a lack of fundamentals you can not place this at the foot of anybody but Hyde . I just don’t know why they accept this lackadaisical play frankly college teams play better fundamentals than this .
HS teams do...go O’s...