Struggling Starter, Faulty Fielding And Listless Lineup In Another Orioles Loss

The Red Sox came to Baltimore as the biggest disappointment in MLB, already plotting to fire their esteemed skipper no matter what happened in this series as we came to find out, and discovered the perfect antidote to their aimless season in the perpetually-sloppy Orioles.

Whether or not this series proves influential at all – the Orioles haven’t had the look of a playoff team since May 2024 and the Red Sox (11-17) have quite a ways to go before salvaging this campaign – remains to be seen, but this weekend was another damning indictment of the sideshow product general manager Mike Elias has fielded yet again.

The O’s home-run explosion Friday had the truthers out, but the reality is this bunch has major rotation issues, they are the worst-fielding and arguably least fundamentally sound outfit in baseball and Elias concocted another power-over-process lineup that oscillates wildly. They followed a 17-1 embarrassment Saturday (still not enough for Alex Cora to keep his job, which might tell you what Boston thinks of this Orioles squad), with a listless, sleepy, 5-3, loss Sunday that bore all the hallmarks of The Elias Way, including being downright dominated by a lefty starter again.

Yet another Orioles starting pitcher looks like he was misevaluated this offseason as far as what he could provide, in Kyle Bradish. Bradish is one of many O’s pitchers under this general manager and his hand-picked medical team to have a less-than-smooth return from surgery and Sunday was another struggle. Bradish wobbled through five innings, again failing to be economical with his offerings (80 pitches), struggling with command, and departing after a two-run homer from Wilson Contreras capped a three-run inning.

Bradish walked four, the Red Sox ran on him with abandon, four reached safely via hits and his ERA now stands at 4.20 (below league average but best among all healthy O’s regular starters). At his best Bradish had put-away stuff, but he got just eight swinging strikes in this outing, he entered the game with the lowest first-pitch strike rate in the league and can’t keep runners off base.

“The walks, for any starting pitcher, is always what you don’t want,” O’s rookie skipper Craig Abernaz said. “He had four of them today. He was behind to a lot of hitters, and it’s tough to pitch that way, even with Bradish’s stuff.”

There is reason for concern. But then again that’s across the board for this bunch. It’s still unclear precisely what Elias was trying to peddle in his pre-series press conference the other day, rambling about how “bullish” he is that all the same warning signs about this roster won’t result in another lost season … but it sounded like bull-something else to me.

Nothing Going At The Plate, Again

Speaking of Elias, Orioles had an Elias Factor (ratio of fundamental miscues to clutch hits) of, conservatively, -4 Sunday. About the norm, and a systemic reason they are 13-15 despite facing a soft schedule.

A routine ground ball was booted at second, a double turned into a triple (Leody Taveras was not in center; he is their only MLB-caliber CF), a throw was airmailed to center on a steal, the first-baseman was somehow playing in and not holding the runner in the sixth on a gimme stolen base, Taylor Ward got twisted into a pretzel on a deep fly ball in left and Bradish spiked yet another wild pitch, something this staff specializes in.

“Everyday, we’re just trying to get a tick better,” Albernaz said of his janky outfield defense (of course, they don’t have a plus OK defender on the roster save for Taveras, who wasn’t supposed to make the team).

Bradish, who is dealing with issues with his arm slot like some other O's starters (hmm, again) told reporters after the game: "I need to be more competitive in the zone."

The good news: No one got picked off!

Bad news: Once again, almost no one reached base! They didn’t have an at bat with RISP vs the starting pitcher. Alas, this is The Elias Way.

Clutch hits: Gunnar Henderson and Sam Basallo solo shots (quality lefty-lefty approach for both), though Henderson’s came with Baltimore already down, 5-1, so we could debate if that’s clutch or not. Henderson drove in another run with a single in the 8th, but that was it for scoring. Oh, and they worked one total walk.

Connelly Early, a talented young lefty, was always going to cruise vs this bunch, and he did, going 6 2/3 without breaking a sweat. The Orioles entered this game 24th in MLB since the start of 2025 in OBP vs lefties (.301) and 22nd in SLG (.325) and 22nd in OPS. Sunday was totally on brand.

The O’s had the sixth-worst strikeout rate vs lefties in that span, too. Sunday, they cut down on the whiffs by their standards (“only” seven) but did get in their one-per inning Saturday. Early’s last K was his biggest, fanning Tyler O’Nell (three Ks in the game) up 5-2 to open the seventh, becoming the latest in a long line of young starters to post a career-best effort at Baltimore’s expense. This O’s lineup, and their warped hitting analytics, always so willing to lend a helping hand.

“Our hitters didn’t make any adjustments,” Albernaz noted. “He was pounding the strike zone and being efficient with his pitches.”

The Sox had the series, novice skipper, Chad Tracy, had his first MLB win after jumping a plane from AAA Worcester Saturday, and Elias had more material to obfuscate and filibuster about whenever he decides to meet the media next.

Next month brings the one-year anniversary since he fired manager Brandon Hyde and didn’t have the guts or sense to address the media about it while the team was in Baltimore. Spoke volumes. Also makes one wonder when Elias’s bosses will come to realize it’s the guy who fired Hyde who is at the root of their organizational rot.

Bird Seed

The Orioles are off Monday before hosting the struggling Astros … O’s bullpen, getting a lot of use, gave up two runs Sunday, with Grant Wolfram failing to get an out in the sixth (the defense was shaky), giving up three hits before Yennier Cano, with some help from the defense, got out of the inherited jam … The loss of Jordan Westburg is looming large in many ways. Coby Mayo has been torrid lately, but sat the bench Sunday vs a lefty (hmm), and he’s been far better than expected at third base. But utility piece Blaze Alexander is getting overexposed playing all over, almost every day, and now sports a .172 batting average and .428 OPS, and infielder Jackson Holliday is dealing with yet another setback.

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