Three Keys For The Oriole To Keep Their Momentum Going In Toronto

The Orioles are on a legitimate hot streak with a chance to climb back to .500 this weekend in Toronto. Given where they stood two weeks ago, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Baltimore is 9-4 in its last 13 games since concluding an ugly series at Tampa, the starting pitching has been unfathomably good in that span, and the Orioles are no longer looking like a second-class org against the AL East. There is amble reason for optimism coming off a series win at Boston and the Blue Jays carry many of the same warts as the Red Sox in terms of power and run production.

The series lines up quite well for The Birds, with their three best starters right now – Brandon Young, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz – in line to start. These teams split four games in Baltimore in a series that could have easily gone either way.

Here are the keys to the series for Baltimore:

Take Pitches

The Blue Jays bullpen has been their superpower and the biggest reason they’ve hung around .500 despite some glaring issues. The O’s got to them in Baltimore last week, in large part, by letting them come undone.

Jeff Hoffman has bad blood with this organization, the Orioles appear in his head now, and he had trouble throwing strikes. The O’s pulled off an epic comeback last Saturday against the Jays in which they walked 11 times and Coby Mayo got hit by a pitch.

Heck, the Jays walked three O’s and hit a guy in the 9th inning of that game alone. Something like that can leave scars, and that series pretty much spelled the end of former Oriole Austin Voth with the Blue Jays. Baltimore can get over-aggressive and try to do too much, and expand the zone. Keep the same approach as last weekend, please.

Pitch Around Vlad

The Orioles let Vladimir Guerrero Jr be a one-man gang at Camden Yards last weekend. Can’t happen again.

He seems to still have issues with launch angle from whatever shoulder injury he suffered, and the homer runs have been sapped, but he will launch the ball the other way on a line to drive men in and given the significant issues with the Jays’ lineup, make Dalton Varsho or whomever else beat you.

The Jays, like the O’s recent opponents in the Rays and Red Sox, are in the bottom eight in MLB in home runs. Toronto is also in the bottom eight entering play this weekend in runs scored. The middle of the lineup is seriously lacking from the days of prime Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez supporting Vlad.

Just Say No To O’Neill

You are going to hear a lot about just how Canadian Tyler O’Neill is (I mean he is super Canadian) and how much he mashes the ball when he plays in Toronto. I don’t care. He is a huge problem in the field and he isn’t hitting at all and the lineup has been in nice form and the ball really rolls on that fast track in the outfield and he needs to stay on the bench.

Do I think the Orioles will abide by this? Of course not. They didn’t listen to us in Boston when he implored them not to put O’Neill, Alexander and Taylor Ward in the same outfield – HYPER. Stop the madness already. And, if anything, be prepared to get uber-defender Enrique Bradfield Jr. here as soon as he gets healthy in the minors. The glove is more than ready, and he is a dominant base-stealing threat.

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