Happy Monday, Camden Chatters!<\/p>\n
It was a pretty lousy weekend for baseball as the Orioles got beaten up pretty good in New York. Yesterday\u2019s game was the latest in a string of ugly losses. Trey Gibson made his Major League debut and held his own, but the rest of the game was a bust. The offense did more against Max Fried than I expected, but they missed out on some big chances. And the bullpen fell apart big time in the late innings, leading to an 11-3 loss. You can get the full details in my game recap<\/a>.<\/p>\n If only I could say that after the terrible weekend, the Orioles are headed to a new city to start fresh. But they have one more game in New York tonight before they can finally leave. They have one chance to get a win before their road trip takes them down to Miami for three games. Tonight, Shane Baz will do his best to stop the losing streak at four. Baz\u2019s most recent start against the Astros was a good one, with just one run allowed in 5.2 innings. If he wants to repeat that performance tonight, that would be fine by me. Game time is 7:05 if you can bear to watch.<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t one thing to point to about what is going wrong with the Orioles right now. There are lots of cries to fire Mike Elias, and at a certain point it will be hard to avoid that conclusion. I\u2019m not there yet, but it does seem like this season should be his last chance to prove his mettle.<\/p>\n I do not blame Elias or the coaching\/front office for the rash of injuries. The number of players who have had injuries does feel a little absurd. But injuries, especially to pitchers, are just part of the game. Some years you get more than average, some years you get fewer than average. It happens all over baseball.<\/p>\n But if you take the injuries out of the equation, there are still a lot of things for Elias to answer for. He failed to address the starting rotation concerns in a way that got the job done. He didn\u2019t go after any of the biggest names available; instead going after bigger question marks while relying on the pitchers already in the organization to be better than they have been so far.<\/p>\n Then there is the defense. Oh my, the defense. Unlike the rotation changes, which do have potential, everyone saw the defensive issues a mile away. Specifically, the outfield. Losing a defender like Cedric Mullins puts strain on the entire outfield, especially when the corner outfielders Taylor Ward and Tyler O\u2019Neill are known liabilities.<\/p>\n Finally, there are his guys. Elias has made a lot of high draft picks since coming to Baltimore. There are always busts, but his strategy was based around tanking to get the picks. And a lot of those guys just aren\u2019t panning out.<\/p>\n I am not a person who thinks it\u2019s time for Mike Elias to go. But maybe it\u2019s time to think about what needs to happen to make it a good idea for him to stay.<\/p>\n For parents and high school coach, Trey Gibson\u2019s Orioles MLB debut is \u2018amazing and crazy\u2019 – The Baltimore Banner<\/a> High-pressure setting doesn\u2019t faze O\u2019s Gibson in solid MLB debut – MLB.com<\/a>
I love a good \u201chow they got here\u201d story. Here\u2019s hoping Trey\u2019s time in the majors is lengthy.<\/p>\n
Three runs in 4.2 innings isn\u2019t going to cut it in the long haul. But for an MLB debut against the Yankees? Not bad. Gibson\u2019s grin when his manager came to get him was nice to see.<\/p>\n