By: Seth Stancil
Opening week is a time for newfound optimism and fresh beginnings. After 6 long months without meaningful games, the MLB was finally back in action on March 28th. My hometown Baltimore Orioles opened up 2019 in the big apple vs. the Yankees in the afternoon on the 28th. After their infamous 2018 campaign literally no one has even considered the O’s to be contenders for even 4th place. After the dreadful 2018 season full of losing streaks and trades of team icons, the O’s turned a new page and hired Mike Elias (former Astros assistant GM). Elias has already brought the analytical side of baseball to the Orioles’ organization by making financially effective moves that still benefit the club. Mike Elias hired Brandon Hyde (former Cubs’ bench coach) to be the 20th manager in Baltimore Orioles’ history and he immediately began to implement his coaching style to the O’s this spring. The Orioles spent the spring of 2019 being ridiculously aggressive on the basepaths and playing small-ball which helped them compete in nearly every game over spring training. Although it was a small sample size of games that didn’t even count, the way the O’s played over the spring of 2019 has translated so far into competitiveness on the diamond. The Birds have quietly been establishing a new culture in the Baltimore clubhouse and it is already starting to show.
The opening series of 2019 was a statement by the Orioles. They arrived in New York with no pressure; no one in the world expected them to give the mighty Yanks a game, let alone take the series. After all, the Birds lost 115 games last season and didn’t sign any standouts over the offseason and the Bombers pulled into ‘19 coming off of a 100-win season. The O’s wouldn’t even have one of their most experienced pitchers until their first home series as Alex Cobb was dealing with a nagging groin injury he tweaked in his last spring start. The first game of the series turned out to be about what everyone might expect: a 7-2 victory for the Yankees in their home opener. In the very first half inning a potential Orioles’ rally was killed; Jonathan Villar was hit with a batted ball while he was running the bases for the third out and the birds’ chance to get on the board first was snuffed out. Andrew Cashner started the ballgame for the O’s and had his back up against the wall from the start as he was tagged against the shift Hyde had the defense in twice in a row by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton for base hits. He then gave up a 3-run homerun to Luke Voit to cap off a nightmare first inning of 2019 for the O’s. Masahiro Tanaka pitched solid for NY allowing 2 runs and 6 hits over 5.2 IP which was good enough to earn him a win. The Yankees’ bullpen was dominant as Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman combined for 3.1 IP and 2 hits. The jokes began to flood social media already and they were relentless. According to some of my followers the Orioles were bound to lose 100+ games without a doubt and be flat out painful to watch.
After an off day on the 29th Brandon Hyde decided to take a page from the Rays’ clubhouse and use an opener in game 2 which the Orioles had never done before. Nate Karns opened 2.0 innings to start the game and gave up only one hit (he did walk 3 but he turned a double play and didn’t give up a run). Jimmy Yacabonis came into the game in the 3rd and pitched 3 innings of 1-run ball and recorded the win. James Paxton pitched well for the Yankees as he only allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 5.2 IP, but the Orioles ran up his pitch count when they were at the plate. Orioles’ catcher Jesus Sucre went 3-4 with a double and 3 RBIs to help sparkplug the offense against the Yanks’ arms. The O’s bullpen held down the game enough to where they could come away with a 5-3 victory and a chance to take the rubber match the next day. The young Orioles team celebrated for their new manager Brandon Hyde’s first career victory as a skipper in the Yankees’ locker room by pushing him around in a shopping cart and dousing him in beer. The baby birds showed they are going to have fun and not care who says what about them which as a fan you have to enjoy. They are taking this season day by day and it already is showing.
In the third game of the series long-time Oriole Dylan Bundy got the starting nod, and he went up against J.A. Happ of NYY. The Birds’ lineup exploded for 7 runs and 3 longballs which helped them edge the Yanks 7-5. Third basemen Renato Nunez planted a 3 run dinger in the first inning off of Happ to give the O’s an early lead and Trey Mancini added a solo shot in the 3rd to extend the lead to 4-0. Dylan Bundy was forced to throw nearly 100 pitches and he was taken out after only 3.2 IP; at the end of the 4th he had 3 runs on his ledger. John Means came on in relief and pitched 3.1 innings of solid ball allowing only one run in his time in the game. Means earned his first career win and Mychal Givens and Paul Fry helped close out the game to give the O’s a series win on the road against arguably their biggest rival to start the season. The O’s must’ve decided shopping carts and beer showers are fun because they gave Means the same treatment they gave Hyde in the locker room in New York. The best part about the shopping cart beer showers to me is that Yankees’ employees had to clean it up. The Orioles played aggressive and confident their first 3 games and looked to carry their competitiveness north of the border as they prepared for their first matchup of 2019 with the Blue Jays.
The O’s stayed hot for game one in Toronto. David Hess stole the show for the Birds pitching 6.1 innings of no-hit ball before he was taken out by manager Brandon Hyde due to the fact Hess was working on short rest (he had thrown 40 pitches on opening day). The bullpen looked shaky again and gave up 5 runs in only 2.2 IP but Richard Bleier calmed down the situation and prevented the game tying run to cross from 3rd base. Trey Mancini hit his second homerun of the season and Jonathan Villar hit his first to help the Orioles take game one in Canada by a score of 6-5.
In the second game of their series with the Blue Jays, Andrew Cashner got a chance to redeem himself for his shaky performance on opening day in New York. Cashner did just that as he pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball allowing only 4 hits and 3 walks to help guide the Orioles to a 2-1 victory. Paul Fry threw 2 innings of 1 hit relief giving up no runs. Miguel Castro gave up a solo shot to Rowdy Tellez in the 9th inning but he settled down and closed out the game. Jonathan Villar hit an RBI triple to drive in Dwight Smith Jr. to open the scoring in the 6th and Trey Mancini stroked a base hit to score Villar. The Orioles had a 4-1 record through their first 5 games much to the surprise of many analysts.
It is hard to record a sweep against anyone, let alone a division rival on the road. The O’s dropped the series finale north of the border by a final score of 5-3. Nate Karns opened the game for the second time this year and allowed 1 run in 2 innings pitched. Jimmy Yacabonis pitched 2.1 innings of solid ball; he allowed 3 hits but only gave up one run on a Randal Grichuk solo shot. Richard Bleier looked amazing out of the pen pitching 1.2 innings of hitless shutout ball. Matt Wotherspoon made his MLB debut out of the ‘pen and it didn’t go as planned: Wotherspoon allowed 3 runs and 4 hits (Grichuk hit another solo bomb) in 2 innings of work. Matt Shoemaker of the Jays was outstanding on the mound going 7.0 innings allowing 2 hits and recording 8 punch outs. Trey Mancini kept the O’s from getting shut out by hitting a 3-run dinger in the bottom of the 9th to get his 3rd big fly of the season but the rally fell short. The Orioles still won their first 2 series of the season and it made it even sweeter than they were against division rivals on the road. Many Orioles fans are still bitter about this team because of last season, but watching them compete for Brandon Hyde and for the rest of the league’s respect again makes me love them even more.
Opening Day in Baltimore is always a special event every year. Watching the Orioles run down that orange carpet and be introduced to their home crowd for the first time that season always makes me overflow with joy and fills me with excitement to watch baseball for the following 6 months. Alex Cobb made his first start of the season as he went up against the Yankees. Cobb pitched well for his first appearance going 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs, 5 hits, and one walk with 4 strikeouts. Jonathan Villar hit a home run in the Orioles’ first home AB of the season to help the O’s jump to a 3-0 first inning lead. The Orioles were leading 4-1 in the 6th inning when Alex Cobb allowed his 2nd solo shot of the game and was taken out. Mike Wright came into the game in relief and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits including a 3-run dinger by Gleyber Torres to squander the Orioles lead. Wright wasn’t able to record and out and was replaced in favor of John Means who continued to look solid as he went 1.1 innings of hitless ball with 2 strikeouts and one walk. Mychal Givens was pitched uncharacteristically bad in his 1.1 innings of work allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with a walk allowed. Miguel Castro gave up a solo homerun in his 0.2 innings to make the final score 8-4. Although it wasn’t the outcome the fans wanted to see it the first game of the year, seeing the Orioles play at the Yard for the first time after a long winter is always amazing every season.
The Orioles may have surprised some with their competitiveness over the first week of the season, but they didn’t surprise me. Many of the players on the roster are trying to prove themselves and are giving 100% every game. Brandon Hyde has instilled competitive fire in every single player in the clubhouse and I expect him to hold the club to his high standards all season. There are plenty of areas that need vast improvement (the bullpen, the bullpen, and the bullpen), but there are also a lot of bright spots that have shown early (Trey Mancini, Jonathan Villar, Dwight Smith Jr., David Hess, John Means, etc.). All in all, most fans know we are at the beginning of a complete overhaul. The fact that they are giving loaded teams like the Yankees competition on a nightly basis is very encouraging and should make them interesting to watch all season no matter what their final record says. Who knows, maybe the Orioles could shock everyone and win some games they shouldn’t and make life a little more difficult in the powerful AL East.
The O’s shOwed up this first week and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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