For the most part, the low points the Orioles experienced Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners were infrequent in June. Those lopsided losses — the kind that have been all too familiar throughout four years of a rebuild — suddenly gave way to more wins.
Baltimore clinched its first winning month since August 2017 on Monday night, sealing the 14-12 June with a series-opening win against the Mariners. Getting that win out of the way was imperative, given it was their only victory in the last four games.
That puts a damper on an otherwise strong month, with a 9-3 defeat Wednesday in Seattle closing the stretch. But from a wider angle, finishing a month with a winning record is an achievement — a sign, however small, of progress in a rebuild. In manager Brandon Hyde’s four seasons in Baltimore, the Orioles (35-42) haven’t played as well as they did in June.
How Baltimore builds off it will be even more telling. Here are four takeaways from the Orioles’ series in Seattle:
The arms
The look of the Orioles’ starting rotation at this point is far off what might’ve been anticipated entering the season. Left-hander John Means required season-ending Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, and prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall have yet to arrive. Rodriguez is recovering from a lat muscle strain while Hall works in Triple-A.
And yet, the contributions from right-handers Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer have carried the Orioles through June, with more standout displays in Seattle. Wells carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and Kremer compiled seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
That outing brings Kremer’s scoreless streak to 18 2/3 innings across three starts. Before Kremer, Kevin Gausman, Fernando Valenzuela and Jim Palmer were the only three Orioles pitchers with at least 18 2/3 scoreless innings in the span of three starts. Kremer’s three straight scoreless starts of at least five innings is also tied for the longest stretch in Orioles history.
Mounting momentum
With an opposite-field double in Wednesday’s loss, first baseman Ryan Mountcastle notched his MLB-leading 18th extra-base hit of June. He entered the month with a .692 OPS. He left it with a .797 OPS.
Mountcastle hit seven homers and 11 doubles in June, more than doubling his totals in both categories in April and May combined.
A successful homecoming
The first MLB stadium Adley Rutschman ever stepped inside was Safeco Field in Seattle, then an 8-year-old participating in the regional Pitch, Hit and Run Competition. The Sherwood, Oregon, native won the event.
On his next visit to the now-named T-Mobile Park, Rutschman made a splash once more, this time as a 24-year-old phenom for the Orioles against the team that had initially drafted him. Rutschman plated one run with a hard-hit infield single before blasting a solo homer with his grandfather, his parents and many other supporters in the stands.
Rutschman finished the weekend without a hit in the final two games, but his first night made his Pacific Northwest return special.
Stellar outfield defense
Cedric Mullins had already taken his eyes off the ball, instead turning his head toward the wall that was rapidly approaching. But the ball still landed in his glove in the third inning Wednesday, creating another highlight-reel play from the Orioles center fielder during a weekend full of such displays.
Baltimore’s outfield defense in Seattle was exemplary, including another assist for Austin Hays — his seventh — and several other diving plays from Mullins.
In the eighth inning of Monday’s game, Mullins’ charge and dive stole a base hit, and a similar play coming in on a ball in Tuesday’s game stranded a Mariners runner on second. Later in Tuesday’s game, Hays’ leaping catch at the wall helped preserve Kremer’s scoreless outing.
The numbers show that the Orioles have two of the best outfielders in the game. Hays is tied for second in outfield assists, and Mullins’ five aren’t far behind. Cleveland Guardians outfielder Myles Straw leads center fielders with defensive runs saved with eight, per Sports Info Solutions, but Mullins is second with seven. Hays has four defensive runs saved.
Those two put on a clinic in Seattle, as they have frequently this season.
On the farm
Connor Norby tries not to be the “annoying little brother,” but it’s hard to quell the questions that come rushing out of him when he’s around Orioles prospects slightly ahead of him in the pipeline. Be it Triple-A outfielder Kyle Stowers or infielder Gunnar Henderson, the newly promoted Double-A Bowie infielder tries to learn as much as he can about hitting.
“How they think, that’s the biggest thing,” Norby told reporters Wednesday in Bowie. “You want to pick apart the guys who are having success, so you can have success as well. They’re a huge part in us growing up and coming through. We’re just following in their steps.”
Norby, outfielder Colton Cowser and third baseman Coby Mayo are playing for the Baysox this week, having all received promotions Monday from High-A Aberdeen. The rise for those three prospects continues the surge in young talent moving higher in Baltimore’s farm system — with Rutschman already in the majors.
With those promotions, 10 of the top 11 Orioles prospects on Baseball America’s rankings are in the upper minors or majors.
“We got a great org right now, with what everybody’s doing, with what they’re preaching,” Cowser told reporters. “You can tell it’s transcending up through the levels, and it’s very, very exciting.”
Mayo, who ranks No. 5 in Baltimore’s system, entered Wednesday with 13 home runs. Cowser, at No. 6, marked his Double-A debut Tuesday with three hits, including one long ball. And Norby (No. 11) is hitting .237 on top of his versatile defense.
The three of them were part of Aberdeen’s first half championship. Cowser and Norby were selected in the first and second rounds of the 2021 draft, respectively. Mayo was taken in the fourth round in 2020, but they’ve followed a path together — leading to the Baysox.
“We all got called into the office together, we all got told together, we all moved together,” Norby said. “It’s been a real fun journey.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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