Orioles’ path to success is possible, but it won’t be easy

After the Orioles’ awful four games at Yankee Stadium, fans wanted to know if there was any reason for hope. The season won’t be a quarter over until this weekend and, yes, there are some hopeful signs, though there are many more worrisome ones.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, the Orioles were fourth in the American League East, nine games behind the New York Yankees, who looked very impressive in the four-game series.

But the Orioles were only two games behind the Chicago White Sox, who held the third wild-card spot. There were five other teams—Seattle, Texas, Kansas City, Toronto and Minnesota — tied or ahead of the Orioles in the standings. The Orioles were within 1 ½ games of those five.

The mediocrity of the American League, which featured just three teams—the Yankees, Tampa Bay and the Athletics — with records better than .500 starting play on Tuesday, favors the Orioles.

Other good news is that Pete Alonso has hit in six straight games and scored four runs in the Orioles’ 9-7 win in Miami on Tuesday night. He doubled twice and walked twice, and his hustle on the bases was impressive.

The Orioles’ starting pitching must be much better than it’s been. In their five-game losing streak, only Shane Baz pitched even five innings. Brandon Young, Cade Povich and Kyle Bradish each completed only four innings, and Trey Gibson in his first major league game, came within an out of finishing five.

Chris Bassitt, who had the last Orioles’ quality start last Thursday, managed to last only four innings against the Marlins, forcing the bullpen to get 15 outs for the win.

They lost closer Ryan Helsley to right elbow inflammation, leaving them without their closer over the weekend, and even though manager Craig Albernaz named several candidates to close in his absence — Rico Garcia, Andrew Kittredge, Anthony Nunez and perhaps Grant Wolfram — the games were so lopsided that choosing a closer was the last thing on his mind.

On Tuesday night, he used Garcia for the final four outs while also using Kittredge, Nunez, Wolfram and Keegan Akin.

Kittredge had an awful outing on Sunday. His seven runs while retiring only one batter turned a one-run deficit into an 11-3 romp.

Lou Trivino, whose signing was announced two hours before Monday night’s game, was used in the eighth inning, and his first Orioles inning was so bad (six runs while recording just two outs) that utility player Weston Wilson was needed to record the final out of the eighth in a 12-1 loss.

Those short starts have cost the Orioles Tyler Wells for 15 days. They needed rested arms, and after using him in consecutive games, he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

Barring an injury, Wells will have to stay in Norfolk until May 17^th. Along with Nunez, Wolfram and Yennier Cano, Wells had a minor league option remaining.

Perhaps the worst news of the week came on Monday when Albernaz disclosed that third baseman Jordan Westburg had paused his throwing program.

Westburg, who had a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow after a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament was found, didn’t play in any Grapefruit League games.

He’s stayed in Florida and rehabbed the elbow, increasing the length and intensity of his throwing. After discomfort in the elbow, the Orioles decided to rest him, and he’ll be re-evaluated.

They’re hoping that Westburg can play this season. His absence has hurt the team badly. Entering Tuesday night’s game, Orioles third basemen Wilson, Blaze Alexander and Coby Mayo had combined to hit just .181 with a .516 OPS.

The Orioles had hoped Mayo would blossom with the extended playing time, but it hasn’t happened. Mayo is just 1-for-21 and his average has dropped to .157.

It will be interesting to see how long the Orioles will stick with Mayo. When second baseman Jackson Holliday returns, perhaps they’ll give some playing time to Jeremiah Jackson at third. Jackson played there last season.

They have Christian Encarnacion-Strand on the 40-man roster. He hit a two-run home run for Norfolk and is hitting .277 with an .897 OPS. He’s played 91 games at first base and 18 at third for Cincinnati.

With Alonso, Taylor Ward, Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, the hope was that the team could outslug its opponents when necessary. This was the second time they’ve won a game when allowing seven runs.

Those games probably won’t happen often, and Young and Povich starting the final two games of the Marlins series, longer starts are going to be imperative.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com