ARLINGTON, Texas – The smile came before the response.
Anthony Santander gave it away, failing to offer a spoiler alert, during today’s on-field media session at the All-Star Game.
Where are his father, Roger, and mother, Yoleida? Are they back in Venezuela or maybe at his Miami home?
Santander lit up, the way he’d react to a fastball down the middle of the plate. But he didn’t swing. He spoke.
“They’re here in Texas,” he said. “I can’t be here without them, you know?”
ARLINGTON, Texas - The decision was made. Corbin Burnes would accept his fourth consecutive invitation to the All-Star Game. Hug his wife Brooke, hold his newborn twin daughters one more time and board a flight. A piece of him left behind.
With that honor, however, came his first start.
American League manager Bruce Bochy is handing the ball to Burnes Tuesday night at Globe Life Park.
Bochy considered what Burnes has done in his career, including the previous selections and a Cy Young Award with the Brewers in 2021, and the veteran's impact on the 2024 Orioles.
"I think you have to look at his résumé, what he's done in baseball," Bochy said. "He's had an incredible career. This is his fourth consecutive All-Star Game. What he's done this year in Baltimore, you know, they're leading their division. He's a big reason for that.
The break begins today for most players in the majors.
The exceptions already are gathering in Arlington, Texas.
Gunnar Henderson is prepping for tonight’s Home Run Derby, attempting to become the third Orioles representative to win it after Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991 and Miguel Tejada in 2004. Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton will pitch to Henderson following their practice session at Camden Yards.
Britton passed through the clubhouse yesterday morning and joked how the Tides won their past two games and might not want him back. Fundamentals coach Ramón Sambo and hitting coach Mike Montville have managed the club in Britton’s absence.
Not at the same time, though.
Asked this morning what the Orioles must do after the break to recapture the success that defined previous months, third base coach Tony Mansolino replied, “I think just get back to being who we are.”
That would be a team producing quality at-bats, hitting in the clutch and scoring runs in bunches. That gets more out of the rotation than reasonably expected with so many injuries, as well as important outs from the bullpen.
Be the team that swept the Rays in four games and won consecutive series against the Braves, Phillies and Yankees. Be those 2024 Orioles.
They sort of got there today. They weren't going to quibble.
After imploding in gut-wrenching fashion in the ninth, the Orioles watched the Yankees misplay two balls with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Charity began at home.
Kyle Stowers has a locker inside Camden Yards again. He’s just doesn’t know for how long.
That’s typical with Stowers going back and forth between the Orioles and Triple-A Norfolk, but the current situation is more unusual due to the timing of it.
Stowers was recalled yesterday with Heston Kjerstad placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. The All-Star break begins on Monday and Kjerstad is eligible to return Saturday in Texas.
Kjerstad could miss only three games, which leaves Stowers more unsure about the duration of his stay and whether he plays. He’s out of the lineup again this morning.
“Obviously, the reality of life is you never know what the next day holds, right?” Stowers said. “The only thing God promises us is today, so just trying to take care of today and then we’ll handle tomorrow when it comes.”
The Orioles close out the first half this morning with Austin Hays in the lineup after he left yesterday’s game with hip soreness.
Colton Cowser is in center field, starting again versus a left-hander. James McCann is catching and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.
Jorge Mateo is playing second base.
Kyle Stowers is here but on the bench again today.
Dean Kremer has a 4.42 ERA and 1.186 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Yankees on April 30 in Baltimore and allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. Austin Wells and Juan Soto homered.
The Orioles are playing a game today that starts before noon, and it isn’t Patriots Day in Boston. The season is a marathon, but that’s it.
The Roku Channel is streaming from Camden Yards with first pitch at 11:35 a.m. Pajamas are acceptable attire.
The media had lots to report yesterday with the roster move that returned Cade Povich to Triple-A Norfolk, Heston Kjerstad scratched from the lineup after being hit on the batting helmet the previous night and later going on the seven-day concussion injured list, the follow-up questions about the bench-clearing incident, and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias being made available in the dugout.
Elias wouldn’t bite when asked to share his draft board – can’t blame a guy for trying - but he noted how it’s a “thin” high school class in the first round. The Orioles hold the 22nd and 32nd picks.
Baseball America’s 6.0 mock has the Orioles selecting University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt with their first selection. An earlier mock had University of Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht.
The theory that last night’s incident in the ninth inning that emptied both dugouts and bullpens and eventually sent Heston Kjerstad to the seven-day concussion injured list would light a fuse under the Orioles was doused pretty early this afternoon.
The anger lingers but so do the problems that made a first-place lead practically vanish.
Grayson Rodriguez’s streak of quality starts was over by the first inning, with three of the Yankees’ four runs scoring on Austin Wells’ two-out homer to the flag court. Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and the Orioles lost again, 6-1, before an announced sellout crowd of 44,018 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles hadn’t dropped a division series in the last 22, going 16-0-6, but they’re staggering to the All-Star break. They’ve lost 13 of their last 21 games to lower their record to 57-38 and they’ll need a victory Sunday to avoid back-to-back sweeps.
The five-game losing streak matches their season high and they lead the Yankees by mere percentage points.
The Orioles tweaked the bullpen again this afternoon.
Right-hander Vinny Nittoli had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk and rookie starter Cade Povich was optioned after last night’s game.
Left-hander Danny Coulombe was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
Nittoli allowed one run and struck out four batters in three innings with Norfolk. The Orioles signed him to a minor league contract on July 2 after the Cubs designated him for assignment.
Nittoli appeared in seven games with the Athletics this season and allowed two runs in eight innings. He appeared in one game with the Mariners in 2021, two with the Phillies in 2022 and three with the Mets last summer. He’s registered a career 3.07 ERA in 14 2/3 innings.
Heston Kjerstad is in today’s lineup for the Orioles after being hit on the helmet last night by a 96.8 mph sinker from Clay Holmes. Kjerstad underwent testing for a concussion but is fine.
We’ll find out later whether there’s any carryover from the dugout-clearing incident. Manager Brandon Hyde and others, including bench coach Fredi González, had to be restrained. Hyde was ejected.
The Yankees lead the majors with 62 hit batters.
Holmes wasn’t trying to hit anyone. He had back-to-back poor outings against the Orioles in the Bronx, allowing four runs (three earned) in two innings. He wanted three outs last night, the save, and to get out of the rain. But there’s friction between these clubs and it boiled over.
“The movement wasn’t my normal sinker,” Holmes said afterward. “Just kind of pulled it.”
Gunnar Henderson is following a tough act in the Home Run Derby.
Adley Rutschman didn’t advance past the first round last summer, but he hit 20 homers left-handed and seven more right-handed in the 30-second bonus round. Henderson will stick with the left side. Seems almost boring by comparison, but this is no time to experiment.
Rutschman brought the added storyline of playing at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, the ballpark he attended as a kid growing up in Sherwood, Oregon. And his father, Randy, pitched to him, providing a sentimental angle.
ESPN and the rest of the media ate it up. Had to loosen their belts.
Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr. moved on to the second round by hitting 28 home runs. However, a format change this year doesn’t pit two players against each other. The strict tournament style is gone.
Cade Povich brings a certain level of curiosity into tonight’s start against the Yankees.
Specifically, how will the rookie respond to his worst outing in the majors, when he failed to retire a batter in the second inning in Oakland and was charged with eight runs.
Povich has surrendered six runs in the first inning and six more in the second over his six starts. Three runs scored in the first in his last outing and the Athletics tacked on seven more in the second, with Dillon Tate unable to stop the bleeding.
So yes, manager Brandon Hyde is curious about tonight.
“I think we’re going to find out in the first inning,” Hyde said. “His first innings have been a little rocky, where he has a tough time kind of finding his command. So hopefully tonight he finds that command early.
The Orioles hold a two-game advantage over the Yankees in the American League East and they begin a weekend series tonight that leads into the break. They haven’t lost a division series in the last 22.
They haven't scored in the last 24 innings.
Heston Kjerstad is in left field and Cedric Mullins is in center. Colton Cowser is on the bench again.
Jordan Westburg is at second base. Ryan O'Hearn is the designated hitter.
Ryan Mountcastle is batting seventh.
The amount of Orioles All-Star snubs is shrinking.
The bucket isn’t empty.
Perhaps the more egregious omission is closer Craig Kimbrel, whose 23 saves already match last year’s total with the Phillies and are one more than in 2022 with the Dodgers. His ERA is down to 2.10 with a 0.903 ERA in 38 appearances. He’s allowed one earned run in his last 21 innings.
Infielder Jordan Westburg and outfielder Anthony Santander are injury replacements and first-timers to give the Orioles five All-Stars. Gunnar Henderson is the starting shortstop. Adley Rutschman is the starting catcher. Corbin Burnes was selected to the pitching staff and could start if he accepts the invitation.
Kimbrel is a nine-time All-Star who didn’t pack his bags for Arlington, Texas. He was surrounded by assumptions, though. The overall body of work and extended stretch of success following a brief demotion from the closer’s role seemed to make him a lock.
Ryan Mountcastle’s fly ball with two outs in the fourth inning fell in front of charging Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki for a soft double. The Orioles had their first baserunner. They got a body in scoring position.
Newly appointed All-Star Anthony Santander swung at the next pitch and grounded out to extend the club’s scoreless streak to 19 innings and its struggles with RISP to whatever level is beyond frustrating.
Albert Suárez tried to keep the game close, but a four-run deficit in the fifth felt insurmountable with the offense stuck in neutral.
Cubs left-hander Justin Steele tossed seven scoreless innings on only 70 pitches and the Orioles lost 8-0 before an announced crowd of 22,685 at Camden Yards, the first time they were swept at home since Aug. 27-29, 2021 against the Rays.
The Orioles were outscored 21-2 in the series and haven’t plated a run in their last 24 innings. They were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time in three years. And they’ve got the Yankees this weekend.
Make that five All-Star representatives for the Orioles.
Outfielder Anthony Santander has made the American League club as an injury replacement for Houston’s Kyle Tucker. He'll also head out early to Arlington, Texas.
Santander joins starters Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, pitcher Corbin Burnes and infielder Jordan Westburg. This is the highest total for the Orioles since 2016 with Manny Machado, Matt Wieters, Mark Trumbo, Zack Britton and Brad Brach. They had four representatives last year in Seattle.
The honor for Santander comes in his free agency year and seven seasons after his major league debut as a Rule 5 pick from Single-A Lynchburg in Cleveland’s organization.
Santander goes into tonight’s game batting .233/.298/.492 with 15 doubles, a triple, 23 home runs and 57 RBIs in 366 plate appearances, and he’s playing an exceptional right field. He was a finalist on the ballot but finished one spot behind the starters.
The Orioles acquired right-hander Colin Selby, 26, from the Royals today for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Kyle Bradish was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room on a full 40-man roster.
Selby, a Virginia native, made two relief appearances with the Royals and allowed two earned runs (three total) in three innings. He appeared in 21 games with the Pirates last season, making five starts, and had a 9.00 ERA and 1.833 WHIP in 24 innings.
He’s averaged 5.7 walks and 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the majors.
Austin Hays remains in left field, as the Orioles try to avoid being swept by the Cubs in their three-game series.
Hays is slashing .340/.379/.574 (32-for-94) with 13 doubles, three home runs, 12 RBIs, three walks, four hit-by-pitches and 14 runs in 35 games since returning from the injured list on May 13.
An adjustment to the Orioles’ bullpen seemed inevitable.
The move came early this afternoon.
Dillon Tate was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and right-handed reliever Burch Smith had his contract selected from the Tides.
Smith will wear No. 40. Tate will try to fix whatever’s wrong.
Tate has made three appearances this month and given up runs in each game – four over two innings against the Athletics and two over two innings in back-to-back outings against the Cubs. He surrendered 11 hits. His ERA has climbed from 3.38 to 4.59.
The latest heat advisory mentions how mailbags could go up in flames and to keep them indoors. I’m not taking any chances.
It’s my responsibility to empty mine and save the neighborhood from total destruction.
You ask, I answer, and yada, yada, yada.
If you ever catch me editing for clarity, length or style, drag me in an alley and have me beaten.
Also, my mailbag competes in the Home Run Derby and yours just has the runs.
Jordan Westburg knew that the local media was hovering around his locker after last night’s game. Notepads, recorders, cameras, microphones. All of them waiting for the player who found out about his All-Star selection earlier in the day and homered in his first at-bat. He was an obvious interview.
The scrum moved on from starting pitcher Dean Kremer, but Westburg first had to attend an All-Star meeting with teammates joining him in Arlington, Texas. It couldn’t be avoided.
All part of a whirlwind day that included phone calls to wife Anna Claire and his parents.
Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, the first two draft picks under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, are starting at catcher and shortstop, respectively, for the American League. Corbin Burnes could be the starting pitcher working on an extra day of rest. That announcement is pending.
Rutschman was the backup catcher in last year’s Midsummer Classic in Seattle and participated in the Home Run Derby. He’s the veteran among the position players.
