A chance tonight for another AL East series win and taking pride in the O's farm

The Orioles have now gone 80 consecutive series dating to May of 2022 without being swept in a series. Their win by 7-0 over Toronto last night pushed their incredible streak to 80.

No sweep for the Blue Jays and maybe even no series victory if Baltimore can win tonight.

The Orioles (78-48) are leading the AL East by two games over Tampa Bay and by 8.5 over Toronto. They have won four of five, seven of 10, 15 of 22 and 29 of their past 42 games.

Dean Kremer, now 12-5 with an ERA of 4.31 threw six scoreless on 94 pitches for his third scoreless start of the year. Over his past nine outings, Kremer is 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA.

O's starters have allowed three earned runs or less in 21 of their past 24 games. In those 21 games, the rotation ERA is 2.71.

The Orioles are now 40-13 when they get a quality start.

If they win tonight their impressive unbeaten run in AL East series will reach 11. They are 8-0-2 their past 10 AL East series pending tonight's result. 

Props for the farm: The Orioles, via a press release this week, noted how far their No. 1 farm system has come in organizational rankings. For the second year in a row, 2022 and now 2023, they are ranked as the No. 1 farm system in the sport by Baseball America, MLBPipeline.com and ESPN.

In 2019, ESPN ranked the O’s farm No. 30.

“The continued recognition of our farm system is a testament to the hard work and expertise of our scouting, coaching, player care, and analytics staff members, as well as the steadfast support and investment from our partnership group,” said Mike Elias, Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager.

“To maintain the No. 1 ranking despite graduating so many elite prospects to the majors speaks to the depth and talent within this organization, which we expect will continue to deliver impact players to Baltimore for years to come.”

According to ESPN, the O’s farm system valuation has increased by more than $160 million over the past three years. The Orioles are also the first organization to rank No. 1 in five straight MLB Pipeline farm system rankings.

“The work that Mike, Sig (Mejdal), Brandon (Hyde), and the entire front office team have done since ushering in a new era of Orioles baseball for the 2019 season has positioned the Orioles to consistently compete in the coming years and help draw fans and visitors back downtown,” said John Angelos, Orioles Chair and Managing Partner.

The Orioles have stayed as the No. 1 farm even while graduating young talent to the majors that no longer is eligible to be ranked on prospects lists like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and Jordan Westburg.

In an interview with me earlier this summer, MLBPipeline.com’s Jim Callis pointed out that having a highly-rated farm doesn’t guarantee future MLB success but there sure can be a correlation.

Since 2005, 16 of Baseball America’s 17 top farm systems made the playoffs within two years of their designation. Callis noted some top ranked clubs by his outlet have done more than that.

"If you go back and look at teams that have been ranked No. 1 by us (at MLB Pipeline), a lot of them have gone on to win the World Series within the next couple of years. We had the Dodgers No. 1, we had the Red Sox No. 1, we had the Astros."

And Callis threw some props at the O’s for both player acquisition and player development.

“They have obviously done well (in the draft)," Callis said. "You can argue when you are picking one, two, five and one, you should do pretty well. But they got Gunnar Henderson with their second pick back in 2019. I think it’s not just in drafting, but also development. Guys are coming into their system and getting better.

“Heston Kjerstad is a guy we have talked a lot about, took forever to get going and now they’ve got him back to where he was. He’s everything they hoped he would be. Some later round picks like Coby Mayo, granted was an over slot signing, Joey Ortiz and Jordan Westburg have developed well. They’ve made good picks and good picks later in the draft.

“The fact that it seems like it’s one player after another and guys get better, is a tribute to their development staff too.”