With 92 games down and 70 still to go, the Orioles begin their post-All-Star-break schedule tonight hosting the New York Yankees to start a three-game series and seven-game homestand.

The Orioles (46-46) ended the pre-All-Star-break portion of the schedule losing two of three at Tampa Bay in a series that ended Sunday. Their loss a week ago tonight ended a 10-game win streak. But the Orioles have won 11 of 13 games and are 16-7 in the last 23 and 22-11 over their past 33 games.

The O's 46 wins to this point were the most they've had before an All-Star break since they went 51-36 in the first half in 2016. They have 39 home games remaining and 31 road games. The Orioles are .500 or better this late in a season for the first time since entering play 71-71 on Sept. 10, 2017. The last time the Orioles had at least 46 wins through their first 92 games of a season was 2016, when they went 53-39.

Best win percentage in MLB since June 11

.727 – Los Angeles Dodgers (24-9)
.714 – Houston (25-10) and Seattle (25-10)
.686 – Atlanta (24-11)
.667 – Orioles (22-11)

The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching. And now that the draft is over, teams can turn their full attention to the just under two weeks leading up to that deadline.

You can sense the unease around Birdland.

Fans have been captivated by the 2022 Orioles and hope they make a surprising late-season playoff run. They get attached to the players who have performed well for their team and don’t want them traded. Not all fans feel this way, but many do.

Others realize that the bigger rebuilding plan that has been in place since the day Mike Elias arrived is still in place. It has just moved to the next steps. 

So what will that mean for the upcoming deadline and who will stay and go? We don’t know, and oftentimes the deadline produces numerous rumors but little action. This could turn out to be one of those years.

He started the 2021 season with low Single-A Delmarva, but ended it with Double-A Bowie. And now, as the 2022 season heads into the second half, O’s infield prospect Jordan Westburg has moved into the back end of top 100 lists. And, with his strong play at Triple-A Norfolk, has put himself in position for a call to the majors whenever the big club is ready to make the move.

He excelled in the Southeastern Conference at Mississippi State before the O’s selected him No. 30 overall in the 2020 draft. Tides teammate Gunnar Henderson outshines him at times, but Westburg’s Triple-A numbers actually exceed those of Henderson, who is now a national top 10 prospect.

For the year, over 79 games, Westburg is batting .272/.342/.513/.855 with 25 doubles, two triples, 16 homers and 60 RBIs. His bat, like Henderson’s, has cooled a bit this month. But in 32 Triple-A games he is batting .304/.338/.565/.903 with seven homers and 28 RBIs. With Norfolk, only Henderson has hit .270/.393/.496/.889 with five homers and 19 RBIs.

Among O’s regulars on their farm, Westburg leads all in doubles, homers and RBIs, ranks third in slugging and fifth in OPS.

Tides manager Buck Britton has seen what other skippers on the O’s farm saw last year and earlier this year. Henderson and Westburg have a close relationship and like to push each other and help each other. They have played together at Delmarva, Aberdeen and Bowie and now, as of their promotions this year on June 6, at Norfolk.

They began the 2022 season by being swept at Tropicana Field, and were 2-6 after eight games. At the end of April they were 7-14. Same old Orioles. Except that would not turn out to be true.

Not even close.

By this point, even the harshest critics or those with misguided criticisms like “they’re still in last place” must realize the Baltimore Orioles are a greatly improved team and trending up big time. The organization’s rebuilding is bearing fruit with homegrown talent that's helping return the club to respectability, and more of that talent is on the way.

The Orioles got to the .500 mark (46-46) at the All-Star break with John Means, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall combining to make two first-half starts. Instead, pitchers that struggled last year like Spenser Watkins and Dean Kremer combined to make 20. Tyler Wells became a first-time starter and rookie Kyle Bradish started 10 times. Heck, even Austin Voth and his 10.13 ERA with the Nationals made five starts.

But still the Orioles turned their fortunes around.

In his first three draft as Orioles executive vice president and general manager, Mike Elias selected just four pitchers in the first 10 rounds of those drafts. Of course the 2020 draft was just five rounds, but just four pitchers were taken over three drafts through that round.

In 2019, the O’s first eight picks were position players until they selected pitchers Griffin McLarty in round eight and Connor Gillispie in round nine. In the shortened 2020 draft, their first five of six picks were position players until they drafted high school right-hander Carter Baumler in round five. Last year, among the first 10 rounds, the only pitcher selected by the O's was right-hander Carlos Tavera in round five. That was after five position players.

But this draft was very different.

After taking a position player with the first four picks Sunday night, the Orioles started the second day of the MLB Draft picking Oklahoma State right-hander Nolan McLean in round three yesterday with the No. 81 overall pick. They added pitchers Trace Bright of Auburn in round five, Preston Johnson of Mississippi State in round seven, right-hander Cameron Weston of Michigan in round eight and Juco pitcher Wyatt Cheney of McLennan (Tex.) Community College in round 10.

Of the 12 players they have drafted so far, there are 11 college players, five pitchers and seven position players.

The Orioles began the second day of the draft and selected Oklahoma State pitcher Nolan McLean. He becomes the highest pitcher selected by the club under Mike Elias. The previous highest had been in the fifth rounds in 2020 with Carter Baumler and 2021 with Carlos Tavera.

McLean, who also was a position player as an infielder for Oklahoma State, went 2-1 with a 4.97 ERA and five saves out of the bullpen. In 25 1/3 innings he allowed 20 hits with 13 walks, 39 strikeouts and a .206 batting average against. In 64 games as a hitter he batted .285/.397/.595 with 16 doubles, 19 homers and 47 RBIs. 

He is a right-handed hitter and thrower and was a draft-eligible sophomore. MLB.com rated him No. 115 in this draft class.

The Orioles are making selections today through round 10, and they have eight picks over the eight rounds through the 10^th. The slot amount for the third-rounder at No. 81 is $793,600 of a total O’s draft pool of $16.924 million. The slot amount for their No. 1 pick is $8,842,200, and it is $2,313,900 for their second selection, No. 33 overall.

In Round 4: The O’s drafted University of Texas catcher Silas Ardoin, a redshirt sophomore. In 69 games for the Longhorns he batted .271/.391/.513 with 20 doubles, a triple, 12 homers and 50 RBIs. He walked 39 times and fanned 54.

When the Orioles made their third No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick in team history on Sunday night, the pick was a popular one with a couple of the MLB Network analysts. They reacted quite favorably on the telecast when the O’s selected high school shortstop Jackson Holliday from Stillwater, Okla.

The son of long-time big league outfielder Matt Holliday, Jackson was Baseball America’s national High School Player of the Year. Holliday, who gets 60 grades from scouts for his hit tool, running and arm, is age 18 and hit .685/.749/1.392 (89-for-130) with 29 doubles, six triples, 17 home runs, 74 runs scored, 79 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 40 games during his senior season. His 89 hits set a national high school record.

He follows Ben McDonald in 1989 and Adley Rutschman in 2019 as O’s 1/1 picks and is the first high school position player the team made its top draft pick since Manny Machado in 2010.

The slot amount to sign Holliday is listed at $8,842,200.

“They didn’t cut a deal here,” said Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com on the MLB Network draft telecast. “They took one of the best players. I think Jackson Holliday is probably the best combination of hitting ability and ceiling in this draft. He plays on the infield, Druw Jones (drafted second) is an outfielder, there is defensive value here. I like Harold's (Reynolds) Bobby Witt Jr. parallel. He is a five-tool shortstop. I can’t think of too many players - and Jackson Holliday is one - that got better in every phase of the game (this season). Better hitter, stronger, faster, better arm, better shortstop as a senior. He was a good player coming in and he’s a great player now. I love this pick for the Orioles.”

For the third time in club history tonight the Orioles had the overall No. 1 selection in the MLB Draft. And after taking Ben McDonald in 1989 and Adley Rutschman 30 years later, the O’s went into the high school ranks tonight to select shortstop Jackson Holliday from Stillwater (Okla.) High School.

He is the first high school player the O’s selected with their top pick since pitcher Grayson Rodriguez in 2018, and first high school position player they spent their top pick on since Manny Machado was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft.

As it turns out, Holliday, 18, found out he would be an Oriole about the same time the rest of us did.

“I kind of found out as they were saying it,” he told O’s reporters on a team Zoom call. “That was kind of cool. My dad didn’t really tell me. He was on the phone and then he’s like ‘All right, just going to find out.’ That was very, very neat and something I’ll never forget. I didn’t know it was a possibility, to be honest, going into the high school season. I just wanted to help my team and hopefully put myself into a good position heading into today.”

Holliday said his dad, former big leaguer Matt Holliday, was on the phone with his representative, Scott Boras.

To show how different the 2022 season is from 2021 for the Orioles we could list several stats and facts. But here is a good one: The 2021 Orioles won one game against the Tampa Bay Rays all year. The 2022 Orioles could win their third series against the Rays this season if they win today at Tropicana Field.

And while the Orioles went 0-3 in the first series of the year at the Trop, they are 5-3 against the Rays since being swept in St. Pete in early April. They took two of three from Tampa Bay May 20-22 in Baltimore and did that again June 17-19 at Camden Yards. After Saturday’s win, they will be 2-1 this series with another win today against the Rays.

The Orioles ended a 10-game losing streak versus the Rays at Tropicana Field with Saturday’s 6-4 win in 11 innings on Ryan Mountcastle’s two-run single in the 11^th. The O’s trailed 3-1 to the fifth inning, but then Tyler Nevin’s single brought then within 3-2. Adley Rutschman’s first career pinch-hit home run tied the game in the eighth and the clubs each scored once in the 10^th. The Rays had the tying runs on base in the last of the 11^th, but Cionel Pérez got the second out of the inning and Joey Krehbiel the third as the Orioles won for the 11^th time in the last 12 games.

Maybe they started another win streak.

The Orioles are now 16-20 (.444) in games versus American League East teams. They are 5-6 against Tampa Bay. The O’s are 5-3 in their past eight games within the division and 12-9 over the last 21. They are 3-1-1 in their past five AL East series and can add one to that today.

Draft day in Major League Baseball has arrived and it’s really the first of three days when teams will draft over 20 rounds. The Orioles have the No. 1 pick in the draft tonight, which will begin sometime not long after 7 p.m. ET. They have 12 picks over the first 10 rounds, and 22 over 20 rounds of selections.

Tonight the draft will run through the second round and then Competitive Balance Round B, so the O’s first four picks will come tonight. The draft resumes Monday at 2 p.m. ET with rounds three through 10, and at the same time Tuesday with rounds 11 through 20.

A few O’s draft notes:

* For the third time in team history, the Orioles have the No. 1 overall pick. They selected Ben McDonald No. 1 in 1989 and Adley Rutschman in 2019.

* The O’s total draft pool of $16,924,000 to sign players is second largest in draft history.

With a 10-game winning streak now over, the Orioles look to start a new one this afternoon in the second game of their series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Rays scored four runs in the sixth Friday night to take a 5-2 lead. Ramón Urías hit a two-run homer, his second of the game, to bring Baltimore within 5-4 in the eighth, but the Birds lost by that score.

For the Orioles (45-45), it was their first loss in nearly two weeks, going back to July 2 at Minnesota. During their win streak they won three times on the road and seven times at home. They scored 52 runs and allowed 30 with a team ERA of 2.93 during the streak. The rotation ERA was 3.19 and the bullpen posted a 2.58 ERA.

The Orioles fell four wins short of a team record 14 straight wins, achieved from Aug. 12-27, 1973.

Even in losing the series opener at the Trop, the O’s have been winners in 15 of 21 and 21 of their last 31 games. They are 31-21 since May 19. The Orioles are 24-15 since June 1 and 38-31 since May 1.

They begin play today 2 ½ games out of the sixth and final American League playoff spot, which is co-held by Toronto and Boston at 48-43. That duo leads Cleveland by two games, with the O’s and Chicago White Sox both next, each at 45-45.

O’s left-handed pitching prospect DL Hall, tipping his pitches no longer, has been on a roll this month, allowing one earned run in three July starts. That is a big difference from how his June ended in back-to-back starts against Lehigh Valley.

In those two games, Hall allowed 12 runs (nine earned) over just 7 2/3 innings and gave up two home runs. Those were real outliers for him on the stat sheet. But it was during the second of those two starts that the Norfolk coaching staff noticed Hall was tipping his pitches in how he was holding his glove.

Before that outing was over Hall began to make an adjustment and he’s been rolling ever since.

His last three starts, Hall has allowed one earned run and six hits over 15 2/3 innings with seven walks to 30 strikeouts. He is 2-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 13 starts for Norfolk on the year. He will start tomorrow afternoon for the Tides and you have to wonder how close he will be to getting a big league callup after that.

Norfolk manager Buck Britton has watched Hall continue to work on his control and command. When he’s locked in, he’s really, really good. But other times he can get out of synch and off his game.

As they begin the final series before the All-Star break tonight, the Orioles are looking to extend their winning streak and possibly get within one game of or closer to the final American League playoff spot.

Beginning play tonight, the Orioles (45-44) are 1 ½ games back of Toronto and Boston, which are both 47-43 and tied for the last AL playoff berth. The Rays hold the first AL wild-card spot currently, with Seattle holding the second and the Red Sox and Blue Jays tied for that third spot.

Seattle has won 11 in a row and the Orioles go for No. 11 tonight. The Birds beat the Cubs in Chicago 4-2 on Tuesday and 7-1 Wednesday to extend the win streak to 10 and to move one game over the .500 mark.

Before they won that second game at Wrigley Field, the O’s had not been over .500 since April 8, 2021. The O’s have outscored their opponents 52-30 during the win streak. Their team pitching has an ERA of 2.93 in the streak with their starters ERA at 3.19 and the bullpen ERA at 2.58.

Over the last 25 games, O’s pitching has allowed two runs or fewer 15 times for an ERA of 2.59 in this span. In those 15 games, the Orioles are 14-1.

When Orioles prospect Gunnar Henderson plays for the American League team tomorrow night in Los Angeles in the All-Star Futures Game, he’ll be going to a place where some current young O’s stars have already been. Not Los Angeles, but to a Futures Game.

He’ll represent the Orioles and be among the best prospects in the game in a national showcase.

Catcher Adley Rutschman went 0-for-1 with a walk for the American League in its 8-3 loss to the National League last summer in Denver, but Rutschman said the experience was memorable for him and no doubt will be for Henderson, too.

“From the experience of just flying there to, you know, getting settled into the hotel, to meeting all the guys, showing up at a big league ballpark, they did a great job from start to finish. Got to meet Ken Griffey Jr. and a lot of cool people. From start to finish it was just a great experience,” Rutschman said.

And so was the game as well.

On Sunday night, probably not long after 7 p.m., the Orioles will officially be on the clock to make their third overall No. 1 MLB Draft selection in team history. They selected pitcher Ben McDonald 1/1 in 1989 and 30 years later it was catcher Adley Rutschman. Now for the second time in four years, the Orioles will make the first pick in the draft.

And it remains true today and may hold true until we get the actual pick – no one knows which direction the Orioles will go. They are as usual, not tipping their hand in any way and if they have made or even narrowed their decision, there is just no credible information out there on what the Orioles might do.

We know the same five names that have apparently been on their short list for a while now – high school outfielders Druw Jones and Elijah Green and high school infielders Jackson Holliday and Termarr Johnson with college shortstop Brooks Lee.

MLBPipeline.com ranks them this way: Jones, Holliday, Green, Johnson, Lee.

Baseball America ranks them this way: Jones, Lee, Holliday, Johnson, Green.

The Orioles have had a winning streak of 10 or more games in 11 different seasons in club history. The 2022 edition can join the list with a win tonight at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The Orioles beat the Cubs 4-2 on Tuesday to extend their winning streak to nine straight games. That is the longest in-season streak since the club won 13 in a row from Sept. 7-22, 1999. Right-hander Jordan Lyles allowed just two runs over seven innings last night and Baltimore got a two-run homer from Ramón Urías and a solo shot from Jorge Mateo in their latest win.

Lyles allowed single runs in the first and second innings and then blanked the Cubs after that, finishing with 101 pitches. Over his past five games he has thrown four quality starts and pitched to a 2.76 ERA. O’s starters have thrown seven innings or more just six times this year, and four times Lyles has done that. Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer have each done it once.

The Orioles reached the .500 mark Tuesday night at 44-44. The last time they were at .500 before this was last April 10 at 4-4. The last time they were .500 or better this deep into a season was in September 2017.

Now they shoot for a 10-game win streak.

ABERDEEN, Md. – He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and outfielder Heston Kjerstad was playing like it at low Single-A Delmarva, where he went 37-for-80 in 22 games. Yes, that is prolific hitting and makes you wonder if after moving to high Single-A Aberdeen this week whether a move to Double-A later this year is in reach for Kjerstad.

Earlier this week, after his promotion to the IronBirds, I asked O’s director of player development Matt Blood about the 23-year-old outfielder. The Orioles surely are confident that Kjerstad will do well with the IronBirds, but they also know that last summer Gunnar Henderson went 1-for-31 to start his time with Aberdeen.

“He’s definitely going to face challenges. We’ll see,” said Blood. “We’re expecting him to perform well but any player can go through a slump. Great players in the major leagues go through them. We’ll see how it goes for him but we’re expecting him to continue to play well.”

So could the club move him to Double-A later this summer?

“It’s the same answer I would give you on any player,” said Blood. “We keep track of performance and their age and we like to challenge the player. So, if they show us they have bypassed the level, then we start considering them needing a greater challenge. He’s not different than anyone else.”

The red-hot Orioles are back in action tonight, beginning a two-city, five-game road trip that will take them up to the All-Star break. They begin play tonight looking for their longest in-season win streak in 23 years.

The Orioles (43-44) could reach the .500 mark with a win tonight. They have not been at .500 at any point this season. They were last at .500 on April 10, 2021 when they were 4-4. The Orioles have won eight in a row and Sunday beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-5 to complete a four-game sweep.

Baltimore has won eight in a row for the first time since winning 12 straight from Sept. 30, 2015 to April 12, 2016, and the first time in a single season since winning eight in a row from April 22 to May 1, 2005. The last time the Orioles won at least nine games in a row in a single season was when they won 13 straight from Sept. 7-22, 1999.

The O's have won 13 of their last 18 games and 19 of their last 28 games. Their .679 winning percentage since June 11 – over those past 28 games - is tied for the second-best winning percentage in the AL and fourth best in MLB over that time. Only Houston (.741, 20-7) in the AL has a better mark in that time frame.

The Orioles finished their homestand a perfect 7-0 after sweeping three games against the Texas Rangers and four against the Angels. This marked Baltimore's first sweep of a homestand since May 5-9, 2017 when the team took three games from Chicago-AL and two against Washington. The last time the Orioles swept a homestand of seven games was Aug. 3-9, 2004 when the team took three games against Seattle and four against Texas.

ABERDEEN, Md. – He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. But outfielder Heston Kjerstad of the Orioles would not play his first minor league game until this year on June 10 – exactly two years to the day that the Orioles selected him in round one.

He put it this way this afternoon in steamy Aberdeen when discussing dealing with first myocarditis and then in March a hamstring issue that further delayed his pro debut.

“Had a minor setback for a major comeback,” Kjerstad said at Ripken Stadium where he will debut tonight for the high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds after playing 22 games for Low Single-A Delmarva.

The long wait to see Kjerstad get on the field is finally over for him and O’s fans. And that phrase he used today was one that evolved among players working to comeback from injuries at O’s camp in Sarasota, Fla.

“It was kind of we were throwing that around a lot in Sarasota with the rehab group. Kind of the lingo we used to stay more positive. Going through injuries isn’t the most positive experience sometimes.”

It is a hypothetical conversation that could have happened in any number of places in or around Baltimore this week. Or anywhere where O’s fans reside or hang out.

One fan might have asked another if he thought the surprising 2022 Orioles could keep winning and stay in playoff contention deep into this season or maybe even until the very end of it?

“Why not?” the other fan might have said.

That short phrase means something to long-time fans in Birdland.

The 1989 “Why Not” Orioles were a team that came out of nowhere to not only contend, but lead the American League East for much of that summer. They won 33 games more than the 1988 Orioles and ended the year in a showdown series at Toronto for a division championship. They won 87 games and came up short in that final series, but they captured the hearts of O’s fans forever. They have a special place in club history.