Mountcastle's plate discipline numbers and more on the pitching

He is a young hitter the Orioles are trying to be patient with. Some games they see the good and the bad for Ryan Mountcastle on the same night, sometimes even within the same plate appearance.

On Saturday night at Washington, Mountcastle smoked a Jon Lester cutter for a first-inning grand slam. But he chased a curveball to strike out in the fifth. Monday night at Minnesota, he worked a nine-pitch at-bat and then singled to center on a slider. But the next two times up he expanded the zone and struck out.

Mountcastle's strikeout rate has increased from 21.4 last year to 30.9 now, while his walk rate dropped from a pro career-best 7.9 in 2020 to 4.0 this season.

"Well, there are drills and things they do in the cage every day," said manager Brandon Hyde. "But besides that, he's very aware. We talk about it a lot. Talk about him being on time with the fastball and not chasing breaking balls.

"You see a lot of breaking ball chase early in the count. And I talked to him the other day. He takes Jonny Lester deep, grand slam, middle-in cutter, great swing into left-center. And then his next at-bat, two runners on, Lester is on the ropes, an 0-0 changeup kind of an out-of-his-shoes swing, head flying. I said, 'For me, that's the difference right now. That's the next level. Being able to keep your eyes in the strike zone, understanding what the pitcher is trying to do. Not try to do too much. You just showed you could hit the ball 450 feet on a middle-in cutter where your eyes didn't leave the strike zone. And then the next at-bat you just get outside of yourself and try to do more, rather than taking the same approach.'

"That is why, for me, his at-bats go in and out. Where you see a really good at-bat where he staying on the ball good and then sometimes he just tries to do a little too much. Or he doesn't recognize the breaking ball maybe as well."

So Mountcastle, who had such a strong debut at the big league level last year, is a work in progress and the Orioles continue to be patient with a player that could be a core piece for their future.

Later today, we find out how Mountcastle's bruised left hand is doing. He got hit by a pitch in the sixth inning of Tuesday's loss at Minnesota.

Hyde on the farm teams winning: With a couple more wins last night, the Orioles' Single-A teams at Delmarva and Aberdeen and their Double-A Bowie squad have a combined record of 39-17, for a winning percentage of .696.

Developing players and getting them to the majors is always more important than producing a winning team on the farm, but plenty of people in baseball believe that winning environments and habits developed on the farm can carry over to the majors. And some cite teams that rebuilt their organizations and eventually won the World Series as having won on the farm first. Winning down below led to winning in the majors.

O's manager Brandon Hyde saw that play out when he was a coach for the Chicago Cubs, who won the World Series in 2016.

"You look at an organization and a farm system, you are interested in how the prospects are doing," said Hyde. "But winning is important in that. Bottom line is, if you're winning there are players playing well. So, you know, when you see our lower levels winning, guys having good nights, guys having good nights on the mound and prospects performing, that is what you're looking for.

"But I do feel like winning environments in the minor leagues can be extremely helpful as guys move through the system and come up. It's not the end-all for prospect development, but it is extremely helpful. And when guys are playing well together, a good culture is formed. But when are you winning, guys are playing well, and that is what you want from your minor league players."

The pitching numbers: The Orioles' losing streak reached eight with last night's 7-4 loss at Minnesota. On the afternoon of May 5, John Means pitched a no-hitter at Seattle and the Orioles were 15-16. In the three weeks since then, they've gone 2-15.

O's pitchers have allowed 69 runs with an ERA of 9.00 during the losing streak. They have allowed five runs or more in 11 of the past 12 games, allowing 95 runs in that span. O's starting pitchers have an 8.32 ERA the last 16 games. The bullpen ERA is 9.46 during the losing streak.

The Orioles once were playing .813 baseball when they scored four or more runs. They were 13-3 in those games. But since May 5 they are 2-7 when scoring four or more.

DJ's favorite inning is the 8th pic.twitter.com/FPKaliOELq

-- Baltimore Orioles 😷 (@Orioles) May 26, 2021