BRADENTON, Fla. – Riley Cooper had no idea.
A combined no-hitter was brewing today and it rested in Cooper’s left hand as the Orioles reliever selected for the bottom of the ninth inning.
A 13th-round draft pick out of LSU in 2023. A low A-ball pitcher with 24 games of professional experience.
The pressure he felt also was surprisingly low.
“Pitching’s pitching,” he said, “so I just went in there and did my thing.”
BRADENTON, Fla. – The Orioles held pitchers fielding practice inside the ballpark this week in Sarasota. They took turns chasing soft ground balls that manager Brandon Hyde rolled near them, causing them to break left or right from the mound, and waited for a teammate to yell “first” or “third.”
A reminder of those tedious drills came in the fourth inning today when reliever Gregory Soto bounced a throw to first base in an attempt to retire the Pirates’ Ji Hwan Bae with one out. The fielding part went smoothly, but not the last part.
The ball got past Coby Mayo, allowing Bae to reach second base. Soto walked the next two batters and Bae came home with the tie-breaking run when Oneil Cruz grounded into a force.
Soto had strung together three straight scoreless outings before allowing an unearned run today. He’s totaled five innings and surrendered two earned, five hits, his first two walks and six strikeouts.
Today’s appearance consisted of 19 pitches and only seven strikes.
SARASOTA, Fla. – Albert Suárez turned in his second consecutive impressive outing yesterday to stay in the thick of a two-man rotation battle. Ryan Mountcastle hit his first spring home run. Relievers Cionel Pérez and Yennier Cano each tossed a scoreless inning. But nobody puts Zach Fruit in the corner.
The Orioles’ ninth-round draft pick in 2023 tried to steal the show with his three scoreless innings, five strikeouts and plus velocity that delivered a save in a 6-2 victory over the Yankees in Tampa.
“Kid is interesting,” said a scout from another organization.
And not just his name.
Fruit, 24, fanned the side in the ninth. His first two pitches were clocked at 98 and 98.1 mph to retire Dominic Smith on a fly ball. He went 92.5 mph cutter, 95.7 sinker, 100.3 four-seam fastball – the highest reading from an Oriole this spring - and 91.3 cutter on Oswaldo Cabrera’s at-bat that ended with a single, and he registered 98.5, 97.6, and 97.4 twice to Andrew Velazquez before getting a called third strike with a 94.6 mph cutter.
Here we are again, blowing up roster projections in November. Stand back and cover your ears.
I want to cover my eyes every time one of my locks doesn’t pan out.
We learned more about the roster with yesterday's non-tender of right-handed reliever Jacob Webb. We know that Emmanuel Rivera has a $1 million contract that doesn’t guarantee him an Opening Day introduction. He’s out of options and the infield is crowded.
It appears to be the only set position. The Orioles could use a right-handed hitting outfielder and at least one starting pitcher. They need a backup catcher. And they’ve decided to make changes in the bullpen.
They seemed to have their eight relievers before removing Webb and left-hander Danny Coulombe, who combined for a 2.71 ERA and two elbow injuries. Coulombe underwent surgery to remove a bone chip and missed three months.
Major League Baseball has reached another important deadline today, with teams required to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players. It’s known as the “non-tender” date. Good for baseball, bad for steakhouse chefs.
The Orioles went a surprising 17-for-17 last year and they have 13 players to consider this afternoon. As usual, there are the slam dunks and the shaky on the perimeters.
The list stood at 16 before the Orioles did some whittling, including the decision to pick up left-handed reliever Cionel Pérez’s $2.2 million option for 2025. They could have declined it and negotiated a new deal.
Pitchers Matt Bowman and Burch Smith elected free agency rather than outright assignments.
At the risk of being wrong again, which never stops me from trying, I’ll predict that the Orioles go 13-for-13.
Yep, surprising news indeed. Of the five players the O’s held contract options on for the 2025 season, most would have guessed one they surely would bring back at $4 million for next year is lefty reliever Danny Coulombe.
He’s been a reliable high-leverage reliever for two years for this team. A 2.12 ERA in 2024 and an ERA of 2.56 and WHIP of 0.951 in 94 games in two seasons for the Orioles.
But while the club picked up contract options yesterday on pitchers Seranthony Domínguez and Cionel Pérez and position player Ryan O’Hearn, they declined Coulombe’s option.
Why do that?
We didn’t get to interview anyone yet on this decision so we can only guess at the club’s thinking. Coulombe missed a big chuck of this past season, from June 11 to Sept. 20 after a left elbow procedure to remove bone chips. Now at 35, is there concern about that – also that this was his second career elbow procedure in addition to his 2022 hip surgery?
Reliever Burch Smith doesn’t rate as one of the bigger decisions awaiting the Orioles. However, he’s on their agenda.
Smith is eligible for arbitration despite his name being missing from some lists. He made $1 million this year, with the Orioles paying the prorated minimum salary after selecting his contract on July 11.
The Rays signed Smith as a free agent on Jan. 2. The Marlins acquired him on March 27 in a cash transaction and released him on June 20. The Orioles signed him a week later.
The Orioles optioned Dillon Tate on the day that they brought Smith to the majors. As if you’d forget.
Smith appeared in 25 games and posted a 5.74 ERA and 1.050 WHIP in 26 2/3 innings. He started out with four scoreless appearances, allowing one hit, walking none and striking out six, but he endured some rough patches, including five home runs over seven outings.
Who have you got in the World Series?
How much do you care after the Orioles lost in the Wild Card?
They’re busy reconstructing the coaching staff after moving on from co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández, and after co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte returned to the Twins. But there’s lots more to keep them preoccupied this month and beyond.
Roster decisions are on the agenda, of course, and the following are included:
What to do with Emmanuel Rivera.
NEW YORK – The reaction to the last out was subdued out of necessity.
A fly ball sealed the Orioles' 5-3 win over the Yankees and players lined up for the traditional congratulatory handshake line. They didn't know whether they made the postseason for a second year in a row. The out-of-town scores posted on a video board in right-center field didn't show a final between the Marlins and Twins.
Manager Brandon Hyde stepped out of the clubhouse for his usual post-game media scrum, and a club official called him back inside. It was done. The Twins lost and the Orioles would get to keep playing in October.
Outfielder Colton Cowser purchased a mini water-proof video camera, dropped it and said, "It broke already." He spoke too soon, using it to take selfies with teammates and media. Heston Kjerstad doused 20-year-old Jackson Holliday with champagne and beer, the kid being too young to drink it but not to wear it. They all hugged, laughed, danced, smoked cigars and let off steam.
The visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium was covered in plastic. The Orioles couldn't clinch at home but they didn't let it ruin their party. They busted loose in the Bronx.
Corbin Burnes shortened his hair and lengthened his start, but what happened tonight wasn’t pretty.
Burnes allowed four runs in the sixth inning and the offense ran cold again in the Orioles’ 6-0 loss to the Astros before an announced crowd of 22,212 at Camden Yards.
The Yankees lead the division by 1 ½ games, the Orioles’ largest deficit since being two back on June 25.
After surrendering a career-high eight runs and 10 hits last week, Burnes was poised to produce his 20th quality start. However, the Astros sent eight batters to the plate in the sixth, broke open the game and forced manager Brandon Hyde to dig into his bullpen after 5 2/3.
Burnes allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits. Damage came heavy with two outs in the sixth, when Ben Gamel singled at only 77.8 mph off the bat to drive in a run, Burnes fielded Jake Meyers’ bunt and threw the ball past first base, and Shay Whitcomb delivered a two-run single.
Anthony Santander sheepishly made his confession yesterday, pleading ignorant but doing so with a big smile.
Santander knew about setting the club record for home runs by a switch-hitter after belting his 36th the previous night against the Nationals. Outfielder Ken Singleton held it since 1979.
“I was aware,” Santander said yesterday. “Just happy and proud to be able to reach that number and be on the top as a switch-hitter. That’s pretty special.”
What about the player that he passed?
Singleton spent the last 10 of his 15 major league seasons with the Orioles and finished third in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League in 1977 and second in ’79, when he batted .295/.405/.533 with 29 doubles, 35 homers and 111 RBIs in 159 games. He hit 182 homers with the Orioles and registered a .284 average and .388 on-base percentage. He also made three All-Star teams and earned a World Series ring in 1983, the last championship in Baltimore.
The off-day enabled the Orioles to freshen their bullpen heading into the Nationals series after left-hander Cionel Pérez worked back-to-back games at Tropicana Field following an earlier stretch in the month of four appearances in five days. Yennier Cano and Seranthony Domínguez weren’t available Sunday after pitching in the previous two games.
Craig Kimbrel and left-hander Gregory Soto are working under different conditions.
Kimbrel has appeared in three games this month, with four days’ rest before Sunday’s outing that resulted in the tie-breaking run scoring against him in the eighth inning. Soto has pitched four times – with his most recent outing on Thursday. He entered in the sixth inning in his first three games with the Orioles and twice surrendered four runs.
Manager Brandon Hyde can’t always avoid using multiple relievers in high-leverage situations. He’s got to find innings that get them back on track but also help the Orioles win.
“We’re going to need both of them, so I’m going to have to find a way,” he said. “Craig had that All-Star first half and when he had a little blip we found a way to kind of get him back rolling again. I’ve tried to do that again here the second half. I thought he threw better in Toronto. That inning looked more like him. The way we were in the ‘pen a couple days ago, wanted to give him that eighth inning and his command just wasn’t very good that day, unfortunately. So hopefully he can rebound from that. But we’re going to need him in the last two months big-time.”
The Orioles are home tonight for the first time since July 31, one day past the trade deadline. They split four games in Cleveland, lost two of three in Toronto and won two of three in St. Petersburg, Fla., though the finale made it appear much worse. Strange how that works. Win a series and eat and dress in a quiet clubhouse.
The roster has changed. The knack for handling adversity, whether injuries or performance based, is the same. Let’s see how far that goes.
Let’s also hit the pause button again coming out of the off-day and collect some thoughts.
* The Craig Kimbrel reset lasted longer than expected.
It’s still happening.
Of the six Orioles that joined the team during the deals leading up to the trade deadline, we can pretty much say that four of them are doing well thus far. One is trending up and one is trying to stay out of O’s fans' doghouse.
The struggling new Oriole is obviously lefty reliever Gregory Soto. In his first four O’s appearances, he gave up nine hits, eight runs, one homer and three walks in just 2 1/3 innings. He allowed nine hits in 15 at-bats with an ERA of 30.86.
But the Orioles are obviously not going to bail on him after four outings. Soto was an All-Star in both 2021 and 2022 with Detroit and had a 48 percent whiff rate on his slider when they acquired him. The O’s need to get that pitch going to complement his high-90s fastball.
The O’s acquired Eloy Jiménez from the White Sox and some fans wondered why with his injury history and .642 OPS this year. But he came as a player that had produced a .790 career OPS and a Silver Slugger Award in 2020.
Then Jiménez went 11-for-21 through Friday night, batting .524 with an OPS of 1.143. He did not play in Saturday's win, so he maintains those lofty stats heading into today as an Oriole.
Small sample sizes shouldn’t produce a chorus of long-term outlooks. The word “small” is the giveaway Baseball requires patience over the course of a 162-game season.
OK, we got that out of the way.
Left-hander Gregory Soto has made three appearances with the Orioles since the deadline trade with the Phillies. He’s allowed eight runs and nine hits and walked three batters in 1 1/3 innings. And his second outing was scoreless.
It wasn’t clean. Soto allowed two hits Sunday in two-thirds of an inning in Cleveland and was bailed out by Cedric Mullins’ outfield assist.
The first five Guardians batters reached against Soto Friday in his Orioles debut. He retired one and was removed.
CLEVELAND - Gregory Soto thought he ruined his chance. Fire a pitch too close to Gunnar Henderson and forget about playing for the Orioles.
The anecdote is more amusing when told in front of his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field, where the Orioles played the Guardians last night.
Soto was acquired from the Phillies last Friday for right-handed pitchers Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace. He met his teammates and drew a crowd of media at his locker.
There was a lot of it going around with five newcomers at the scene. Trevor Rogers wasn’t bothered until later because he was the starting pitcher. Can't break the unwritten rule.
A three-game series in Baltimore in June gave Soto more chances to observe and study the Orioles.
The Orioles, still a work in progress with their roster after the trade deadline, take the field today with Jackson Holliday back in the lineup as they host Toronto to wrap up the four-game series.
The Orioles (64-44) lead the American League East by 1/2 game over the Yankees and by seven games over the Red Sox after last night's 6-2 win. They have taken two of three in this series, are 22-10 in division games and have scored 29 runs in winning three of the past four games.
The Orioles, now 7-6 the last 13 games, are hoping they are in the beginning stages of an extended stretch of winning as the playoff push is on now post-trade deadline.
The Orioles are 11-13 this month, so they are about to have a losing month for the first time since September of 2022. The nine consecutive winning months were the longest active streak in the majors.
Today's roster moves included the recall of Holliday from Triple-A. In other moves, lefty Gregory Soto was activated after being acquired yesterday. In corresponding moves, catcher Blake Hunt, who was added to the active roster right before the game last night, and infielder/outfielder Terrin Vavra, who had his contract selected from the Tides yesterday, were optioned to Norfolk (Hunt stayed in Baltimore on the taxi squad).
Trade deadlines are supposed to address questions and deficiencies with the roster for a team in buyer mode. There are always questions, however. The work gets done and explanations are sought. Why do this and that? Is the club actually better than the previous model?
And about those rumors.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias met with the media for about 23 minutes today in the home dugout. He’s pleased with the results, which netted starter Zach Eflin from the Rays for minor league pitcher Jackson Baumeister, infielder Mac Horvath and outfielder Matthew Etzel, reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache from the Phillies for outfielder Austin Hays, starter Trevor Rogers from the Marlins for second baseman Connor Norby – who was optioned to Triple-A this morning – and outfielder Kyle Stowers, outfielder Eloy Jiménez and cash from the White Sox for Triple-A Norfolk left-hander Trey McGough, outfielder Austin Slater, infielder Livan Soto and cash considerations from the Reds for cash considerations, and left-handed reliever Gregory Soto from the Phillies for Double-A pitching prospect Seth Johnson and High-A Aberdeen pitcher Moisés Chance.
According to a source, there won’t be a player-to-be-named later in the deal with Cincinnati. Straight cash.
“Trade deadline’s always tough,” Elias said. “It’s always bittersweet trading players for other players. It’s not a one-way street. You’re losing talent but you’re getting different talent that’s a different fit and more of a short-term concentration for the needs of the team. We added two starting pitchers that are going right in our rotation, we added two really hard throwers with success in the major leagues for a long time – one from the left side, one from the right side. And we added a couple of right-handed bats which were especially necessary in the outfield with Austin Hays being gone. So I think that the roster is very fortified.
The Orioles recalled Jackson Holliday this morning and he’s starting at second base to close out the series against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
Left-hander Gregory Soto was activated and is wearing No. 65. Catcher Blake Hunt and infielder Terrin Vavra were optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Hunt is on the taxi squad.
Also, right-hander Levin Stoudt cleared waivers and was outrighted to Double-A Bowie.
Another slow day for the Orioles.
Holliday took ground balls at second this morning. He’s batting eighth.
The Orioles have made the following roster moves:
Additionally, RHP Levi Stoudt has been outrighted to Double-A Bowie.
