Three areas where improvement would boost Orioles

The Orioles have moved on to Detroit, relieved to snap a three-game losing streak and to avoid being swept by the Nationals.

They lost two of three games to the Tigers at Comerica Park last season and two of three at Camden Yards. Their last three-game sweep in Detroit happened in 2004.

They’d settle for a series win, their second in 2025.

The season is 24 games old for the Orioles and they are counting on track records and improved health until perhaps able to make some moves closer to the deadline.

This also would help:

* The last four hits from Jordan Westburg going into last night were for extra bases. He snapped an 0-for-30 streak with a home run Saturday against the Reds and doubled twice the following day in the otherwise forgettable 24-2 loss. After going 0-for-3 in the series opener against the Nationals, Westburg led off the eighth inning Wednesday with a triple to right field and scored the tying run in a 4-3 loss.

That’s the good stuff. There just isn’t enough of it to declare that Westburg’s slump officially has passed. But he’s getting there.

Westburg was 4-for-16 in four games before last night, when he went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts. He’s batting .193 with a .633 OPS.

Expectations were much higher for Westburg heading into spring training and he’s got plenty of time to reach them. He appeared in 107 games last season, a fractured right hand costing him two months, and finished with 26 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 63 RBIs and 2.8 fWAR that tied Adley Rutschman for fifth on the team. He made the All-Star team after hitting .271 with 22 doubles, five triples, 15 homers, 50 RBIs and an .814 OPS in the first half.

Ask people in the organization who gave the Orioles their best at-bats and Westburg’s name comes up. Between that and his play at second and third base, they couldn’t afford to lose him for any length of time.

Westburg was 1-for-6 with a walk in the Wild Card round. Considering the state of the offense, he felt like one of the few contributors.

The home run last weekend, which immediately followed Ramón Laureano’s second of the day, raised hopes that Westburg would take off. He also grounded out at 104.7 mph off the bat and hit a 366-foot fly ball to left-center.

“Anytime you hit a homer, you’re probably headed in the right direction, right?” assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph said the following day. “He’s got a whole group of guys in there pulling for him. So yeah, I think he’s headed in the right direction.

“I think all of his at-bats over the course of the last couple days have been great. He hit the ball hard the at-bat before that, right at the second baseman. When you put together good at-bats, you swing at the right pitches, sometimes you get lucky, and it was nice to see Jordan get lucky.”

The smart money is on Westburg to go on a tear and gradually lift those numbers. What’s said about the Orioles surly applies to him: It’s April.

Better production from Westburg could give the club a much-needed boost.

* Tyler O’Neill was on the bench last night while the Nationals started left-hander MacKenzie Gore.

O’Neill was bothered again by some neck stiffness, which forced him to miss a few games earlier. He would have been in the lineup, but it’s also worth mentioning that Gore has reverse splits, with left-handed hitters batting .279/.372/.448 against him before last night and right-handers batting .252/.323/.404. But there’s more to the story.

The Orioles signed O’Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million contract, with an opt-out after this season, because they wanted more production against left-handers. O’Neill posted a .313 average and 1.180 OPS against them with the Red Sox last season and hit 16 of his 31 homers over 156 plate appearances.

The updated stats had O’Neill with a career .262/.365/.526 line against lefties before last night, but they tumbled a bit because he was 2-for-21 with 11 strikeouts. He went 0-for-3 Tuesday against Nationals southpaw Mitchell Parker.

“It’s just something that I want to do a little better at, obviously,” O’Neill told the media afterward. “I want to drive the ball and play as best I can and to my capability. I obviously want to make more contact, I want to get on base more, I want to draw more walks. It’s just the way things are going right now.”

Manager Brandon Hyde intended to give O’Neill another chance last night but couldn’t do it.

O’Neill isn’t alone on this island, of course. The Orioles began last night batting .168/.256/.228 against lefties. Gary Sánchez was 0-for-14 and out of the lineup. Laureano played right field but was 1-for-13, with all three home runs against right-handers. Laureano doubled last night at 110.9 mph off Gore and scored the tying run on Ryan O’Hearn’s left-on-left single, and Cedric Mullins’ left-on-left single gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead.

The Tigers are starting two right-handers in the three-game weekend series at Comerica Park. The bad news for the Orioles is that Tarik Skubal starts Sunday.

* At the risk of applying an unreasonable amount of pressure on Cade Povich, the Orioles need a lot more of what he offered last night.

Tomoyuki Sugano is pitching like the Orioles ace partly by default. The field is limited. But he’s also earning the title by going seven innings in back-to-back starts and carrying a 3.54 ERA and 1.143 WHIP. He tossed six scoreless innings Wednesday after allowing three runs in the first inning, including a pair of homers. Hyde used only one reliever, Gregory Soto, who allowed the tie-breaking run in the eighth with some help from plate umpire C.B. Bucknor.

Little known fact: C.B. stands for “Constantly Baffled.” Or is it “Consistently Bad?” I’ll need a copy of his birth certificate.

Wait, I’ve got it: “Creates Bedlam.” No, no, that isn’t it.

Anyway, Povich gave up a run in the second last night but that was it. He went 6 2/3 innings and left after Gunnar Henderson’s fielding error. The Nationals managed only four hits.

Povich is searching for consistency. He’s gone 4 1/3, six, 4 2/3, 3 1/3 and 6 2/3 innings this season. His ERA jumped from 3.60 to 6.38 after allowing seven runs against the Reds, but he lowered it last night to 5.04.

I saw Povich shake off Rutschman at least once, which shows some confidence. He fell behind 3-1 to Josh Bell and got swinging strikes on a changeup and curveball. That was a mature sequence. He’s got a ceiling that makes it worth running him out there every fifth or sixth day, as long as he’s giving the Orioles competitive starts.

They can’t expect Sugano to shoulder the entire load.

Asked last night about ending the team’s three-game skid, Povich told the media, "For me to be the one, great, I guess. I’m not looking to be the sole guy or to be the hero.”

The Orioles would prefer one out of two.