A strong day-to-day approach helped O's get through challenging stretch

For Orioles infielder Adam Frazier, a key reason the club went 13-9 over a 22-game run versus winning clubs is that they never got ahead of themselves. A basic and somewhat boring one-game-at-a-time approach was critical for the Orioles to not only look at the task directly in front of them, but to have success and win key series against teams like the Rays, Yankees and Blue Jays.

“It’s been a good two months for us so far,” Frazier said recently about the club’s solid 34-20 start which has them with the third-best record in MLB. “Just taking it one day at a time really. Being in the AL East, it’s never easy. It’s the only way we can approach it, taking it one day at a time. Just need to play our game, play good hard, sound baseball and that gives us a chance to win every day.

“It’s been a tough stretch for sure. We knew coming into this stretch, we were playing really good baseball, but no one gave us much credit. We were winning games, I guess, people were saying we were supposed to. So, all we are doing is taking it one day at a time. With such a tough schedule, that is the best way to approach it and you’ll have success this way.”

Among O’s regulars, Frazier and catcher Adley Rutschman are the only Orioles to have a one-to-one walk-to-strikeout ratio or in Rutschman’s case better with 41 walks to 31 strikeouts. Entering the series opener with Cleveland, Frazier was at 17 walks and strikeouts.

The 9.4 walk rate was a bit better than league average of 8.5. The 9.4 K rate is vastly better than league average at 22.4 and would be a career-best if maintained. Frazier had a 10.8 K rate in 2021 and it was 12.1 last year.

He fanned twice Monday and that is just the third time this season he has struck out twice.

While Frazier scores low in areas like average exit velocity and hard-hit rates, he is among the top five percent in the game in swing and miss rate. Meaning he makes contact at a better rate than 95 percent of the players. He ranks in the top two percent in lowest strikeout percentage.

And while his OPS was just .663 through April, it is now .821 this month with Frazier owning a batting line of .279/.352/.468.

He is playing well and so is his team. Having some national outlets pick up on the Orioles success can be a nice thing too, but Frazier said that doesn’t matter to him.

“We don’t care about what everybody else thinks and what their expectations are. We are just focused every day on playing good fundamental baseball and that gives us a chance at the end of the day. Just came back from a 5-1 road trip and felt like we could have gotten six honestly. One day at a time – that’s it,” he said.  

600 for Hyde: Orioles manager Brandon Hyde managed his 600^th Orioles game on Monday afternoon and that is the sixth-most in club history.

Hyde had to stay true to himself and his beliefs and maintain his confidence that he could be a good manager at a time when his first few Orioles clubs were rebuilding and there were seasons with 110 and 108 losses.

“Support,” Hyde said when asked what kept him going during the tough early times. “Lucky to have an amazing support system back home. Coaches around the league that would always kind of go out of their way to say I’m doing things right. Keep doing what you’re doing. Advice. I don’t think I have everything figured out so always trying to get better and improve. I ask questions and keep my ears open. Lot of close friends around the league that I trust. I watch people very closely that I have a lot of respect for. Just managed against one last series (Bruce Bochy), this guy here (Cleveland manager Terry) Francona. For me those are pillars in our sport and people I really look up to.

“Just trying to do the best I can with a great support system. Tim Cossins (O’s coach) who has been with me for almost 20 years. He keeps me level-headed as much as possible through tough times. Have great coaches with me too, so, just feel real lucky.”  

List of those that managed 600 games or more for the Orioles

* 2,541 games – Earl Weaver

* 1,353 games – Buck Showalter

* 1,063 games – Paul Richards

* 726 games – Hank Bauer

* 649 games – Mike Hargrove

* 600 games – Brandon Hyde

Need the bats to get going: In Game No. 601 tonight, Hyde is hopeful the O's bats can get heated up again. In going 1-3 on this homestand, the Orioles have scored just eight runs after Monday's 5-0 loss to Cleveland. The O's have scored just 11 runs the past five games. They had scored 54 runs the previous nine games and began Monday fourth in the AL for the year, averaging 5.00 runs per game.

But the offense has slowed a bit in recent weeks, and it could be more of a challenge if they have to play any games without center fielder Cedric Mullins who suffered a right abductor groin strain in yesterday's game.