It's the Orioles and Red Sox as a new season begins

Their opening day roster does not include John Means, Hunter Harvey or Trey Mancini. But ready or not, the Orioles begin their 67th season tonight at Fenway Park in Boston.

The Orioles, individually and collectively, seem anxious to show the rest of baseball they are not a complete pushover and that they are making improvements. In a season shortened to 60 games, could they make a playoff run? Sure they could. It seems quite improbable. But I guess it became even more possible as Major League Baseball expanded the playoffs from 10 to 16 teams yesterday. A team with a sub-.500 record could make it this year.

But seeing individual players get better this year should be one goal and continuing to integrate young players onto the major league roster should be another. Eliminating or at least cutting down on mistakes should be a third. If they are going to lose games, they need to make the other team beat them and not contribute to their own demise.

I do have a great appreciation for players and staff throughout MLB that have worked incredibly hard to get us to the point where games that count can be played. I've heard some say this season is a joke at 60 games that they don't care to watch with no fans in the stands. That is fine, so don't watch. I'll watch - and, yes, it is my job. But I have great respect for those on the field that are working hard to stay healthy and protect the health of others.

Check out the tweet near the end of this entry. It is nice to have baseball back.

There are not minor league games to watch this year and that makes me - and I know many of you - sad. For the Orioles, what would be happening on the farm this summer would have been about as important as what is happening at Camden Yards. Some of the young players on the 60-player pool will make their way to the O's roster. That's a good thing and many fans can't wait to see them.

It seems a safe bet to expect to see Ryan Mountcastle this year. This could happen sooner than later. It's pretty much his time after his big 2019 season where he was both the club's minor league Player of the Year and the International League MVP. If players like Austin Hays, Pedro Severino, Anthony Santander, Hanser Alberto and Rio Ruiz keep taking steps forward, the lineup could be better than expected.

The pitching staff will benefit from a healthy Alex Cobb. If he stays healthy, and if Means re-enters the starting five pretty soon, that could be a nice one-two punch to head up the rotation. The bullpen is hoping that holdovers made winter adjustments that can help and some newcomers will add their talents.

Under manager Brandon Hyde, the Orioles have played hard and seem to really enjoy their teammates. That needs to continue. It's easy to have good team chemistry when you win a lot, but harder when you're going 54-108. Building a positive clubhouse culture might have been Hyde's greatest achievement last year. The building there continues beginning tonight.

Hope you are ready to get it going. I know some predicted MLB would not even get this far. Fingers crossed for health for players, staff and all of us over the course of this season.

By the way, tonight's starters have poor numbers against their opponent this evening. O's left-hander Tommy Milone is 0-3 with a 9.26 ERA in five career starts against Boston. But he has not faced the Sox since July 24, 2016 for Minnesota. Boston right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is 3-1 with a 5.62 ERA versus the Orioles in nine career games. He went 0-1 with a 10.29 ERA in two games last year versus Baltimore.

Current Orioles are batting just .255 with four homers against Eovaldi. But Renato Núñez is 5-for-6 (.833) with two home runs and Chris Davis is 4-for-13 (.308) with two homers.

A reminder, that I am again hosting "Extra Innings" after the games again this year on 105.7 The Fan. It's a postgame call-in show that takes air about 30 minutes after each game. Click here for the station website, where you can listen if you are outside of Baltimore. Click the listen tab in the upper right-hand corner on the homepage.

So now that we are hours away from the opener, what questions and comments come to your mind?

Check out the Tweet from MLB Network below. Following the tweet is a video that Roch Kubatko and I recorded yesterday to talk about opening night and the 2020 O's season.

Welcome back, old friend. It is so good to see you. #OpeningDay

🖊️ Written by Tom Verducci
🎙️ Narrated by Jon Hamm pic.twitter.com/wO1R01rWrG

-- MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 23, 2020