This, that, the other and more

The Orioles honored Corbin Burnes on Friday with his own bobblehead night. He appreciated the gesture and took one home.

It just wasn’t anything new to him.

Teams have come up with the idea to doll up Burnes pretty much at every level after Little League.

“I’ve had a bunch of bobbleheads,” he said. “I had two or three in Milwaukee, I’ve had a couple in the minor leagues. My college (St. Mary’s of California) did one this year at the basketball game they had. I have quite a few Corbin Burnes bobbleheads in the office.”

Burnes isn’t a rabid collector, one hint being that he isn’t exactly sure of the number while pitching for the Brewers.

“I think I have all of them,” he said. “It will be cool for my son to see one day. He can see all the bobbleheads. Yeah, I’ve got quite a few.”

The likenesses aren’t usually spot-on but that’s to be expected.

“I didn’t look into them that good when I was looking at them,” he said, “but usually they’re pretty cheap, so …”

Fortunately for Burnes, he doesn’t have a bobblehead superstition that could negatively impact his outings. His worst start with the Orioles occurred on Friday when he allowed a career-high eight runs and 10 hits in four innings.

“Not at all, not at all,” he said. “Just didn’t throw well that game.”

* The Red Sox started three right-handers and a lefty opener, who didn’t make it through the first inning, in the four-game series at Camden Yards. The Mets are starting David Peterson, José Quintana and Sean Manaea – all of them left-handers – in the series at Citi Field that begins tonight.

Eloy Jiménez batted cleanup yesterday, matchups ignored on a club that usually attaches itself to them, and he could be the king of Queens. Ryan O’Hearn has 29 plate appearances against left-handers this season, going 7-for-27, and could be on the bench until pinch-hitting opportunities arise.

Austin Slater has played left field when the opponent starts a southpaw. Does he do it for three games?

If so, does Colton Cowser make three starts in center? Does he sit for at least one, which gives Cedric Mullins a start?

How many times would Coby Mayo be in the lineup if the Orioles didn’t option him?

Mayo is reporting to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. The Tides are off today.  

Liván Soto is on the roster to provide more defensive flexibility and also a left-handed bat, which we still haven't seen and probably won't in the next three lineups.

* The Orioles chose Colin Selby for their bullpen yesterday over other relief options, including Dillon Tate and Matt Bowman, who signed a minor league deal last week. Bowman’s contract pays him a prorated $1 million salary and contains an upward mobility clause on Thursday and opt-out clause on Aug. 28.

He’s on the clock in a sense.

Bowman has made two appearances with Norfolk and tossed three scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

* Baltimore native Bruce Zimmermann was an opener with the Tides Saturday night and allowed two runs in the first inning.

Zimmermann made his last regular start Aug. 2 in Charlotte, lasting five innings and allowing four runs. His next three appearances were in relief totaling 4 1/3 scoreless with two hits.

Do we read anything into this? The Orioles could have used Zimmermann in relief and kept him stretched out, but perhaps this was an evaluation of whether his stuff ticks up.

* The Orioles didn’t have full use of their bullpen yesterday. Burch Smith, for one, was unavailable after appearing in the three previous games.

That sort of usage is highly unusual for manager Brandon Hyde, but his options were limited with one fewer reliever in the ‘pen Saturday and other guys needing rest or, in Craig Kimbrel’s case, also struggling.

Smith threw only three pitches Thursday night in two-thirds of an inning, followed by 20 on Friday while allowing a run in the eighth. He came back out for the eighth on Saturday and Rafael Devers hit a two-run homer.

Smith appeared on back-to-back days twice with the Orioles before the Red Sox series, which marked his first time going three in a row in the majors. He broke in with the Padres in 2013 and didn’t return until 2018 with the Royals. He’s logged 142 games and 236 innings, not counting his stints in Japan and Korea in 2022-23.

* Cade Povich returned to the Orioles to make one start, his ninth in the majors. The plan to give the rotation an extra day of rest became a bigger success when the rookie was charged with only two runs in a career-high 6 1/3 innings.

James McCann caught him for the third time.

“He’s a dog behind the plate. Pitch calling, just everything,” Povich said.

“In our meeting he’s prepared. I give my input and then he gives his. Just full trust with him. Yeah, it was great to have him back there.”

* Ryan Klimek is finding new challenges at every turn this season as the Orioles’ pitching strategy coach, a role he’s filled since October 2022. He joined the organization five years earlier as a player development intern and also served as a scouting assistant and coordinator and pitching strategy manager.

The current job and this year’s trade deadline conspired to keep Klimek busy building relationships with newcomers to the organization and its teachings. Not to mention minor leaguers like Selby who keep walking through the door.

“It’s been different,” he said. “Usually we have spring training to get to know all these guys. It’s been whirlwind two weeks, but I feel like these guys are really starting to get comfortable now. It’s been good for us to get to know them, and just want them pitching on the mound with confidence.”

Left-hander Trevor Rogers arrived in a deadline trade with the Marlins. He dropped off his bags in the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field in Cleveland, shook some hands and prepared for his start.

“I don’t think anybody had it as challenging as that guy did, where I met him not too long before the game,” Klimek said. “I think he’s starting to get comfortable. I love him as a person. He’s really bought into like everything that we do in terms of the analytical stuff we use, the game planning side, the mechanical side.”

Rogers makes his fourth Orioles start tonight against the Mets. He’s allowed 12 earned runs and 13 total in 14 1/3 innings.  

“I’m really excited to have him here. I remember seeing him in in 2021 against us and he was nasty. So we’re doing everything we can to kind of get him back to that form. Like so many of these guys, just want them to get comfortable with us. But he’s been great. Bought into everything that we’ve been trying to do.”

Craig Kimbrel has been a difficult second-half assignment with his 8.31 ERA and 2.308 WHIP in nine appearances and relinquishing of the closer’s job.

Klimek and crew are studying usages, whether pitch type or location and doing some tinkering, and rebuilding confidence that might begin to waver. The same with left-hander Gregory Soto, who’s registered four scoreless outings in a row after a brutal start to his Orioles career.

“We might be able to turn some dials in terms of the usage of certain things, but really just want them to get comfortable again,” Klimek said.

“Craig had such a really good first half, even though he was often times pretty volatile in performance, so we’re hoping it’s just a bump in the road.”

Making certain adjustments is trickier for relievers who don’t work on a starter’s schedule. They don’t get the same assured periods between games. Availability often must come in shorter bursts.

“I think at the same time, while it’s tough to make changes, you’re dealing with a small sample,” Klimek said. “A dial up of like three or four more pitches of something else might reflect more in a bigger percentage change than a starter would. We’re not looking to do anything crazy drastic but we’re trying to find ways we can be a little bit more creative in what those guys are doing.”

Because of his height, hair color and style, Klimek often gets mistaken for Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson or catcher Adley Rutschman. More often Henderson, which happened again Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

“Yep, been called Gunnar, whether it was at the Ravens game or riding my bike out of here home,” Klimek said. “Got called that at the train station once last year in the offseason, so it was nothing new to me. But I am not Gunnar. I cannot play like Gunnar, either, so you can rule that one out.

“When my hair was a little bit shorter, I got “Rutsch’ here and there, but I don’t know, maybe it’s just if you’re 100 yards away or 50 years away it’s like, ‘Oh, that might be Gunnar.’ It’s not.”

That leaves only Povich with an alter ego.

Do people who keep thinking that they should get married have an altar ego?

This is probably a good place to stop.