O's Paul Fry on how players are holding up during losing run

He is in his fourth season on the Orioles. Which means reliever Paul Fry was not here in 2016, when the club was last in the playoffs. In fact, it was during his first year in 2018 that the Orioles made the mid-season trades of Manny Machado, Zack Britton and others.

He's seen a lot of ups and downs in this game and been on an O's team that lost 115 games in 2018.

Now as an elder statesman in the bullpen and with more tenure than many on this club, he's trying to be a player others can lean on as their team is going through a brutal stretch. Heading into tonight's game at Chicago, the Orioles have lost nine in a row, 13 of 14 and 16 of 18 games.

"Pretty difficult," he said during a Zoom interview this afternoon. "When you are first coming up, it's the joys of being in the big leagues and stuff like that. You know, losing is getting harder. We want to win. This group that we have is outstanding. We are starting to take the losses personally. You know it's a rebuild, but things will turn around soon, and we are all working hard every day. The losing, it stinks, but you know, it is what it is.

"We keep holding each other accountable. We are there for each other. We've got each other's backs. Think we are starting to play more for each other, rather than for ourselves. So, you know things are slowly getting there. We are starting to play the right way and I think we are going to hit a turning point soon. This is a tough stretch for us. There are no off-days. Long road trip. It's just one of those things. You have to battle through it. We are only going to come out stronger at this point."

Fry said the players understand the bigger picture of playing on a team that is rebuilding. They try to balance that knowledge against what they are going through every day, and especially in the last three weeks. The last win was 11 days ago.

"I think the biggest thing we can do is just learn from every opportunity that we have," he said. "So, I've been here four years now, my learning time is kind of shifting more into, OK, I better do the job every time. And right now in the rebuild, guys are learning and getting used to the big leagues and getting use to the speed of the game, stuff like that. Things are slowly turning around, and we have a young team and a lot of talent. It's exciting to see."

If Fry can provide leadership for any players, he is ready to do that.

"I would say I just try to lead more by example. I'm going to have my rough outings here and there, but it's just one of those things where guys will come up to me and ask me questions. And I've been around a little bit longer, so I've been through some things.

"I've been through the tough times and had those leaders on the squad. I've had those Zack Brittons, those (Darren) O'Days, those (Brad) Brachs, those type of guys. The (Mychal) Givens, the (Richard) Bleiers. So now I am kind of in those shoes. I'm just trying to help guys learn and go through the experiences. Try to take them under my wing as much as I can, and if I don't know how to do it, then I go to somebody else."

And it is not lost on Fry that those relievers he learned from were all traded. Now he is pitching well - with a 2.48 ERA and 12.4 K rate in 41 games the last two years - and his name will likely come up in rumors this summer.

"I'm not trying to focus too much on that," Fry said. "Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I'm just trying to do my job every day for the team, for the Orioles. What I learned from those guys is just the way they carried themselves. The routines that they had. The way they went about their business every day and approached the game in the bullpen from the first inning on or the fifth inning on. That's when the game gets into crunch time and that's when you have to be ready as a late-inning reliever. I did more observing, rather than talking. You learn just being around the guys, and I just try to be that mentor to the young guys now that we have."