Orioles amused by change in perception

The Orioles have won 14 of their first 21 games to tie for the third-best start in club history. And they don’t want to hear about soft schedules and beatable opponents.

It used to be them. Remember?

They were tagged as the easy marks during the rebuild. They were the team that the rest of the league was supposed to view as providing a breather during a heated pennant race.

Funny how a narrative can spin as the tables are turned.

The Red Sox and Yankees are a combined 4-2 versus the Orioles, and everyone else is 3-12. A stretch of 10 wins in the last 12 games has come against the Athletics, White Sox, Nationals and Tigers, who are a collective 25-60.

Social media is loaded with posts about the Orioles bullying the weaklings, in so many words. Just wait until they play somebody good. What they're hold might be fool's gold.

Accept the compliment.

“That’s 100 percent a sign of progress,” said center fielder Cedric Mullins. “Facing the Tigers, for example, we don’t take any team for granted. Last year they swept us (in Detroit). Still a major league team on the other side, so we’ve got to come out and have our best.

“It just means the expectations are higher and with continued success is just going to mean higher expectations.”

“I guess if we’re allowed to have a soft part of the schedule, that’s pretty cool. I’ll take it as a positive, I guess,” first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said with a grin, before breaking up Eduardo Rodriguez’s bid for a perfect game with a single in the seventh inning.

“We’re playing well and I don’t think it really matters who we’re playing right now. I just feel like we’re playing our game and winning games.”

An amount that is making everyone notice and question the validity. Maybe that’s irony.

Tear down the roster, rebuild and now try to destroy a perception.

“We used to be the soft spot. I get it for sure,” said reliever Bryan Baker.

“You heard things about the Rays and their (13-game) win streak to start the year, like, the teams weren’t as good, but I think winning at this level against anybody should be celebrated. I don’t really look into that very much. I think every team we play has quality players. But yeah, I would say it’s definitely nice not to be considered one of those weaker teams. But I honestly don’t even think about that, really. It’s just show up and try to get a W that day.”

They can do it by outhitting clubs or by shutting them down. They’ve posted a 1.15 ERA during their six-game winning streak. Adam Frazier had a walk-off fielder’s choice ground ball Friday night and scored in the 10th inning yesterday on a wild pitch.

Two Gatorade baths without getting a hit.

These are your 2023 Orioles, tied with the Rangers for the second-best record in the American League. They won two of three games in Texas, by the way.

Before the schedule became cushier than fresh bread.

“At the end of the day, I don’t view it in that way,” closer Félix Bautista said via translator Brandon Quinones. “I view it that these are 30 of the most competitive baseball teams in the world, it’s the most competitive league in the world. Every team has a bunch of talent in this league. I feel like we’re playing great baseball right now and we’re doing a really good job of facing whoever’s in front of us.

“I don’t view it as we’re facing easy opponents out there every night. We’re facing competitive teams every night and that’s just the way this league is.”

Pitching is making the biggest difference, as it usually does.

The Orioles have allowed three runs in the last 54 innings. Starters are working deeper into games and the bullpen seems refreshed. Outs are coming from everywhere.

“We’re playing some really good baseball,” Mullins said. “The pitching turning the corner like they have, it’s been amazing to watch. And obviously on the defensive side, made our jobs a whole lot easier. And then our offense still doing what it’s been doing, putting runs on the board, giving those guys some support, and coming out with the win.”

“Our pitching’s been phenomenal the last week or so,” Mountcastle said. “Seemed like early in the year we were hitting the ball to win games and now we’re pitching and we’re just sort of feeding off each other. We’re getting some key hits when we need to. Offensively, we could string a little bit more together, but pitching’s been great and the defense has been really good the last week or so.”

Outfield defense was a major contributor to some early losses, but it’s also tightened. Ryan McKenna made a lunging catch in right field yesterday to leave the bases loaded in the third inning, and came within inches of throwing out Matt Vierling at the plate in the eighth. Mullins is running down everything. Austin Hays is tracking balls again like he usually does.

“It was being brought up after two days of play,” Mullins said. “A lot of different stuff happened. We had guys coming back from the WBC and might not have had the same amount of reps as they normally would in the outfield. It’s different conditions. Boston is always one of those tricky spots just in general. Just to get past that, make adjustments and move forward.”

The Orioles are sprinting out of the gate. Maybe not with Jorge Mateo’s speed, but they’re motoring. Traction gained in that soft spot of the schedule after years of spinning their wheels.

The month of May includes series against the Braves, Rays, Angels, Blue Jays, Yankees, Rangers and Guardians. The Orioles begin June by traveling to San Francisco and Milwaukee, and they get the Blue Jays and Rays again.

This is the harder part of the slate, but that’s what the Orioles have become to other teams, going back to their spirited second-half run at last year’s wild card. Maybe it’s a weird sign of respect that a 14-7 start isn’t universally respected.

Just doing what they're supposed to do, right?

“I’ll take that for sure, yeah,” Baker said. “I think if you ask around, anybody that’s playing us is probably taking us pretty seriously at this point. So, I think it’s a good thing.”