Orioles set to tackle season's second half

The second half of the 2023 season is here. The official passing of the midway point. Don’t let the number of games fool you.

The Orioles have played 89 and are 54-35, owners of the second-best record in the American League and third-best in baseball. You can count the number of people who predicted that as zero.

The club was supposed to show a little more improvement, though I heard the whispers from outside the organization that there could be some regression because contention arrived early in 2022. It was going to be a lot more interesting as prospects kept flowing onto the major league roster. I said it numerous times in interviews and conversations.

At the very least, the Orioles would be more fun for fans.

They are so much more.

Only a big-time collapse is keeping them out of the playoffs, and I just don’t think they’re built to experience prolonged stretches of ineptitude. At the risk of jinxing, and I’m not alone in doing this, I’m delaying any vacation plans until November. Hanging out on the safe side.

Baseball-Reference.com sets the Orioles’ chances of making the postseason at 82 percent. The team is on pace to win 98 games. The goal of earning a wild card is set aside. A division title isn’t out of reach, with the Rays coming back to the pack.

Go for the gold and smile at the silver.

The Rays will get hot again, and the Blue Jays, Yankees and Red Sox are five, six and seven games, respectively, behind the Orioles. Boston is in last place but five games above .500 after winning five in a row – the same streak that the Orioles carry into tonight.

The Orioles are 19 games above .500 for the second time this season. They’re tied with the Rays in the loss column and already know that they’re finishing with a better record than the 2018, 2019 and 2021 teams.

The ’19 Orioles won 54 games. The 2023 club isn’t going 0-73 in the second half. At the risk of jinxing.

The .607 winning percentage at the break is the eighth-best in team history. The 32 comeback wins are tied for third-most in the majors. But the second half isn’t a free ride.

Start with the Marlins, who are 53-39 and set a franchise record for most wins prior to the break. Being 14 games above .500 matches their season high.

The minus-five run differential looks odd for a second-place team, but the stat can be deceiving. The Orioles are plus-48 after defeating the Yankees 14-1 and the Twins 15-2 within a span of four games. That’ll provide some padding.

The Orioles are 7-14 all-time at home against the Marlins, and 3-14 on the road. Miami swept a weird four-game pandemic series at Camden Yards in 2020. The teams split two-game series in Baltimore and South Florida last season.

Dean Kremer, Kyle Gibson and Kyle Bradish are the starters coming out of the break. Among the tasks is cooling off All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez.

Arraez leads the majors with 126 hits, a .383 average and a .434 on-base percentage. He went 2-for-2 with an RBI Tuesday night in Seattle.

The Dodgers follow the Marlins into Camden Yards, a team that’s percentage points ahead of the second-place Diamondbacks in the National League West. The Orioles’ next road trip takes them to St. Petersburg, Fla. for four games, with no reminders necessary about the issues playing at Tropicana Field, and to Philadelphia for three. The Yankees come back to Camden Yards, and then the Orioles go back to Toronto.

On paper, it looks like a potentially crushing stretch. A cruel reality check. But the Orioles have been living in the real world for the entire season and are 19 games above .500.

This is who they are, with the opportunity to bolster the roster at the trade deadline. To strengthen legs for the playoff run.

Catch them if you can. The odds say they’ve moved out of reach.