The Baltimore Orioles currently have two catchers on their ML roster. Both of them have a 1.5 WAR, and both of them are hitting .273. They're both among the best hitting catchers in the game. One of them is signed til the end of the decade. The other...is former Rookie of the Year runner-up Adley Rutschman. And to make things clear...Rutschman isn't exactly a concession.
Right now it's clear that Rutschman is gonna get the bulk of the starts at catcher because Samuel Basallo isn't great defensively. But you also can't leave Basallo out of the lineup, because he's hot as hell right now, so you have to DH him and free up any flexibility you might otherwise have. So any chance of having both Coby Mayo and Jackson Holliday in the lineup if they're both fighting for third is probably very small, meaning once again Coby Mayo's gotta try something else if he wants to play everyday. These guys are very lucky that Ryan Mountcastle's already out for a while, because he was already out of a job at 1st and now he's out of a job at DH.
Thankfully, so much of this lineup is working right now that the overflow isn't an issue. Really only Tyler O'Neill is truly stinking it up out of this bunch, but Colton Cowser's been getting the bulk of the starts anyway and he's heating up. Basallo's .494 SLG is the highest on the team, and he's got 9 homers and 26 RBIs, making this a very confident full season statement from the 21-year-old. It's also nice seeing Rutschman fully taking advantage of his role on the team, as he's landed 36 RBIs in 46 games. Henderson, Ward, Alonso and Leody Taveras surprisingly are all nailing their assignments and making this a fluid, bankable lineup. No wonder they've lapped Toronto, and no wonder they're headed for .500.
I do still think the rotation's a little shakier than it should be. We all thought Trevor Rogers had found his stuff again but now he's spotty like he used to be, with an ERA over 6 and a 3-6 record. Chris Bassitt's a little cooked as well, despite 4 wins and his usual innings-eating. Baz, Bradish and Brandon Young are a perfectly fine core but nobody's really excelling. Like, Bradish looks better than he has in a few years but his WHIP is up to 1.423. Hopefully somebody has a strong June, cause then I'll be a little surer about their long term chances. The bullpen's great though, Rico Garcia's having himself a year.
The O's are 8-4 so far against all these division rivals. They swept the Rays, won out over the Sox and are going toe-to-toe with Toronto. Maybe this could be their year after all?
Coming Tomorrow- His name had been coming up a bit recently because the Rays traded Cristopher Sanchez to get him...and then they traded him to Washington before they could even benefit from him as a surprise corner bench weapon.
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