Camden Shards

 

The good news is that earlier this week, the Baltimore Orioles shut out the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0, with a commanding start by Maryland-born Bruce Zimmermann, and a huge day by reigning Orioles marquee man Cedric Mullins.

The bad news is that for the other games this week they had to still be the Baltimore Orioles.

So yeah. The O's being 1-5 and doing their usual level of mediocrity should surprise no one. It does help having actual stars like Mullins, John Means and Trey Mancini on this team, but there are still a ton of replacement level players on this team and I'm not sure how long they'll all have to wait to get actual great players in those positions. We thought we'd be starting the season with Adley Rutschman at catcher, the O's letting Severino go seemed like it paved the way for that, but Rutschman seems to be hurt, and the majority of starts behind the plate are going to either Robinson Chirinos, who, as per usual, isn't hitting, and Anthony Bemboom, a career third-string catcher. So once again we're in this limbo stage waiting for a potentially good player to show up. Who knows how many good players are either gonna leave their prime or leave Baltimore before that happens?

The pitching is the same level of messy as it has been. Means is Means, Zimmermann's off to a great start, Jordan Lyles adds experience, but beyond that? Tyler Wells struggled his first time out, Spenser Watkins is alright, and I think the team is afraid to give Dean Kremer or Keegan Akin another shot at starting. Heck, Jorge Lopez has been so disastrous as a starter that they've given him the closing role...and he's not doing much better there at all.

It's kind of heartbreaking, because with better luck and a better prospect load, a core of Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle and Trey Mancini could have theoretically been decent. But at the same time, compared to the high budget strategy the other 4 AL East teams are trying, there was never gonna be a shot. This could have worked back in the mid-2010s, when Boston and Toronto were cooling down and the O's were really getting something good together, but once the game in the AL East turned into who can trade for the most All-Stars, the O's were never going to be able to compete. 

I hope for good seasons from Means, Mullins, Santander and Mancini, and that Rutschman has a good enough time of it when he does come up. But I see a lot of misery in this team's future.

Coming Tonight: A sophomore infield threat who seems to be for real, even if his team kinda isn't.