Speaker 1: For the Orioles on Wednesday afternoon at Camden Yards. They
Speaker 1: got a victory over the Chicago White Sox. Dean Kramer
Speaker 1: returned to the active roster, pitched straight and the Oils
Speaker 1: beach Chicago by a six to one count so they
Speaker 1: do not get swept off day Thursday. Then on to
Speaker 1: Cincinnati for weekend series before the final homestand ahead of
Speaker 1: the All Star Break. Welcome in everybody the latest edition
Speaker 1: of Birdland Territory Steve Maleski, Brad Brock and Tim Barbelace
Speaker 1: to present a few os topics for our discussion. And
Speaker 1: you're viewing pleasure, and of course we hope you subscribe
Speaker 1: to the channel as we're finally picking up some steam
Speaker 1: here on the subscribers, closing in on a thousand, getting
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Speaker 1: well when you can hear the audio version only of
Speaker 1: the show. So guys would start with Dean Kramer. He
Speaker 1: had not pitching the Big League since April sixty day.
Speaker 1: I l quad strain came back today against the team
Speaker 1: he's been good against throughout his career, and he was
Speaker 1: today six innings, four hits, one run, seventy nine pitches.
Speaker 1: Brad that looked like Dean Kramer. We remember when we
Speaker 1: last saw him in April.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, And it's kind of eerily similar to
Speaker 2: his first pitch he threw back off the IL in
Speaker 2: April when he first came his first started up home
Speaker 2: run to the first batter, so he was thinking, oh no,
Speaker 2: here we go, but he stubbled right in.
Speaker 3: He was really efficient.
Speaker 2: He looked really good today, like albern has said after
Speaker 2: the game, just really good with this basketball, get in ahead,
Speaker 2: using the curveball to get ahead.
Speaker 3: Also didn't see the real swing and miss that we're
Speaker 3: used to from Dean.
Speaker 2: But I mean, you'll take that every single time you
Speaker 2: get six innings and less than eighty pitches. You would
Speaker 2: take that from every starter that goes out there. So
Speaker 2: I thought, first one back especially, I couldn't ask for anymore,
Speaker 2: kept them in the game there when it was one
Speaker 2: nothing there for a while and kind of let the
Speaker 2: offense kind of get heated up. So I think it
Speaker 2: was every thing more you could have asked for, especially
Speaker 2: the first time off the IL. I can't believe it's
Speaker 2: been since April, but it's been a while now, so
Speaker 2: for him to come out there and get that out
Speaker 2: and he gave today, I thought it was huge.
Speaker 4: And I'll admit I was a little concerned how it
Speaker 4: would look today because despite coming off the sixty day
Speaker 4: il guys, he only had two rehab starts. Now, granted,
Speaker 4: both of them were great at Norfolk, but obviously the
Speaker 4: major leagues is a much different level. And you know,
Speaker 4: the first batter two pitches in, like you said, Brad,
Speaker 4: you're thinking, oh geez. But he settled in. He retired
Speaker 4: eleven straight batters from that point. And I'll always take
Speaker 4: up for Dean Kramer, and I know that, you know,
Speaker 4: there's some portions of the fan base that like to
Speaker 4: beat him up, but I think Dean Kramer is a
Speaker 4: rock solid starting pitcher, you know, a really good number four,
Speaker 4: number five pitcher, a guy that eats a lot of
Speaker 4: innings and ultimately, you know what you're gonna get in
Speaker 4: Dean Kramer at the end of the year. And it's
Speaker 4: been e er right around four, which is more than
Speaker 4: in the big leagues, and he really leaned into the
Speaker 4: splitter and boys have been such a big pitch for him,
Speaker 4: dating back to last year, But all in all, you
Speaker 4: really not much to quibble about in Dean Kramer's first
Speaker 4: start back off the IL.
Speaker 1: He he is a gamer man. He's always been that.
Speaker 1: I mean, he eats innings. He does not want to
Speaker 1: come out of the game. He will run through a
Speaker 1: brick wall for a win. You can tell how how
Speaker 1: much this guy wants to win. For me, Tim, I
Speaker 1: think people have looked at him and they're not wrong
Speaker 1: when they do this. The last couple of years as
Speaker 1: a league average pitcher, because that's where his stats fall.
Speaker 1: But league average with one hundred and seventy five innings
Speaker 1: is better than the league average with one hundred and ten.
Speaker 1: And furthermore, he keeps you in games. You can win
Speaker 1: a lot of his games.
Speaker 4: And that's that's my point, Steve, like he would be
Speaker 4: in a lot of starting rotations. I'm not saying that
Speaker 4: Dean Kramer is an ace or or this guy that's
Speaker 4: one of the best pitchers in all baseball. But Dean
Speaker 4: Kramer is a starting pitcher that all thirty teams would
Speaker 4: want to use because there's value to it. And you
Speaker 4: mentioning that he's a gamer, Steve, I can think of
Speaker 4: so many games off the top of my head, where
Speaker 4: either the team's on a little bit of a skid
Speaker 4: and they need to break that and Dean comes up big,
Speaker 4: or I remember when they clinched a playoff spot.
Speaker 5: I think in twenty four.
Speaker 4: You know, Dean started that game and he was fantastic,
Speaker 4: got a ton of swing and miss there, Like Dean
Speaker 4: is valuable to this rotation and this starting rotation. We've
Speaker 4: been talking a lot on recent episodes like what is
Speaker 4: the strength? What is something that they can lean on?
Speaker 4: You can go back six weeks now and this is
Speaker 4: one of the best starting rotations in baseball when you
Speaker 4: look at Er and adding Dean Kramer to it is
Speaker 4: a big deal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I tink a picture like Dean Kramer.
Speaker 2: You're gonna find out how much he's valued here in
Speaker 2: a couple of years off example, stay healthy and get
Speaker 2: the free agency because guys that throw one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty innings plus every year and go out there and
Speaker 2: throw six innings, give up three runs make a lot
Speaker 2: of money. So I think he's well on his way
Speaker 2: towards that kind of payday. And I just think, like
Speaker 2: you said, he's solid. You know what you're gonna get
Speaker 2: from him every five days, and I think that's what
Speaker 2: the rotation right now.
Speaker 3: Could use there. I feel like the rotation's been.
Speaker 2: Brilliant or somewhere kind of below average here the last
Speaker 2: and I think overall they've been really good as a group.
Speaker 2: But I think if you're able to go out there
Speaker 2: and you have that one guy you know, and now
Speaker 2: Red Trevor Rodgers might follow under that umbrella too, you
Speaker 2: have two guys that go out there, you know exactly
Speaker 2: what you're gonna get every five days, you have a
Speaker 2: shot to put a little run together. So I'm hoping
Speaker 2: Dean can kind of just solidify that fitth spot and
Speaker 2: doesn't have to do anything spectacular, just give the offensive
Speaker 2: chance like you did today and let them go and
Speaker 2: do what they're paid to do and score some runs.
Speaker 1: And I still hang my hat on maybe the biggest
Speaker 1: hope for the Orioles to get it going, which would
Speaker 1: keep waiting for that and it never seems to happen,
Speaker 1: is the rotation. This was the ninth quality star in
Speaker 1: sixteen games. That's a real nice run for this rotation.
Speaker 1: But the Orioles have just proven to us in this
Speaker 1: series why that's not working more for them they had
Speaker 1: a great start from Boz couldn't win the game, pretty
Speaker 1: great start from Dean did win the game. So one
Speaker 1: in one right now is not good enough for this
Speaker 1: team because they're eight games under. So it's got to
Speaker 1: be they got to win fifteen out of twenty in
Speaker 1: here somewhere. But if they're going to do it, it might
Speaker 1: be because their starters are limiting the other team so often.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, I think you're right, Steve. I think it is.
Speaker 2: It's down to that time where they're going to need
Speaker 2: a fifteen out of twenty, a thirteen out of eighteen,
Speaker 2: just somewhere to make up some ground because it's just
Speaker 2: and with the American League, guess they're still there in
Speaker 2: the standings, but you got to think a team or
Speaker 2: two is going to make a run, and if they're
Speaker 2: not able to keep pace with them, and at this
Speaker 2: point they have to do better than those teams, they're
Speaker 2: gonna find themselves behind the eight ball and just kind
Speaker 2: of out of a playoff spot. So it's really like
Speaker 2: you said, I think it's just getting their starting rotation,
Speaker 2: just keep doing this thing and let the offense just
Speaker 2: hopefully just start to click and hopefully they can find
Speaker 2: a one through nine that they like and let some
Speaker 2: guys get hot and kind of just go on a
Speaker 2: little bit of a hot streak here.
Speaker 4: I think that's been the most frustrating part about this Steve,
Speaker 4: is we've talked so much about this offense. This offense
Speaker 4: was supposed to be the superpower of this team. That
Speaker 4: was the expectation, and we've talked about a lot of
Speaker 4: guys not playing up to expectation.
Speaker 5: It's not that the offense has been bad.
Speaker 4: It's an above average offense, but we just thought that
Speaker 4: it had the ceiling to be a special group, a
Speaker 4: top five group, and a lot of major categories, and
Speaker 4: they just haven't gotten to that point yet. And the
Speaker 4: starting rotation, what they can do is keep you in
Speaker 4: the ballgame, and like you said, Steve, sometimes it's not enough,
Speaker 4: because Shane Bose it took him a little bit to
Speaker 4: settle into that game Monday. But you will sign up
Speaker 4: for seven innings, two earned runs every single time your
Speaker 4: starter goes out there, and quite frankly, you should expect
Speaker 4: to win every single time your starter provides that exactly.
Speaker 1: But with the twenty twenty six Oriols, there's always something
Speaker 1: daunting to talk about, and in a minute we will.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about Ryan Helsley, how he wanted to pitch
Speaker 1: today but didn't. We'll talk about Trey Gibson. His last
Speaker 1: two starts have kind of got Steve stirred up here.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you my thoughts on that and hear from
Speaker 1: you guys about that as well. So the Oriols win
Speaker 1: did a six to one over the White Sox forty
Speaker 1: and forty eight as they get ready for Thursday's off
Speaker 1: day and then Friday at Cincinnati. And a reminder in
Speaker 1: addition that you know getting our Birdland fancy to subscribe
Speaker 1: to the channel, You can watch any of our videos.
Speaker 1: Great thing about YouTube, something we did a month ago
Speaker 1: that might pique your interest. You can watch, of course
Speaker 1: on demand anytime you want. And we got one out
Speaker 1: there now that's been really popular with Jim Kallis. We
Speaker 1: just recorded a day or two ago talking about the
Speaker 1: MLB draft. The Ools have the number seven pick. Kallus
Speaker 1: is the best and saying that for twenty years he
Speaker 1: proved it on the show, and so go watch that
Speaker 1: when you have time too, and you'll hear his thoughts
Speaker 1: on the o's and the o's draft for this year,
Speaker 1: so a lot coming your way in this edition up
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory.
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Speaker 1: All Right, guys, before I get Honore about Trey giftshit
Speaker 1: express my latest thoughts about this kid, Let's talk about
Speaker 1: Todler and Neo for a second and say we got
Speaker 1: tipper hat today to this guy. And so he's had
Speaker 1: a tough run as and Oreo. We know that fansered
Speaker 1: all over them for obvious reasons. The struggles he's had
Speaker 1: today makes it iving catch may have saved two runs
Speaker 1: inning or two later. Hits a homer, first hit for
Speaker 1: the Orioles the left. He was really throwing well Schultz
Speaker 1: for the White Sox, highly chauted prospect and O'Neil hit
Speaker 1: it four thirty. So this is what they hoped they
Speaker 1: were getting today. And maybe he can deliver a little
Speaker 1: bit more of it moving forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it's a good sign, especially hitting
Speaker 2: off a pitcher he hasn't seen before and a lefty
Speaker 2: on top of it.
Speaker 3: So we've been talking about his.
Speaker 2: Overall struggles, but he was supposed to come in national
Speaker 2: lefties and I think that's kind of been the biggest
Speaker 2: frustration with Oriol fans is when he signed his contract,
Speaker 2: he was known as being able to hit lefties no
Speaker 2: matter what kind of lefty they are, and who knows,
Speaker 2: maybe today jump starts that. But I think that playout
Speaker 2: in right field might have been a game changing event
Speaker 2: when it happened, because to go for one nothing down
Speaker 2: to three nothing and that's about the guy on second base.
Speaker 2: I mean, it changed the whole complexion of that game.
Speaker 2: And when he came up and hit that home run too,
Speaker 2: it kind of jumped out of the offense. So really
Speaker 2: happy for him, especially on Canada Day. I know played
Speaker 2: with the guys from Canada for it's one of their
Speaker 2: big days. They like to wear some bread and he
Speaker 2: said he wore some red cleaves and red tape so
Speaker 2: to honor his home country. So really cool for him
Speaker 2: today to be able to do that and really jump
Speaker 2: start and I think he's definitely the MVP of the game,
Speaker 2: and I mean just game saving, game changing events on
Speaker 2: two particular plays.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the diving catch because that,
Speaker 4: to me was probably the most underrated play of the
Speaker 4: game because how often have we talked about runs allowed
Speaker 4: with two outs. That was with two outs in that game,
Speaker 4: So it could have been two more runs tacked on,
Speaker 4: like you said, Brad, and make it three to nothing.
Speaker 4: You're being no hit at that point. So it's just
Speaker 4: it feels like such a big hill to climb for
Speaker 4: the team. But he came up with that play, and
Speaker 4: then of course he hit the home run. And something
Speaker 4: that I am very interested in seeing, guys, and it
Speaker 4: has been relatively recent since Dylan Beaver's got activated off
Speaker 4: the IL they activated him and Adle on the same day,
Speaker 4: is how does this outfield line up moving forward?
Speaker 5: Because you have five.
Speaker 4: Outfielders, you also still have three catchers, so it's a
Speaker 4: very interesting bench right now. We didn't see Colden Kowser
Speaker 4: in center field today, and boys, he played the heck
Speaker 4: at a center field recently.
Speaker 5: Man, he's been fantastic.
Speaker 4: So I think that that is a little bit of
Speaker 4: a storyline to follow is just how this playtime is
Speaker 4: divvied up with those five outfielders.
Speaker 1: Yeah, trying to The Ools still love their left right man,
Speaker 1: so they're gonna do that and try to squeeze every
Speaker 1: ounce out of platoon advantages. And I was talking with
Speaker 1: some other beat writers at the ballpark this week, and
Speaker 1: I said to them, a couple of years ago, when
Speaker 1: they were winning these stats that will give you data
Speaker 1: on platoon advantage, the Oils were among the best.
Speaker 6: In the game.
Speaker 1: But that's not happening anymore. So that's that's the frustration
Speaker 1: sometimes with the left right that they do. But let's
Speaker 1: speaking of frustration. Steve's a Trey Gibson homer. We've long
Speaker 1: established that, and a big fan of this young man
Speaker 1: and his hopefully very bright future.
Speaker 6: So I disagree with how he was used too. Starts
Speaker 6: in a row.
Speaker 1: Well, he had four inning, sixty six pitches, throwing ninety seven,
Speaker 1: striking out guys. They took him out. Kid was rolling.
Speaker 1: Let the kid roll. He's a horse. He wants the ball.
Speaker 1: They didn't give it to him in the fifth inning
Speaker 1: in anahut. Now he's getting smoked. The other night, they're
Speaker 1: hitting everything, rockets and there was even no one warming
Speaker 1: up for a long time. It felt like they're hanging
Speaker 1: this kid out to dry. And furthermore, if they had
Speaker 1: gotten him a little sooner, maybe they could have gotten
Speaker 1: back in that game. Who knows how would have played out.
Speaker 1: But now he's going back to triple A. Some people
Speaker 1: think they called him up too soon. First of all,
Speaker 1: a lot sooner than he was expected early May he
Speaker 1: pitches in these tough places, then when he's rolling in
Speaker 1: a not as tough place, they took it. I'm confused
Speaker 1: by the whole thing. I hope they haven't messed this
Speaker 1: kid up. I don't think they have, because I think
Speaker 1: he's good number one, and he's mentally strong number two.
Speaker 6: And Brad, you know this better than Tim and I.
Speaker 1: Life's not fair sometimes, the baseball players, and you got
Speaker 1: to ride that shuttle and show you're tough enough to
Speaker 1: make it back.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think that's kind of what this is
Speaker 3: all gonna be.
Speaker 2: It's just a it's a learning experience. Whether we disagree
Speaker 2: or agree with how he was used. Especially that last
Speaker 2: start in Anaheim just didn't seem the right time to
Speaker 2: pull him. And then with the game the other night,
Speaker 2: just to me, he was just behind on everybody, and
Speaker 2: that I think it was a big lesson on I
Speaker 2: need to throw strike one more.
Speaker 3: So I hope he's.
Speaker 2: Able to use that little bit of advice or learning
Speaker 2: experience when he goes back down to Triple Aye to
Speaker 2: really just contentrary on getting strike one and getting strikes
Speaker 2: earlier in the account. Guys are gonna get hit around,
Speaker 2: especially as a rookie. Ye're gonna you're gonna have those
Speaker 2: types of outings. It would have been nice to get
Speaker 2: him out with maybe five runs or four runs when
Speaker 2: you kind of saw it snowballing there. But unfortunately he's
Speaker 2: going back down with I think it was an eight spot.
Speaker 2: But I think he's taught. I think he's a tough kid.
Speaker 2: He's just shown his grit Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium. Even
Speaker 2: that game in Anaheim, it was about to go south
Speaker 2: quick and he got he turned it around, and he
Speaker 2: showed what kind of picture he could be, I feel
Speaker 2: like in that fourth inning. So I hope when he
Speaker 2: goes down he's just able to use these little bit
Speaker 2: of learning advice and lessons and really go down and
Speaker 2: just apply it. And so when he comes back up
Speaker 2: he's really ready to roll.
Speaker 4: I just hate that he kind of goes down on
Speaker 4: this sour of a note, right because the Padres game
Speaker 4: was the other rough game that he had, but really
Speaker 4: it was the rough first inning, second and then he
Speaker 4: settled in to his credit. Besides that, he's been a
Speaker 4: gamer man. I still go back to that game at
Speaker 4: Dodger Stadium where that was where he won me over.
Speaker 4: But I was just so surprised at how Craig Albernaz
Speaker 4: handled him in this game, because it was very clear
Speaker 4: early on he was far from his a self. But
Speaker 4: you go to that third inning and Ben and Tendee singles,
Speaker 4: Montgomery hit.
Speaker 5: A home run that might not have landed yet, four
Speaker 5: hundred and forty feet. I was a bomb on Utah Street.
Speaker 4: Then he walks back to back batters, Peter's singles, The
Speaker 4: bass is loaded, no one's warming up at that point,
Speaker 4: like it's three to one. Montgomery just hit an absolute moonshot,
Speaker 4: walks back to back batters, bases are loaded, no one's
Speaker 4: warming up yet, and then, like you said, Steve, it
Speaker 4: just got to a point where boom, it's eight to
Speaker 4: one and he's thinking, oh my, well, this game's over.
Speaker 4: It's the third inning, it's early on, but you know,
Speaker 4: it's just that crosses your mind.
Speaker 5: How could it not.
Speaker 4: It's human nature, And I just thought it was a
Speaker 4: tough position to put him in. And I get a
Speaker 4: heck of a lot of credit to the bullpen that
Speaker 4: came in after him, because they went six and the
Speaker 4: third innings it gave up one inned run like to
Speaker 4: be put in that difficult of a situation. And Craig
Speaker 4: Albern has said after that game, the bullpen was burnt
Speaker 4: out and that's why he was trying to squeeze everything
Speaker 4: out of Gibson that he could. But that burnt out
Speaker 4: bullpen more than held its own the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Big Al Suarez a hero for that game. Helped
Speaker 1: them today when that game, and so did Dan Kramer
Speaker 1: of course by going deep, but he he meant he
Speaker 1: made it didn't have to go through everybody out in
Speaker 1: that bullpen last night with three innings, and he just
Speaker 1: keeps stealing it in these tough situations, and he's lost
Speaker 1: his roster spot a couple times and he just keeps
Speaker 1: coming back. I mean, you got to you've got to
Speaker 1: admire this guy. Spent a long time fighting to be
Speaker 1: in the big leagues. He appreciates every day. And oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, he's from Venezuela and he wore, you know,
Speaker 1: a tribute to Venezuela and his hat. The other day
Speaker 1: I asked somebody from the ball club if they know
Speaker 1: and because I hadn't did a chance to ask Albert
Speaker 1: if his family's okay, and they said they're pretty sure
Speaker 1: they all are. But obviously he cares about all the
Speaker 1: people in his home country. So we wish the best
Speaker 1: for Albert and the people of Venezuela. On that note, break,
Speaker 1: then we're going to come back talk about some injury issues,
Speaker 1: some other matters coming up. Maybe we have time to
Speaker 1: get into Gunnor back in lead off. It's working so far.
Speaker 1: We're coming up Birdland Territory.
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Speaker 1: Well the down notoe from the day game today when
Speaker 1: the Oriels beat the White Sox. We taped this after
Speaker 1: that Wednesday afternoon game at camdod Yards. Ryan Helsley was
Speaker 1: warming up. Hees closer to pitch the ninth, and then
Speaker 1: he didn't pitch the ninth, reporting some elbow discomfort and
Speaker 1: he missed nearly two months earlier with elbow inflammation. Didn't
Speaker 1: have any procedures, but he missed a lot of time.
Speaker 1: He finally was pitching well. He had a couple of
Speaker 1: games where he gave up homers and he started to
Speaker 1: settle in looking like his old self.
Speaker 6: And now this that's a really down.
Speaker 3: Note for today.
Speaker 1: I guess we don't know yet, they're evaluating. We'll know
Speaker 1: more in a day or two.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just from my own personal experience of seeing
Speaker 2: this happen, it's just not not the sign you want
Speaker 2: to see. When a guy goes down for almost two
Speaker 2: months and elbow injury and then he's warming up ready
Speaker 2: to go feel something in it.
Speaker 3: It's just never never a good sign.
Speaker 2: I hope, I hope I'm wrong on this, and I
Speaker 2: hope maybe it was just a little, you know, a
Speaker 2: little clicker something that didn't feel right and didn't want
Speaker 2: to risk it today. But uh, I hope it. I
Speaker 2: hope it's not anything big. But it's never a good
Speaker 2: thing when it's repeat injury, and especially just a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks after he just got back from the IL.
Speaker 3: That's never a good sign.
Speaker 2: So hopefully, uh, there's there's good sign or good information
Speaker 2: that comes out of this, But I'm not really hoping, uh,
Speaker 2: or I'm not really thinking it's going to be that
Speaker 2: great of news.
Speaker 4: It sucks. There's no way around it. You really feel
Speaker 4: for the guy and Hellsley. You know, his first couple
Speaker 4: appearances back with the O's that they were rough and
Speaker 4: he was working off some rust. But these past couple
Speaker 4: have been really good. He's looked like Ryan Helsley again.
Speaker 4: And I felt like it was so huge him coming
Speaker 4: back when he did, because the prior ten days, two weeks,
Speaker 4: that was when the bullpen started faltering some and they
Speaker 4: were going closer by committee and it was just really
Speaker 4: tough there where Helsy comes in, you know, he's closing
Speaker 4: out games and it bumps everyone else down and it
Speaker 4: just lengthens the bullpen where losing him now, that's a
Speaker 4: big blow to the pen, and at a minimum, we're
Speaker 4: not going to see him before the All Star break
Speaker 4: and you just hope that you're able to get him
Speaker 4: back at some point this season. But I'm with you, Brad.
Speaker 4: Anytime you hear an elbow with a pitcher, you fear
Speaker 4: the worst. And it seemed like he dodged a bullet
Speaker 4: with the first one and that even took him over
Speaker 4: a month and a half to come back from. So
Speaker 4: for him to have this setback five appearances back, you know,
Speaker 4: he didn't even make an appearance today, it was warming up.
Speaker 5: It's just really unfortunate. You feel for him, yeah, Keegan Ake.
Speaker 1: And also we heard after the game he's on the
Speaker 1: il and it did an MRI and his left elbow
Speaker 1: and that could not have been produced great results apparently
Speaker 1: because Craig Albernas said he's going through his options. That's
Speaker 1: not what they tell you if they know he's going
Speaker 1: to be back in a week or two usually, And
Speaker 1: so another good guy. I've always liked dealing with Keegan Akin,
Speaker 1: and he's a game or two man.
Speaker 6: He just wants the ball.
Speaker 1: He can give up three home runs in a row
Speaker 1: and give me the ball, give me the next guy.
Speaker 1: He just wants it, and so I wish the best
Speaker 1: for him too. Isn't this a typical Oriole season. They
Speaker 1: get a pitcher back today, pitch great, and one or
Speaker 1: two more go down.
Speaker 6: It's just it doesn't stop for this team.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like Steve Ken and I were saying today, when
Speaker 4: you think it Hellsley and even isolate him. Gosh, it's
Speaker 4: just been such an unfortunate run for their offseason signings.
Speaker 4: Thanks Zach Efflin, you bring him back. He last him
Speaker 4: won outing and then had to have Tommy John surgery,
Speaker 4: Chris Bassett. It's been a lot of starts and stops.
Speaker 4: And when we heard Michael Aias talk over the weekend,
Speaker 4: I don't think we're seeing Chris Bassid anytime soon. The
Speaker 4: fact that he didn't respond well to the shots and
Speaker 4: then said he had a minor procedure done on his back,
Speaker 4: and I think Mike's words, I'm pretty sure where you know,
Speaker 4: hopefully we get him back before the end of the season,
Speaker 4: like that sounds like in August or September proposition there.
Speaker 4: And then Elsley, you know, those are three arms that
Speaker 4: you brought in and all of them at a minimum
Speaker 4: are missing significant time. It just really unfortunate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it goes back to being a smaller market team.
Speaker 2: When you miss on three of the guys to injuries,
Speaker 2: it just it makes that much more of a problem
Speaker 2: trying to get the inn He's trying to get what
Speaker 2: you had when you had the roster, And I think
Speaker 2: that's that's the biggest difference. When it comes to like
Speaker 2: the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Cubs, they can afford to
Speaker 2: make mistakes, but when it comes to smaller market teams,
Speaker 2: you just can't afford all three of these guys to
Speaker 2: have injuries like they are, and that's kind of where
Speaker 2: they're at right now. They done their best to this point,
Speaker 2: but it's just it's been a lot of injuries adding
Speaker 2: up throughout the year.
Speaker 1: So the Ools at forty and forty eight, after they
Speaker 1: beat the White Sox and did not get swept the
Speaker 1: earlier were swept by the Pirates, the Yankees, and the Rays.
Speaker 1: The Yankees swept them four the others were three games sweeps.
Speaker 1: They were on the road. This would have been the
Speaker 1: first time they were swept at home, but they avoided
Speaker 1: that with a victory today. Futures Game participants, who's going
Speaker 1: to represent the Orioles tell you about that in a
Speaker 1: moment on Birdland Territory.
Speaker 8: Big Bad Morning Show Vinnie and Haney Inside Access Live
Speaker 8: on YouTube weekdays six till six, search Baltimore one O
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Speaker 8: five seven the Fan.
Speaker 1: So they announced the Futures Game rosters today, and it's
Speaker 1: not always that your top prospects are the guys that
Speaker 1: are picked. In this case, that's what happened. The Ools
Speaker 1: number one and two prospers as now ranked by Baseball America,
Speaker 1: Ike Irish is number one. He's having a heck of
Speaker 1: a year for the High A Frederick Keyes, where he's
Speaker 1: got an ops of eight to fifty five is at
Speaker 1: ten homers. He's stealing bases, scoring runs, playing the outfield.
Speaker 1: He also has been a catcher. He was their number
Speaker 1: one pick last year at nineteenth throughd row out of Auburn,
Speaker 1: and the highest drafted pitcher by Michael Aias is Joseph Cherwi.
Speaker 6: He is going to the futures game.
Speaker 1: Started the year with Frederick now at Double A seven
Speaker 1: and two of the two forty eighty RAO ninety two whip.
Speaker 1: He's looking good, man. They are honing up his breaking
Speaker 1: pitches right now at Double A because the fastball and
Speaker 1: the change up are on point. If he gets a
Speaker 1: third and fourth to go with it, we'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think he's going to end this year at Triple A,
Speaker 1: which is what Trey Gibson did last year. High A,
Speaker 1: Double A, Triple A, Major Leagues. That's the path this
Speaker 1: kid is on. So congrats of those two guys in
Speaker 1: Baseball America put out their new top one hundred. They
Speaker 1: updated every month and guys drop out like Nate George
Speaker 1: dropped out and Luis Deione dropped out, But Mike Irish
Speaker 1: has been in there for a while. He's now number
Speaker 1: seventy five, and Joseph jerwisea in there for the first
Speaker 1: time at number eighty nine, So he is now a
Speaker 1: top one hundred pitcher and the O's top pitching prospect
Speaker 1: is ranked by Baseball America now moved up to number
Speaker 1: two overall. So good stuff for those guys. They'll represent
Speaker 1: the Oriols July twelfth in Philadelphia at the All Star
Speaker 1: Futures Game. So, guys, we saw Gunner move the leadoff
Speaker 1: a couple games ago. The early returns aren't good. Could
Speaker 1: this be what it took to finally get him going?
Speaker 1: And Tim, you give some notes today on your radio
Speaker 1: show one to five seven the Fan about how good
Speaker 1: his numbers have been historically in that spot.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Gunner, he's been at the leadoff spot more than
Speaker 4: any other spot in the lineup in his career. Now,
Speaker 4: the bulk of that was in twenty twenty four when
Speaker 4: he had best season, but he's been lead off now.
Speaker 4: I think today marked two hundred games for him at
Speaker 4: the leadoff spot, highest ops out of any spot. His
Speaker 4: second highest spot that he's batted in is third, which
Speaker 4: we haven't seen this year. It's really just been leadoff
Speaker 4: or second base. I'll admit I was a little surprised
Speaker 4: when he ended up getting bumped to leadoff, just because
Speaker 4: you know, he was coming off the Nats.
Speaker 5: Series where he really struggled.
Speaker 4: He was one for fourteen, and I think Craig Albernaz
Speaker 4: really wanted to shake things up, and look, Gunner's been really,
Speaker 4: really good in these three games. He had two hits Monday,
Speaker 4: two hits Tuesday, and another hit today to go along
Speaker 4: with a couple of walks.
Speaker 5: Now, I don't want to buy all the way back in.
Speaker 4: I do want to see him going a bit of
Speaker 4: a sustained run because I think we've all been, you know,
Speaker 4: guilty at various points this season where it looks like
Speaker 4: you're just trying to cling to something like, oh that's Gunner,
Speaker 4: that's Gunner.
Speaker 5: That looks like Gunner. But I think we need to
Speaker 5: see it for a bit more.
Speaker 4: But hey, a good start, and we've also seen Craig
Speaker 4: Albnez Brad tinker with the two hole where we've seen
Speaker 4: Taylor Ward was batting second on Tuesday, Atley Rutchman was
Speaker 4: batting second today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see how they
Speaker 2: play with the two and three spots if you're going
Speaker 2: to continue to put Gunner in the leadoff spot, and
Speaker 2: to me sometimes, I mean, I know, as a pitcher,
Speaker 2: it was more comfortable if you knew what you were
Speaker 2: going to pitch.
Speaker 3: Maybe for Gunner it's just more being more comfortable.
Speaker 2: No one's going to lead off knowing he's gonna be
Speaker 2: the first guy to face the pitcher to start the game,
Speaker 2: and who knows. I mean, maybe this is, like you said,
Speaker 2: maybe this is the catalyst that you need to kind
Speaker 2: of jump started. And at this point, I mean, you
Speaker 2: might as well try to mess around with the top
Speaker 2: of the order because they just can't seem to sustain
Speaker 2: the offense. So maybe if they find something that's comfortable
Speaker 2: for all these guys, I kind of like Telor Award
Speaker 2: in the third spot. I think it gives them more
Speaker 2: of an opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive
Speaker 2: and to kind of jump at pitchers and try to
Speaker 2: go hit some more homers.
Speaker 3: I think when he's in the leadoff spot.
Speaker 2: He wants to get on base, he wants to get
Speaker 2: the ball rolling, but I think maybe third. I think
Speaker 2: second to third for him is more natural for the
Speaker 2: type of hitter that he is. So I think it'll
Speaker 2: be interesting to see how they do this moving forward.
Speaker 2: And I think Pete's really good in the four spot,
Speaker 2: and I would love to see him just kind of
Speaker 2: get cemented and stay right in the four spot from
Speaker 2: here on out and kind of tink around with the
Speaker 2: other guys.
Speaker 3: But you got to do something.
Speaker 2: Because they, like we've said, time is kind of ticking here,
Speaker 2: and just would love to see them just get on
Speaker 2: a stretch that we know this offense can do.
Speaker 3: It's just they haven't done it to this point yet.
Speaker 1: Before we say goodbye for the latest edition of Land Territory,
Speaker 1: remind everybody where they can find me, in addition to
Speaker 1: subscribing to our show, The Substack Steve on Baseball dot
Speaker 1: substack dot com. That's how you find it if you
Speaker 1: need to. If you haven't found that yet, hope you
Speaker 1: check me out. There got a big story coming on
Speaker 1: the Draft, and soon we'll have a big story coming
Speaker 1: on My latest pitching prospect obsession. Left hander for the
Speaker 1: Frederick Keyes Hayden Hunter six pounds draft pick. If you
Speaker 1: haven't seen his stats, look them up.
Speaker 6: You'll like what you see.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you about him coming up in the
Speaker 1: next few days on my substack, and we'll be back
Speaker 1: together Steve, Tim and Brad shortly with another edition of
Speaker 1: Birdland Territory. Thanks for watching this one and we'll catch
Speaker 1: in next time.