The Orioles are 7-8 under Tony Mansolino, and after losing their first four with him as interim manager, they’ve won seven of 11. That’s good, but the Orioles are still far out of contention.
Outfielder Colton Cowser has returned from the injured list and perhaps infielder Jordan Westburg will during the six-game trip to Seattle and Sacramento that begins on Tuesday night. That will help.
As quickly as players heal, other Orioles are finding their way to the injured list. In two days, Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins landed on the IL. Like Westburg, both have hamstring injuries.
Maybe at some point in the season, perhaps after the All-Star break, the Orioles will have much of their projected team together, but it’s likely to be too late for a run at the postseason.
Currently, BaseballReference.com gives them a .1 percent chance of making it to the postseason. FanGraphs are better. They calculate the Orioles have a 1.8 percent chance of playing in October.
The Orioles generated some excitement with their first sweep of the season, and the first sweep at home since April 2024. But they were playing the Chicago White Sox, a team that lost a modern-day record 121 games last year and probably isn’t much better this season.
The Orioles managed to sweep even though they scored only nine runs, and needed saves from Félix Bautista in the first two games and Bryan Baker in the third.
There was hope that the Orioles would be better in May because they supposedly had a weaker schedule. But their record was worse in May (9-18) than it was in April (9-16).
They’re playing the Athletics in Sacramento this weekend. They’ve lost 17 of 18, but the Orioles also are playing each of the three division leaders this month — the Mariners, Tigers and Yankees — as well as seven games against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The positive for the Orioles has been strong starts from Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano. If they keep that up, maybe the Orioles can make up some ground.
One of the most interesting takeaways from this weekend were players talking about the improved climate around the team. Two that stood out were comments from Kremer and Baker.
“Guys are starting to get comfortable in their positions,” Kremer said. “I think there’s been less platooning or, it’s consistently the same guys in the lineup, I guess. Guys are getting their reps in. I think for everybody, not just for position players but for pitchers, as well, getting in there more often than not is easier to get into a rhythm and I feel like guys are starting to hit their stride.”
Baker said the atmosphere is more positive.
“It seems like everybody’s looser,” he said. “We’re having a little bit of fun. It’s obviously easier to have fun when you win, but it just seems like everyone’s having a little bit more fun, we’re looser, not as uptight. It’s contagious. That kind of thing is contagious. I think if we show up to the ballpark with a positive mindset and have a little fun, I think that goes a long way.”
Mansolino seems to be more comfortable in his role. He had just a few hours’ notice on May 17th when Brandon Hyde was fired and he was promoted.
While he’s talked about making sure the players feel appreciated, he’s changed a few things. Most notably, he called for a double steal on Friday night with Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn pulling it off.
Of course, Mountcastle came out of the game not long after that with a hamstring injury, but it showed that Mansolino wasn’t afraid to try something different, especially with the offense not producing much.
Mansolino was saddled with an inexperienced coaching staff, something that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias tried to address by hiring John Mabry and giving him the unusual title of “senior advisor.”
Mabry was in the dugout for Sunday’s game, busily making notes. It will be good for Mansolino to have an experienced voice to confer with.
There are still 104 games to play, and the Orioles will have to win perhaps 65 of them to secure a playoff spot, which is highly unlikely.
And, there are 50 games left until the July 31st trade deadline. The Orioles probably have to win 30, and perhaps more, to convince Elias he should be a buyer instead of a seller.
The Orioles’ season has been both disappointing one and fascinating. The next 50 games could be even more intriguing.
