It’s often considered foolish thinking around baseball to get overly optimistic about what happens in April.
Good luck trying to convince anyone who follows the Baltimore Orioles to stop thinking about the possibility of serious October baseball.
Baltimore, at 19-9, just wrapped up its winningest April ever.
To put into perspective just how good April was for the Orioles, consider this. Since arriving in Baltimore in 1954, the franchise has had seven seasons of over 100 regular-season wins. And in not one of those seasons did the club have 19 wins or more before the calendar turned to May.
In 2022, the Orioles peaked in early September, when they were 71-61, 10 games over .500.
After Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, the club moved to 10 games over .500 after just 28 games.
Since they began the season 4-5, they’ve won 15 of 19, with six straight series wins.
OK, but not so fast
Skeptics might point out that during this 19-game stretch, they didn’t play a team with a winning record. Septics will also say that stretch will continue Tuesday when the O’s begin a three-game series in Kansas City,, who are a dreadful 7-22.
The skeptics are right. The numbers don’t lie.
With MLB’s new scheduling format, the Orioles will play against each MLB team, and in the next three weeks, play against four of the six teams currently leading their divisions: Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Texas.
For good measure, throw in the Yankees, Toronto and LA Angels.
As to what often happens in the stock market, the Orioles will soon experience a correction.
What might turn the skeptics into believers?
After climbing to a high-water mark of 71-61 in 2022, the Orioles simply ran out of gas, finishing just 12-18. Depth, or rather lack of depth, was blamed for the late season swoon.
A bullpen that was spectacular all during the 2022 season wilted under playoff pressure baseball. Fatigue was at every position, with little help from the farm system, as the front office refused to rush minor league talent to the majors.
Not the case this season. At least so far. The bullpen, after a rough opening 10 days, has answered the bell on almost a nightly basis. The starting pitching, which recently got injected with the top minor league pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez, has suddenly turned from a liability to an asset. The club appears poised for a strong run for postseason play.
What’s the difference in this year’s Orioles?
Simple. In general, the O’s minor league system. Specifically, Norfolk, the club’s Triple-A affiliate. The Tides are proving to be the MLB-ready hangout for some players that have already seen big-league time this season.
This past week proves that point.
Joey Ortiz and Kyle Stowers were both in Charlo,tte with the Tides for the start of their six-game series with the Charlotte Knights. On Wednesday Ortiz, 24 got the call to join Baltimore in Detroit. Ortiz, starting at second, drove in three runs in the Orioles’ win over Detroit.
Later in the weekend, Stowers also joined the O’s and got his first major-league hit of the 2023 season, going 1-for-4 in Sunday’s win over the Tigers.
Ironically, to make room for Stowers, Ortiz was sent back to Charlotte to rejoin Norfolk.
Speaking of Norfolk
For now, Norfolk has Ortiz, Connor Norby and Jordan Westburg to play the infield. This past week, the Tides went 4-2 against Charlotte. In Saturday night’s 20-1 drubbing of the Knights, the Tides set a franchise record with 24 hits.
Rightfielder Shayne Fontana could be the next non-pitcher to hop on the Norfolk-Baltimore Express. Fontana is hitting well over .300 this season and playing flawless outfield defense. Sunday, Fontana drove in three runs in a 6-3 win over Charlotte.
Tides PR guy John Stanley said the Norfolk-Baltimore Express is a result of the Orioles organization’s development of a strong farm system approach.
“It’s the process the Orioles have been building for about the last five years,” said Stanley. ” With some of the new collective bargaining agreement options of adding players to the major league roster for even one game, you have to have those players available,” added Stanley.
This week for the Tides
Norfolk, fresh off a 4-2 series win against Charlotte, is first in the International League’s East Division with a 19-7 record. The series with the Knights was especially challenging with the players shuffling between the Tides and Baltimore.
DL Hall, the Orioles top minor league pitching prospect, was scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener at Harbor Park against Durham. Hall was summoned to join the Orioles as they opened a series in Kansas City.
For now, the Tides starting pitcher Tuesday evening has the infamous initials of TBA.
Norfolk and Durhan will square off for the first of a six-game series Tuesday at 6:35.
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