It is time to review the Orioles week and hope that the season ends soon.
It was not a good week for the O's. They own the worst record in baseball, albeit only by a half-game. Looking at it as if the glass were half-full, the Orioles are the 30th best team in MLB.They are currently 37-90, .291 and have lost four in a row and are 2-8 for their last 10 games. They have been shut out 12 times this season and the prospect for scoring runs is dim with Mark Turbo moving to the DL and Danny Valencia being released.
Doing the math, the Orioles are on pace to lose 115 games, but that number has been growing weekly and so losing 120 is not out of the question.
The 2019 schedule was released this week and the Orioles home opener is one of the last in baseball and after they have already played 6 games on the road. To imagine that there may not be a lot of excitement is an understatement, especially considering that they play the Yankees.
The Orioles were swept in Toronto and have not won a game in Canada all season. They are 0-10 in Canada for 2018.
The battle for last place in baseball gets real starting on August 31st as the O's travel to Kansas City. The likelihood of getting swept is high since the O's are 16-50 on the road this season.
The O's are 5-15, .250, thus far in August. With 8 games remaining the possibility of going 6-22, .214 for the month is very real.
Baltimore and Kansas City are the only two teams which have been mathematically eliminated from post-season play already. They other 28 teams all still have a mathematic shot at playing in October.
There are only 35 games left in the season! That mean that the worst they could finish is 37-125, .228. By comparison the 1962 Mets were 40-120, .250.
Looking ahead: The Orioles are home for 7 games against the Yankees (4) and Toronto (3). Statistically the Orioles should win two from the Yankees and eek out one win against Toronto for a 3-4 moderately respectable home stand.
My view of the season is very different now from what I had hoped in April when the season began. I wrote, after the first game, "I love Opening Day. The magic seems to happen. For one day I can say that the Orioles are atop the American League East! Yes it is only one game and they are tied with the Yankees and the Rays--but at least for one day, they are in first."
The magic went out of the balloon pretty quickly after that, but for one game, at least, there was joy in Baltimore.
Wait till next season, we will get them then! Really? I'm thinking, not.
-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
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