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<title type="text">Camden Chat</title>
<subtitle type="text">Your best source for quality Baltimore Orioles news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective.</subtitle>
<updated>2025-10-30T12:54:39+00:00</updated>
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<entry>
<author>
<name>Tyler Young</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Brandon Young was both mid and magic in his rookie season]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-analysis/62315/brandon-young-season-review-2025" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/62315/grant-wolfram-did-enough-to-stay-in-the-bullpen-mix-moving-forward</id>
<updated>2025-10-30T08:54:39-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-30T09:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Commentary & Analysis" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The history of baseball is littered with players that, while not stars, managed to leave an indelible mark on a season, a team, or even the sport at large. While Brandon Young has not yet made it to that level of cult hero, he was certainly responsible for some of the most memorable moments of […]]]></summary>
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The history of baseball is littered with players that, while not stars, managed to leave an indelible mark on a season, a team, or even the sport at large. While Brandon Young has not yet made it to that level of cult hero, he was certainly responsible for some of the most memorable moments of the 2025 Orioles.
Young’s top line stats in his debut season are not going to wow anyone. In fact, they are rather ugly. Over 12 starts and 57.2 innings, he had a 6.24 ERA, struck out 7.34 per nine, and was worth -0.1 fWAR/-0.6 bWAR. The Orioles may have hoped to get a bit more out of their 2024 Jim Palmer Minor League Pitcher of the Year. But at least the 27-year-old got his feet wet on the big league stage and has laid a base for his career moving forward.
What will go down in the history books, however, were two of Young’s performances.
On July 9, the 6-foot-6 hurler was facing the Mets for his fifth career start. In the top of the fifth inning, he did something that only four Orioles pitchers had done before him. <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/brandon-young-pitches-immaculate-inning-against-mets" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.mlb.com/news/brandon-young-pitches-immaculate-inning-against-mets">He threw an immaculate inning</a>. The trio of Jesse Winker, Jeff McNeil, and Luis Torrens saw a total of nine pitches, all of them strikes, and the O’s rookie was out of the frame.
That inning showed off some of Young’s upside. He got whiffs from Winker and McNeil on his changeup, and he punched out Torrens with a 96 mph fastball. Clearly, he has the repertoire to get big league hitters out, and this was coming in the fifth inning, the deepest he had ever gone in a game to that point. 
Young showed off that ability again in <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/brandon-young-perfect-game-ends-in-8th" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.mlb.com/news/brandon-young-perfect-game-ends-in-8th">an August 15 start in Houston</a>, a park he grew up attending as a fan. On that night, he didn’t just have one perfect inning, he had seven of them. The righty came within four outs of the 25th perfect game in big league history. Instead, he had to settle for eight shutout innings and the first win of his career. Not bad.
The high from that start would not last too long, unfortunately. Young faced the Astros again one week later. This time he allowed seven runs on nine hits, two walks, and only one strikeout. In that game he also strained his left hamstring and was put on the IL. A few days later, he was moved to the 60-day IL and shut down for the season, a tough end to an up-and-down rookie season,
The argument can be made that Young’s debut campaign was a bit better than his numbers may suggest. For example, his 4.41 xERA is nearly two runs better than his actual 6.24 ERA. There’s also a gap between his 5.35 FIP and 4.52 xFIP. The same goes for the difference between his .372 wOBA against and his .333 xwOBA. 
In other words, Young was a little unlucky. No, he wasn’t amazing, but he pitched better than the back of his baseball card might suggest.
Oftentimes the killer for Young was home runs. He gave up 12 of them in just 57.2 innings of work. That works out to a rate of 1.87 homers per nine innings, and a home run per fly ball rate of 17.1%. Neither of those numbers are good! It puts him right next to Tomoyuki Sugano, who had almost identical metrics (1.89 HR/9, 15.6% HR/FB) across a full season, and led MLB in home runs allowed. 
Perhaps Young needs to pare down his offerings? <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/brandon-young-687064?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb" data-type="link" data-id="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/brandon-young-687064?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb">According to Baseball Savant</a>, he threw six different pitches in 2025: four-seam, split, curve, cutter, slider, and changeup. That’s not a crazy amount for a modern starter, but he didn’t have success with many of them. If he could focus on fewer pitches, he may be able to really nail them.
The only two with neutral or positive run values were the four-seam and the slider. Those feel like the building blocks for his arsenal. The curveball has good characteristics as well, but may have tunneling issues to consider. His changeup was rarely used (4.6% of all pitches) and got ripped (87.5% hard hit rate). It gets far less vertical drop than league average, and Young leaves it in the middle of the plate too often. That could explain why left-handed hitters lit him up to the tune of a .315/.392/.543 batting line against. Despite its poor performance, it feels like Young has to improve the change heading into 2026 in order to be a viable starting option.
Young will broadly be considered an option for the Orioles’ Opening Day rotation heading into 2026. But that is more the result of being a starting pitcher on the fringe of the big league roster. The team is expected to pursue more proven starting options this winter to join Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, and a (hopefully healthy) Grayson Rodriguez on the staff. If that happens, Young will be pushed back to Norfolk by default, or maybe a long man role out of the bullpen.
Regardless, Young is likely to become a familiar, if inconsistent, face in Baltimore for a few years to come. He has two option years remaining and won’t be eligible arbitration until the 2028 season at the earliest. As a fringy starter type, that sounds like a guy that should become a fixture on the Norfolk shuttle, capable of making spot starts or even filling in for a brief IL stint for a rotation member. While it may not be the sexiest role, that sort of competent depth is vital to an organization as it withstands the marathon of a 162-game season. It’s also impressive for an undrafted player to get to that point of usability in the first place. Maybe he will keep on exceeding expectations.
Tomorrow: Tyler O’Neill

]]>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Alex Church</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[The Orioles flipped Bryan Baker for a high-ceiling draft pick]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-analysis/62299/the-orioles-flipped-bryan-baker-for-a-high-ceiling-draft-pick" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62299</id>
<updated>2025-10-29T19:29:24-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-30T08:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Commentary & Analysis" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Orioles claimed Bryan Baker from the Blue Jays all the way back in November 2021. The move came shortly after the team reinstated Jorge López and DJ Stewart from the 60-day injured list. Baker went on to join fellow relievers Paul Fry, Dillon Tate and Joey Krehbiel on the 2022 Opening Day roster. Baker […]]]></summary>
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The Orioles claimed Bryan Baker from the Blue Jays all the way back in November 2021. The move came shortly after the team reinstated Jorge López and DJ Stewart from the 60-day injured list. Baker went on to join fellow relievers Paul Fry, Dillon Tate and Joey Krehbiel on the 2022 Opening Day roster. 
Baker outlasted all of those guys in Baltimore. He joined the Orioles with only one inning of MLB experience and proceeded to make 173 appearances for the O’s. He posted a 3.49 ERA in his first year with the club and a 3.60 ERA in 2023. He rode the Norfolk shuttle in 2024 as the Orioles took advantage of his last minor league option.
Baker’s lack of options generated some buzz last spring. He eventually beat out Matt Bowman and Roansey Contreras for the final spot in Baltimore’s bullpen. 
Almost every Orioles player struggled at the beginning of last year, but Baker represented one of the few exceptions. After surviving a roster battle, he pitched to a 3.52 ERA and 1.096 WHIP over 42 games in Black and Orange. 
The Birds put together a decent run in June, but they dug too deep of a hole early in the year. With a fire sale becoming more likely by the day, Mike Elias made his first move on July 10. The Orioles sent Bryan Baker to a division foe in exchange for Tampa Bay’s competitive balance round draft pick. 
Several players entered the month of July surrounded by trade rumors, but Baker had not been one of them. The 30-year-old was an affordable reliever under team control until 2029 and projected as a player that would help the club compete in 2026. With the benefit of hindsight, that’s what made him an attractive target for buying teams. 
It may be premature to call the deal a “win” for either side, but Tampa must have had higher hopes when they sent the 37th pick to Baltimore in exchange for Baker. The righty posted a 4.75 ERA and 1.121 WHIP over 31 games for the Rays. Tampa Bay finished the year 77-85. 
Baker remains under team control and can still help the Rays both next season and beyond. <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/offseason-outlook-tampa-bay-rays-15.html" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/offseason-outlook-tampa-bay-rays-15.html">MLB Trade Rumors </a>projects Baker to cost only $1.5 million and does not consider him a non-tender candidate this offseason.
Baker remains out of options as well. The Orioles bullpen lacked flexibility last season with veteran players like Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez. Baltimore’s deadline deals freed up room for optionable pitchers like Kade Strowd. Relievers with options come in handy over the course of a 162 game season—look no further than Baker from 2022-2024. 
The Orioles couldn’t wait until the trade deadline to complete the deal with the Rays. Competitive balance selections are the only tradable draft picks in baseball, and the Birds used the 37th pick later that week to select high school outfielder Slater de Brun out of Summit High School in Bend, Oregon. 
de Brun—aka “<a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-prospect-slater-de-brun-is-a-music-producer" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-prospect-slater-de-brun-is-a-music-producer">Lily Slayyy</a>”—entered the draft as MLB Pipeline’s 24th best prospect. The Birds nabbed him with an overslot $4 million bonus to stave off his attendance at Vanderbilt. The Birds were immediately celebrated for gaining significant value at the 37th pick. MLB Pipeline currently ranks de Brun as Baltimore’s sixth best prospect.
<a href="https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/orioles-bet-big-on-dynamic-prep-outfielder-slater-de-brun/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/orioles-bet-big-on-dynamic-prep-outfielder-slater-de-brun/">Baseball America </a>describes de Brun as a dynamic outfielder with “elite speed, contact skills and center field defense.” The Orioles took high-floor college prospects in Ike Irish, Caden Bodine and Wehiwa Aloy, but de Brun projects as a talented player that will need some time in the minors.
Some expressed frustration with the Orioles dealing a controllable asset in Baker for a player that will not help the team compete in 2026. However, de Brun likely represents the highest long term value that Baltimore could gain in exchange for Baker. Elias wants to win in 2026, but de Brun could make a real difference for the Birds at the end of the decade. In the same vein, he could be used as a tradable asset—or depth to offset the loss of another asset—in a deal that brings MLB talent to Baltimore.
Baker earned the reputation of a grinder during his time at Camden Yards. He showed emotion on the mound and never shied away from high-leverage opportunities. He likely hit his ceiling in Baltimore, and his absence would not have loomed nearly as large if the Orioles did not trade away Soto, Domínguez, and Andrew Kittredge while losing Félix Bautista to injury. 
That being said, Tampa holds a strong reputation for helping pitchers reach their highest potential. The Rays must feel they can maximize Baker’s value moving forward. It will sting anytime that Baker retires the side against Baltimore, but the Orioles can get the last laugh if de Brun reaches his full potential. 

]]>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Mark Brown</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Orioles news: Enrique Bradfield hot in Arizona]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/orioles-news-links/62294/orioles-news-rumors-coaching-staff-changes" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62294</id>
<updated>2025-10-29T22:23:53-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-30T07:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Bird Droppings" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Hello, friends. There are now 147 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. At most two of these days will have real baseball, depending on whether the World Series finishes in six or seven games. Today is not one of those days, as the teams will travel back to Toronto to settle whatever is left. […]]]></summary>
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Hello, friends.
There are now 147 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2026. At most two of these days will have real baseball, depending on whether the World Series finishes in six or seven games. Today is not one of those days, as the teams will travel back to Toronto to settle whatever is left. The Blue Jays hold a 3-2 edge in the series after winning in Los Angeles last night, starting the game with back-to-back homers off Dodgers starter Blake Snell and never looking back. They are now one win away from their first title since going back-to-back in 1992 and 1993.
As we know, the fact that the World Series is going on hasn’t stopped the Orioles from having some coaching-related news. The big breaking story of the new manager, Craig Albernaz, hit on Sunday night and then hitting coach news – specifically that the two assistants won’t be returning next season – came out during the week. 
It wouldn’t surprise me if some more coaching staff news trickles out between now and next week’s press conference introducing Albernaz. Though the Orioles do like to keep things secret and not ever say anything about it, if they do choose to move on from guys, they can’t stop them from telling people, or other people in other front offices finding out because so-and-so Orioles coach is out looking for a new job. At a minimum, one additional change is that it’s not likely that former interim manager Tony Mansolino will go back to his old job. The “interim” seldom sticks around if they aren’t the person chosen for the big chair.
Even moreso than a manager, who has a lot of invisible aspects of his job but does at least have tactical choices and public statements where you can judge him on that, it’s tough to really know who’s a good coach and who’s not a good coach. All that we can tell is whether a group of players does well or doesn’t do well. 
With the hitting coaches, pretty much everybody underachieved this past season, so at a minimum, those guys didn’t help stop the problem. The team having moved on from the assistants seems good. I won’t lose any sleep if the hitting coach, Cody Asche, also is out. It’s not as clean to judge the pitching coaches because the sheer amount of injuries, and bad offseason decisions by Mike Elias, left them lacking a lot of talent in their area of influence. Albernaz will probably want to bring in some guys where he had some say, so independent of whether the incumbents did a good job or not, that’s why I’m expecting more change. Maybe we’ll get more trickles today.
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Orioles stuff you might have missed</h4>
<a href="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-new-manager-craig-albernaz-jon-meoli-QK6FJCZDXFDSLP7IY7RUH4RA3E/">Why Craig Albernaz is a good fit for the Orioles</a> (The Baltimore Banner) The Banner’s Jon Meoli is feeling good about this hire. He’s not the only one.
On the subject of the new manager, Albernaz, the team posted a short message from him <a href="http://facebook.com/reel/1872230070048108/">on its Facebook page yesterday.</a> It seems that the jokes about his accent were not selling short the magnitude. I’m particularly fascinated by the way he says “Birdland” with such a strong New England accent that it almost turns into like, Australian.
<a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/29/orioles-enrique-bradfield-eyes-mlb-debut/">Enrique Bradfield Jr., tearing up Arizona Fall League, eyes his debut</a> (The Baltimore Sun) Things are going really well for Bradfield out in Arizona, you guys. He’s more advanced than most of the competition, so it has to be taken with some grains of salt. Still, he could hardly be doing better.
<a href="https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/sports/orioles-mlb/2025/10/29/world-george-zuverink-john-eisenberg/">On George Zuverink, a forgotten early Oriole</a> (Baltimore Baseball) John Eisenberg’s series on Orioles history reaches back for some memories about a relief pitcher who was here from 1955-59, with a last name that will perpetually keep him very far towards the bottom of the alphabetical list for franchise history.
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries</h4>
Today in 1986, the Orioles traded Storm Davis to the Padres, receiving catcher Terry Kennedy and reliever Mark Williamson. A favorite of mine when I was younger since he had the same first name as me, Williamson’s place in Orioles history was throwing an inning in the combined no-hitter on July 13, 1991.
There is one lone former Oriole who was born on this day. Happy 47th birthday to outfielder Luis Matos, who accumulated 4.4 bWAR for the team from 2000-06.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: architect Christopher Wren (1632), first vice president and second president John Adams (1735), five-star admiral William Halsey Jr. (1882), actor Henry Winkler (1945), and gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin (1989).
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">On this day in history…</h4>
In 1831, the leader of the deadliest slave rebellion in US history, Nat Turner, was arrested in Virginia. Turner had led a four-day revolt in August that killed more than 50 whites in the area. He was tried and hanged within two weeks of the arrest.
In 1905, in response to an ongoing revolution, Russian tsar Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto, which if he adhered to it (he didn’t) would have provided some basic civil liberties for the Russian people. The manifesto also called for the creation of the Duma, an elected parliament.
In 1938, the infamous radio broadcast where Orson Welles adapted H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds took place, in which some people who turned on their radios mistakenly believed it was a narration of an actual invasion.
In 1945, Jackie Robinson, then a member of the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs, signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he eventually debuted, breaking baseball’s color barrier, in 1947.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 30. Have a safe Thursday.
]]>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Andrea SK</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[World Series Game 5 open thread]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-game-chat/62303/world-series-game-5-open-thread" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62303</id>
<updated>2025-10-29T19:21:28-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-29T19:30:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Gamethreads" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[World Series, Game 5: 8:00 PM ET, FOX (The series is tied, 2-2) RHP Trey Yesavage (TOR) (2-1, 4.26 ERA, 27 K) vs. LHP Blake Snell (LAD) (3-1, 2.42 ERA, 32 K) “Good lord,” asked Paul Folkemer, after Monday night’s ridiculous, 6-hour, 39-minute, 18-inning marathon. “How do you follow that?” Well, Toronto’s bats did by […]]]></summary>
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World Series, Game 5: 8:00 PM ET, FOX (The series is tied, 2-2)
RHP Trey Yesavage (TOR) (2-1, 4.26 ERA, 27 K) vs. LHP Blake Snell (LAD) (3-1, 2.42 ERA, 32 K)
“Good lord,” asked Paul Folkemer, after Monday night’s ridiculous, 6-hour, 39-minute, 18-inning marathon. “How do you follow that?”
Well, Toronto’s bats did by recovering in lightning-fast fashion to deliver LA starter Shohei Ohtani an unexpected pummeling, saddling him with four runs in six innings and an L in Game 4. Ohtani had given up just three runs in 12 innings of postseason ball before that, including his ridiculous 10-strikeout dispatching of the Brewers in the NLCS.
Everyone is mortal, it turns out. Hey, he was up really late the night before.
Game 4’s 6-2 result was, it goes without saying, a gigantic win for the Blue Jays, who flipped the series momentum and ensured a return to home field north of the border. Trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber was solid, working into the sixth inning while allowing just one earned run. Regular starter Chris Bassitt helped out with two shutout innings in the seventh and eighth, allowing his team to rest their best relief arms (Jeff Hoffman, Eric Lauer and Seranthony Domínguez). It’s all hands on deck in the World Series, people!
Tonight we get a repeat of Game 1, a 11-4 beatdown for Toronto in which neither starter pitched particularly well. That night, Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage went four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks, while the Dodgers’ Blake Snell was uncharacteristically hittable, getting hit up for five runs on eight hits and three walks over five innings. It was an unexpected dud for the lefty Snell, who is something of a postseason gamer, with a 2.42 ERA this season plus a 7-4 record and a 3.01 ERA in 16 playoff games in his career.
Tonight’s matchup features a pretty big experience gap: the 22-year-old Yesavage will be making just his fifth career playoff start. You’ve heard by now that he started the year in High-A ball. So far, he’s been pretty good under immense pressure, with a 2-1 record and 4.26 ERA in the postseason.
This is, on paper, an advantageous matchup for Los Angeles, but Toronto has outscored them 23-17 in this series so far.
It goes without saying that Game 5 is a big one for both teams. For Toronto, hanging tough at Dodger Stadium to return home with a 3-2 lead would be a massive morale boost. For the Dodgers, a win tonight means the difference between pulling to within one win of their second straight championship and having to head all the way to Canada needing to win back-to-back elimination games, in front of a hostile crowd of … <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2014/08/the_top_10_cliches_about_toronto/">exceedingly polite hockey fans</a>? (OK, that is only partly true.)
Blue Jays lineup
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Davis Schneider LF (R)</li>
<li>Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. 1B (R)</li>
<li>Bo Bichette DH (R)</li>
<li>Alejandro Kirk C (R)</li>
<li>Daulton Varsho CF (L)</li>
<li>Ernie Clement 3B (R)</li>
<li>Addison Barger RF (L)</li>
<li>Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B (R)</li>
<li>Andrés Giménez SS (L)</li>
</ol>
Dodgers lineup
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Shohei Ohtani DH (L)</li>
<li>Will Smith C (R)</li>
<li>Mookie Betts SS (R)</li>
<li>Freddie Freeman 1B (L)</li>
<li>Teoscar Hernández RF (R)</li>
<li>Tommy Edman 2B (S)</li>
<li>Max Muncy 3B (L)</li>
<li>Kike Hernández CF (R)</li>
<li>Alex Call LF (R)</li>
</ol>
]]>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Andrea SK</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Charlie Morton’s up-and-down 2025 capped off a distinguished career]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-analysis/62279/orioles-charlie-morton-season-review-2025" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62279</id>
<updated>2025-10-29T09:05:52-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-29T10:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Commentary & Analysis" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[When Charlie Morton first debuted in MLB, the first Iron Man movie had just come out, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were getting hitched, Heath Ledger was winning acclaim as the Joker in The Dark Knight, and Phillies were on their way to being crowned World Series champions. Eighteen years is a long time, especially in baseball. […]]]></summary>
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When Charlie Morton first debuted in MLB, the first Iron Man movie had just come out, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were getting hitched, Heath Ledger was winning acclaim as the Joker in The Dark Knight, and Phillies were on their way to being crowned World Series champions.
Eighteen years is a long time, especially in baseball. And while we can’t quite say that Charlie Morton was sharp in his last season, this was a baseball career worth saluting. As interim manager <a href="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-trade-charlie-morton-detroit-tigers-KRRXMQDWWFEQPOLWQVUPALTDTM/">Tony Mansolino said</a> when Morton was traded at the break (Manso may not have won the permanent manager role, but he did give great postgame quotes!), “Guys like Charlie, they stay in the big leagues for 20 years because they’re really good, they’re great players, but they also stay in the big leagues for 20 years because of their character.”
In retrospect, Morton and Baltimore wasn’t the best fit for either side. This team needed to spend on a true front-of-the-rotation ace; the 41-year-old Morton, who’d considered retirement in 2024, wanted to pitch on a contender. Instead, the Orioles cheapoed out on their rotation, and Morton got dealt, midway through the season, to the contending Detroit Tigers. That didn’t go so well, either, more on which in a second.
Like the Orioles as a team, who made a terrible first impression this season, going 4-8 in April and 6-13 in May, the veteran Morton was dreadful in his first weeks in the orange-and-black. In nine starts, he went 0-7 with a 9.38 ERA, and a lousy 3.7 strikeouts per game. That included the infamous 24-2 Cincinnati game in which he allowed seven runs in just four innings, the Orioles’ worst loss since, well, before Charlie Morton was even in the league.
What was wrong with Morton early on? Well, seemingly everything but the obvious culprits: age and injury. In an age where professional pitchers regularly undergo two or more surgical procedures on elbow and shoulders, we must admit that the veteran Morton had remarkable longevity.
No, Morton’s terrible start as an Oriole appears to have been about mechanics and control. Back in April, Morton himself blamed <a href="https://www.masnsports.com/blog/o-s/">a lack of command</a> for his woeful start to the year, especially of <a href="https://www.masnsports.com/blog/morton-s-curveball-key-to-turnaround-in-arizona">his curveball</a>, a go-to pitch for much of his long career. For whatever reason, Morton didn’t have it this spring (not for a lack of trying, <a href="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-trade-charlie-morton-detroit-tigers-KRRXMQDWWFEQPOLWQVUPALTDTM/">he said</a>).
Then, suddenly he did: according to Morton himself, his season turned around while he <a href="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/charlie-morton-orioles-curveball-trade-deadline-E5F5GWCUDFHOZBXVJROTR45YB4/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warmed up in the bullpen at Angel Stadium on May 10</a> ahead of a relief appearance. The curveball suddenly zipped out of his hand just as he hoped it would. “I can hear my finger when my finger catches the seam,” Morton said. “And then I saw it in the bullpen and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that was it.’”
Then, somehow, it was it. Over his last 14 starts for the Orioles, Morton went 7-1 with a 3.62 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 69.2 innings. That included a dazzling six-game stretch where he posted a 2.37 ERA and 11.9 strikeouts per game. During that time Morton said, “For the better part of a month now, I’ve been locating well, I’ve been throwing strikes. I think I made some adjustments a while back with my delivery and my pitch arsenal and found some consistency.”
This was enough to make the veteran of interest to contending teams, and lo and behold, just before the trade deadline on July 31, the Orioles dealt Morton to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for lefty relief prospect Micah Ashman.
Let’s talk Ashman before I get back to Morton in a second.
Drafted in the 11th round by Detroit a year ago, the 23-year-old Utah product had struck out 46 batters over 39.1 innings at High-A while holding hitters to just a .164 average and .433 OPS. He also walked just eight hitters in 39.1 innings.
After coming to the Orioles organization, Ashman was slotted into Double-A Chesapeake, where he made 13 relief appearances. The 4.80 ERA wasn’t beautiful: nine runs (eight earned) in 15 innings, but he did keep up the strikeouts (23) and reduce walks (4). Figure to see the lefty back with the Baysox to start next season, with a chance to end up in Norfolk’s bullpen soon thereafter.
As for Morton and the Tigers, it wasn’t a pretty romance. The Tigers were sitting pretty with a 12.5-game AL Central lead, and they hoped Morton’s postseason experience – two World Series rings and all – would bolster their rotation behind ace Tarik Skubal. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had even won a championship with Morton back in 2017 with the Astros when Morton pitched the final four innings in Game 7 of the World Series against the Dodgers.
Unfortunately, the magic ran out for both sides. Morton registered a 7.09 ERA with 23 walks and 47 strikeouts across 39.1 innings in nine starts after the July 31 trade deadline. He struggled so badly that on September 21, the Tigers designated Morton for assignment, right as they were desperately trying to hold onto a playoff spot while Cleveland charged from behind.
As for the Tigers, they did manage to squeak into the playoffs despite their September collapse, defeating Cleveland in the Wild Card Series before falling to Seattle in five games in the ALDS. That Game 5 went 15 innings – the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history – but Morton could only watch from home.
Then, in a fitting coda to his strange season, Morton signed with Atlanta after his release, the team that originally drafted him back in 2002, for one last farewell appearance.
For Orioles fans, Morton will be remembered as the expensive signing that helped tank their season early, then provided just enough of a rebound to net them a useful prospect in return. Despite his terrible start and end to the season, it was kind of a marvel what Morton was still doing out there at age 41. Every now and then, Uncle Charlie made his curveball dance, even if he couldn’t always hear his finger catch the seam anymore.
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Mark Brown</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Orioles player review: Dietrich Enns]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-analysis/62266/orioles-dietrich-enns-season-review-2025" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62266</id>
<updated>2025-10-28T14:36:33-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-29T09:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Commentary & Analysis" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[One of the defining aspects of the 2025 Orioles season is the sheer number of players who shuffled through the roster. Many of those who were involved in tying the MLB record for most players used in a season (70) are players who you’d never thought about, who started the season outside of the organization, […]]]></summary>
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One of the defining aspects of the 2025 Orioles season is the sheer number of players who shuffled through the roster. Many of those who were involved in tying the MLB record for most players used in a season (70) are players who you’d never thought about, who started the season outside of the organization, who came in and were thrown to the wolves. Many such guys shuffled back off the roster after getting their butts kicked. A smaller number seemed like they might be worth keeping around. Dietrich Enns was one of the unlikely maybe-keepers.
The 34-year-old Enns was about as journeyman as a journeyman gets going into this season. Since being drafted by the Yankees in 2012, he played in four different organizations, combining for just 11 MLB games through 2021. More recently, he jumped over to Japan and Korea before returning to the US for this season. I always find this type of story charming, the grinder who just keeps at it and hopes to make it back to MLB. The Orioles found a similar guy for their 2024 roster in Albert Suárez, who unfortunately wasn’t healthy enough to write a second chapter this season.
It wasn’t even the Orioles who signed Enns to a minor league deal as he came back over here. He was with the Tigers. The O’s plucked him out of Triple-A Toledo in exchange for cash considerations at the trade deadline. This could have easily turned out like Grant Wolfram, Matt Bowman, Scott Blewett, Corbin Martin, Carson Ragsdale, or Cody Poteet, a list of players who were either swiftly booted from the roster after bad first impressions or were bad enough that they would have been swiftly booted in better circumstances.
Enns was able to write a different story about himself than those other guys did. The Orioles plugged him in as a multi-inning reliever from his very first outing with the team, starting in the fifth inning as Brandon Young fell apart and pitching into the seventh. The next time out, he pitched two scoreless innings against the Phillies. In all, 11 of Enns’s 17 outings with the Orioles went beyond one inning. This was something that the O’s lacked for most of the season, as their first plan for this role (Suárez) got hurt in his first game and disappeared until September.
These were not all flawless outings. Not even 2016 Zack Britton had a 0.00 ERA. Enns took the loss in a couple of games and had a couple more that he made more interesting on the way to a hold or save. Other days he was the hero, particularly pitching two scoreless extra innings against the Pirates on September 9, and recording a three-inning save with a scoreless outing against the White Sox on September 15. 
In all, Enns posted a 3.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, and 1.326 WHIP in his 17 games pitching with the Orioles. Only three relievers who pitched at least ten games with the O’s this season had a lower ERA than that: Félix Bautista, Kade Strowd, and Rico Garcia. He had a better ERA than every reliever who was dealt by the team and was in the same ballpark for some with FIP and WHIP. 
With the group of pitchers the Orioles carry over into the 2026 roster, it is worth putting Enns’s name in pencil when building next year’s Orioles bullpen, as long as he’s no higher than like, the fifth-best reliever the team puts out there. If you’re feeling generous, you might even say fourth. Probably it will be a bad sign for the 2026 Orioles if Enns is regularly getting high-leverage protect-a-lead innings. He isn’t an arm who can be optioned to the minors, so if it falls apart for him early on, the team will have to decide if they want to move on.
One thing I find interesting about Enns is that he kind of defies type a bit. By that I mean, you hear “lefty reliever in his 30s” and you’re probably thinking this guy has like, no fastball. The classic “crafty lefty” type. Discarded 2023-24 Oriole Danny Coulombe fell into that group, averaging a whopping 90.3mph on his fastballs, according to Statcast. While no one will mistake Enns for the kind of fireballer that every successful team seems to have make up half of its bullpen, he is throwing heat in comparison to the crafty lefty, coming in at 93.9mph. That’s a respectable enough velocity, especially considering he’s coming from the left side.
The question for Enns will be whether he can repeat this “you know what, that’s totally fine” level of performance in 2026. Some guys end up as fun one-year wonders, never to be able to live up to that again. Enns didn’t even get the full year to prove himself around here. The sample sizes were not large, but <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/dietrich-enns-608650?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb">his Statcast page offers some encouraging peripheral numbers</a>.
What it all adds up to is this: Enns did very well at keeping batters from squaring up the ball and hitting it hard. Limiting hard contact allowed him to survive even though he didn’t get a high number of ground balls. He had batters chasing pitches outside of the strike zone at excellent rates and did well enough getting them to swing and miss. If he cuts back on, or improves, his bad pitches (a cutter and sinker that weren’t getting the job done,) he could have an interesting fastball-changeup mix for going one time through the order. We will see if the new manager brings along new coaches and if those guys try to tweak Enns’s arsenal in any way.
The Orioles are going to need to do much better than Enns for a back end of their bullpen that needs to be built up almost entirely from scratch. They could do a lot worse than him (and quite possibly will) for the role he mostly occupied after joining the team in 2025.
Tomorrow: Brandon Young
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</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Tyler Young</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Wednesday Bird Droppings: The coaching changes keep coming]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/orioles-news-links/62288/wednesday-bird-droppings-the-coaching-changes-keep-coming" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/62288/wednesday-bird-droppings-the-search-for-a-manager-marches-on</id>
<updated>2025-10-29T07:16:46-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-29T07:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Bird Droppings" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Good Morning Birdland, The biggest domino of the Orioles offseason has already fallen. Earlier in the week, the team announced the hiring of Craig Albernaz as their new manager. At the moment, it is unclear if any members of the Orioles 2025 coaching staff will remain in Albernaz’ dugout going into 2026. But we do […]]]></summary>
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Good Morning Birdland,
The biggest domino of the Orioles offseason has already fallen. Earlier in the week, the team announced the hiring of Craig Albernaz as their new manager. At the moment, it is unclear if any members of the Orioles 2025 coaching staff will remain in Albernaz’ dugout going into 2026. But we do know that two of the hitting coaches will not be back.
Sherman Johnson and Tommy Joseph are confirmed to be out the door. Johnson is joining the White Sox organization, while it is unclear if Joseph has a next step planned. Cody Asche, the third major league hitting coach, remains with the club for now, but that could change in the near future.
It’s no surprise to see a shakeup in these roles. The Orioles offense was a huge disappointment this past season, which came on the heels of a poor second half of the 2024 season. If this team is going to have any hope of reaching their lofty aspirations in 2026, they need to sort out the hitting issues. That will start with hiring some new voices that Albernaz will surely have input on.
It is possible that Albernaz will retain some portion of Brandon Hyde’s staff. Some level of consistency could be comforting to the players. Someone like Buck Britton could make sense to keep. He has been in the Orioles organization since 2017, prior to Hyde’s or Mike Elias’ arrival. At the same time, that could be seen as a problem for a new manager. Maybe comfort is the opposite of what he wants for the clubhouse.
Even if Albernaz brings everyone else back (which he won’t), there are empty roles to be filled. Remember, the bullpen coach Tim Cossins was fired along with Hyde back in May. Tony Mansolino isn’t going to drop from interim manager back to a staff member with the same team. That leaves the third base coach spot open. Britton was handling those duties following Mansolino’s “promotion.” And will the team continue to have three hitting coaches? That’s at least two more openings right there.
The dugout is going to have a different look. Based on how this club has played since July 2024, that is probably a good thing. How much of an impact will that have on their performance? Your guess is as good as any.
Links
<a href="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-coaching-staff-craig-albernaz-QIX6SKOENZH4RHC42YMN7BY3VA/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-coaching-staff-craig-albernaz-QIX6SKOENZH4RHC42YMN7BY3VA/">Orioles begin reshuffling coaching staff, 2 hitting coaches will not return | The Baltimore Banner</a> Here is more on the ongoing changes within the hitting department. My suggestion would be to hire someone that will tell the players the correct things to do, and then score more runs. But I’m not being called for my opinion.
<a href="https://www.masnsports.com/blog/entry/taking-another-look-at-the-albernaz-hire-as-orioles-manager" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.masnsports.com/blog/entry/taking-another-look-at-the-albernaz-hire-as-orioles-manager">Taking another look at the Albernaz hire as Orioles manager | Roch Kubatko</a> Not much new to discuss. It seems like the baseball industry at large likes the Albernaz hiring. That’s good, I guess. A team’s managerial decision doesn’t have to make sense to everyone, but it would probably be a red flag if the universal response was more tepid.
<a href="https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/sports/orioles-mlb/2025/10/29/albernaz-will-try-bring-cleveland-success-orioles-richdubroff/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/sports/orioles-mlb/2025/10/29/albernaz-will-try-bring-cleveland-success-orioles-richdubroff/">Albernaz will try to bring Cleveland success to the Orioles | Baltimore Baseball</a> What I want from Cleveland is their pitching development and José Ramírez. Can he bring those things as well? Ah, well. I guess we will take the nebulous “success” formula the guy learned in two seasons with the team.
<a href="https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/baltimore-orioles-2025-mlb-draft-report-card/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/baltimore-orioles-2025-mlb-draft-report-card/">Baltimore Orioles 2025 MLB Draft Report Card | Baseball America</a> Prospects, baby! Let’s go! The Orioles draft class this past summer was so large that it has a chance to be a transformative one. Or at least that is what I will be telling myself until they all flame out.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Shaun Anderson turns 31 today. The Orioles are on of the three teams he played for in 2021. With the O’s he had a 9.00 ERA over seven appearances.</li>
<li>Dana Eveland is 42 years old. The lefty was a swing option for the Orioles pitching staff during their historic 2012 campaign. Over 32.1 innings he had a 4.73 ERA.</li>
<li>Karim Garcia celebrates his 50th birthday. The outfielder had two stints in Baltimore, first for eight games in 2000 and then for 23 more games in 2004. Neither time was he able to fine success with the O’s.</li>
<li>Frank Baker is 79 today. He was an infielder for parts of two season with the Orioles from 1973 through ‘74.</li>
<li>Pete Richert turns 86. From 1968 through ‘71, the southpaw was an important part of the O’s pitching staff. He tossed 343 total innings, mostly out of the bullpen, and had a 2.83 ERA. His best season was 1970, which included a 1.98 ERA, 13 saves, and a World Series championship.</li>
</ul>
This day in O’s history
2013 – The Orioles team, which set a record with only 54 fielding errors committed all season, takes home three Gold Glove awards. The winners are shortstop J.J. Hardy, third baseman Manny Machado, and center fielder Adam Jones.
2016 – Zach Britton is named the winner of the Mariano Rivera Award in the American League, honoring the junior circuit’s best reliever of the season.
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</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Paul Folkemer</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[World Series Game 4 open thread]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-preview-lineup/62272/world-series-game-4-open-thread" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62272</id>
<updated>2025-10-28T19:04:10-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-28T20:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Previews and Lineups" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[World Series, Game 4: 8:00 PM ET, FOX (Dodgers lead 2-1) RHP Shane Bieber (TOR) vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani (LAD) Good lord. How do you follow that? Last night — and well into this morning — the Dodgers and Blue Jays played one of the most ridiculous games in the history of the World Series. […]]]></summary>
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<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-none">World Series, Game 4: 8:00 PM ET, FOX (Dodgers lead 2-1)</h4>
RHP Shane Bieber (TOR) vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
Good lord. How do you follow that?
Last night — and well into this morning — the Dodgers and Blue Jays played one of the most ridiculous games in the history of the World Series. Nay, the history of baseball. Nay, the history of sports!
It was an absolutely absurd 18-inning marathon, a 6-hour, 39-minute game that featured 19 pitchers and 609 pitches thrown. Shohei Ohtani reached base in all nine of his plate appearances, including two homers, to the point that the Blue Jays just stopped pitching to him, issuing him four intentional walks and a non-intentional intentional walk for the rest of the game. There were TOOTBLANs all over the place with a slew of runners getting foolishly thrown out at every base. Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw pitched in extra innings for the first time in his career, which also might have been the last game of his career. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was warming up to pitch the 19th, just two days after throwing a complete game. And it all wrapped up at the reasonable hour of…2:50 in the morning, Eastern time. It was bananas.
After a grueling slog like that, how is either team going to have any energy — let alone any healthy pitchers — to muddle through another game tonight and another tomorrow? It’s not as if they can just call up fresh arms from the minors. It’s the World Series.
I guess they’ll just have to figure it out. The Blue Jays especially need to put a win on the board tonight or risk being put on the brink of elimination. They’ll be turning to trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber, the former AL Cy Young winner, to get them back into the series. Bieber was 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in seven starts for the Jays during the regular season. He’s started three times in the playoffs so far, but only once has he worked past the fourth inning. I’m sure Toronto would really appreciate it if he could work deep into the game tonight and save some of those tired bullpen arms.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani is starting for the Dodgers. Without looking it up, I’m going to say this is the first time in World Series history that a pitcher has started after playing 18 innings in the previous night’s game. He’s been sensational as a pitcher in the postseason so far, delivering two quality starts and striking out 19, but there’s a risk that he could be fatigued after last night’s marathon.
Actually, what am I saying? Shohei Ohtani is a freak of nature. He does not get fatigued. If he delivers another dominant performance tonight to lead the Dodgers to victory, this series will be all but over.
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</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Mark Brown</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Orioles fan poll: How do you feel about the new manager?]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/games-etc/62236/orioles-survey-manager-craig-albernaz-hire" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62236</id>
<updated>2025-10-28T09:06:28-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-28T10:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Fun & Games" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. The Orioles made their choice for manager official on Monday afternoon, announcing that recent Guardians bench […]]]></summary>
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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. <a href="https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/0DWS6R/">Sign up here</a> to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The Orioles made their choice for manager official on Monday afternoon, announcing that recent Guardians bench coach/associate manager Craig Albernaz is the 21st manager in O’s history. Albernaz, 42, is the latest manager to follow the catcher-to-manager pipeline after nearly a decade of play in the minors and close to a decade of coaching in the minors and majors.
For this week’s survey, the question is simple. How do you feel about the hire? The choices in the poll below are classic letter grades like from our school days:
<iframe src="https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/FBC7DG/" frameborder="0"><a href="https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/FBC7DG/">Please take our survey</a></iframe>0
Albernaz comes with a reputation for being a hard worker and a relationship builder both with his players and with his front office. Establishing himself with the existing core of Orioles position players is surely going to be an important factor in whether the team can return to serious contention for a World Series title. Pretty much everybody who’s coming back from 2025 is going to have to do better for the team to win again.
If you wanted someone to manage the team who’s already been around the block in the majors, this may not be the most exciting hire. Others might have gotten interested in the reported consideration of future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, a guy who, probably even more than any experienced MLB manager, could speak to what kind of work and mindset it takes to get the most out of your talent.
Let us know how you voted and what went into your choice in the comments below.

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</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>Paul Folkemer</name>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Coby Mayo salvaged a rough rookie season with a hot September]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.camdenchat.com/baltimore-orioles-analysis/24480920/orioles-review-coby-mayo" />
<id>https://www.camdenchat.com/?p=62224</id>
<updated>2025-10-27T22:59:18-04:00</updated>
<published>2025-10-28T09:00:00-04:00</published>
<category scheme="https://www.camdenchat.com" term="Baltimore Orioles Commentary & Analysis" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[For Coby Mayo, the 2025 season got off to a rocky start. And not because of his play on the field. On March 18, the day the Orioles cut him from spring training and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk, Mayo attracted some unwanted attention with his comments to the media. “It’s kind of a lose-lose […]]]></summary>
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For Coby Mayo, the 2025 season got off to a rocky start. And not because of his play on the field.
On March 18, the day the Orioles cut him from spring training and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk, Mayo attracted some unwanted attention with <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/samuel-basallo-coby-mayo-cut-orioles-2025-spring-training">his comments to the media</a>. “It’s kind of a lose-lose situation,” lamented Mayo of heading to Triple-A for a third straight year. “You go back there and if you have success, it’s, ‘Oh, well he’s supposed to have success, because he’s already proved it.’ And if he doesn’t have success, it’s, ‘Oh, well, obviously he’s fallen off.’
“It obviously sucks, because you feel like you’ve proved everything you needed to. And sometimes, it doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough.”
Some Orioles fans bristled at Mayo’s remarks. Who was this rookie to feel entitled to make the team? Was he taking a shot at the O’s front office? Was he subtly demanding a trade? In an age when athletes are expected to deliver milquetoasts clichés like, I’m disappointed I didn’t make the team, but I’ll keep working hard in the minors until I get my opportunity, Mayo’s forthright, frustrated response was a curveball.
Here’s the thing: Mayo had a point. He’d been tearing the cover off the ball for his entire professional tenure, compiling a career minor league OPS well over .900. He was the Orioles’ top-ranked prospect heading into the season (or second to Samuel Basallo, depending who you ask) and had little left to learn in the minors offensively. But his brief MLB audition in 2024 had gone poorly — 4-for-41 with no extra base hits or RBIs — and there wasn’t an obvious spot for him on the 2025 roster, so back to the minors he went. His frustration was understandable, even if he might have chosen a more tactful way to express it.
As it happened, Mayo’s numbers tailed off at Norfolk this season. In 45 games for the Tides, he posted a mediocre .226 average and a good-but-not-great .770 OPS, inviting further scrutiny about his “lose-lose” comments and prompting fans to wonder if his heart was fully in it. No matter: Mayo’s big league opportunity ultimately did arrive this year, as the Orioles called him to the majors for good on May 31 when Ryan Mountcastle suffered a hamstring strain.
Mayo’s playing time was irregular at the outset; he never started more than two consecutive games in the entire month of June, as he was blocked by All-Star Ryan O’Hearn, among others. But when the Orioles traded O’Hearn to the Padres at the July 31 deadline, the path was clear for Mayo to get everyday at-bats.
So how did his first extended opportunity turn out? Well, if you look at his overall stats, you’d think: not bad. His OPS+ of 93 was below average, but not embarrassingly so. He powered 11 home runs in about a half-season’s worth of games. His overall .217/.299/.388 performance won’t garner him any Rookie of the Year attention, but it’s not a disastrous showing for a 23-year-old getting acclimated to the majors.
Still, that’s not the conversation we’d be having if the season had wrapped up three weeks earlier. At the end of play Sept. 10, Mayo was utterly adrift, batting .184 with a season-low .587 OPS. He’d been the Orioles’ primary first baseman for more than a month with almost nothing to show for it. His audition had been an abject failure at the plate.
On Sept. 11, FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens <a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-imagine-a-different-coby-mayo/">wrote a detailed breakdown of Mayo’s major problems</a>. In summary: Mayo was striking out too much, he wasn’t doing enough damage when he put the ball in play, and he had a crippling tendency to chase sliders. Mayo wasn’t a free swinger, per se, but Clemens concluded that he was being overly passive at the plate, too often falling behind in the count before pitchers finished him off with sliders. Clemens’ suggestion was that Mayo should be more aggressive early in the count, when he’s more likely to get fastballs that he can hit.
Perhaps Mayo is an avid FanGraphs reader, because the same day that article was published, he began a hot streak that continued to the end of the season. Over his final 15 starts, Mayo crushed the ball to the tune of a .370 average and 1.147 OPS, including four home runs. He had four multi-hit games in that span; before that, he’d gone more than a month (Aug. 6) since his previous such game. 
It’s probably no coincidence that Mayo was, indeed, more aggressive early in the count during his hot streak. Of his four home runs in that span, each of them came within the first three pitches of the at-bat, including two first-pitch dingers. Granted, it was a small sample size — just 55 plate appearances — but Mayo seemed to be making the adjustments he needed to be more productive at the plate. It’s too soon to say that he’s solved major league pitching, but at least he’s got some momentum to carry over into the 2026 season.
On the other side of the ball, it seems that Mayo, whose defense has been a question mark throughout his pro career, has finally found a home at first base. He was drafted as a third baseman in 2020 and, while he played that position almost exclusively until 2023, his glovework at the hot corner was generally not considered MLB caliber. He began playing first base two years ago and has gradually gotten more reps at that position. Now it seems to be his job to lose. For what it’s worth, Mayo’s Defensive Runs Saved at first base this season was…exactly zero. So he’s not bringing a lot of defensive value, but he wasn’t a negative, either.
Looking ahead to next year, Mayo could be an important cog in the O’s lineup if he’s able to sustain his late-season success from 2025. The pure power potential he brings to the lineup is nearly unmatched by any other Oriole. There’s a good chance the O’s will trade their incumbent first baseman, Mountcastle, and hand the position to Mayo. It’s up to him whether he’s able to continue his progress or falls back into bad habits.
At the very least, Mayo seems assured of making the team out of spring training next year. And that’s a win-win situation.
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