The Baltimore Orioles held the best record in the American League at 77-47 entering play on Tuesday. They held a three-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, who, mind you, didn’t lose a game until April 14 after rattling off 13-straight victories to begin the season. Two years ago, to the day the Orioles were in last place in the AL East with an MLB-worst 38-85 record.
Last year, top prospects started showing up and pushed the team to an 83-79 finish. This year they’re looking at a first-round bye in the postseason if the season ended today, and their first opponent would be the winner of the Tampa Bay Rays/Houston Astros series.
Sportsnaut was able to talk with Orioles starter Cole Irvin ahead of a game at the Oakland Coliseum last week. Here are some takeaways from that chat.
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Cole Irvin on early-season struggles with the Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles acquired left-hander Cole Irvin for minor-league infielder Darrel Hernaiz back in January, adding a strike thrower that can eat innings and keep his team in the game. Only, that’s not how things started for Irvin’s tenure with Baltimore. After three starts he had a 10.66 ERA, giving up 15 runs in 12 2/3 innings. He also walked eight in that span, which is unlike him given his 1.79 walks per nine rate last season.
Irvin has always been a quick worker, but with the implementation of the pitch clock, all pitchers would be working more quickly, which could have had an impact on his performance in those first few starts. When asked, the lefty said, “No, it came down to execution and being consistent, and I was doing neither of those early on. You get optioned, focus on your work, and do what you need to do to get back. There was no question that I knew I was a big-leaguer.”
He has been with the club since June 10 and has made 14 appearances–seven starts and seven out of the bullpen. He has lowered his ERA to 4.66 on the year, which is a little higher than league average (4.33), but given the rough start and limited innings, he’s made a lot of progress.
In three relief appearances and two starts in August, Irvin has a 0.64 ERA, which includes shutting out the red-hot Seattle Mariners for five frames, then allowing a solo home run to Aledmys Díaz of the Oakland A’s in another five innings over the weekend. He has walked just two in 14 innings. That’s the Cole Irvin the Oakland faithful remember seeing.
Irvin is taking his role on the club in stride. “I get to interact with every single one of my teammates, which is my favorite thing. Regardless, it’s the job. I still gotta get outs. Still gotta put zeroes on the scoreboard and keep our team in it. The description of what I do just changes a little bit,” he said. “The situation maybe has changed a little bit, but outside of that it’s still the same job. It’s still the same distance from home plate, and you’ve got a little bit more adrenaline to use.”
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Throwing to Adley Rutschman and three of the best catchers in baseball
There’s a pretty good chance that Cole Irvin is the only player in baseball that has thrown to all three of J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies, Adley Rutschman of the Orioles, and Sean Murphy of the Braves, three of the best all-around catchers in baseball. Irvin was acquired by Oakland from Philadelphia ahead of the 2021 season, then sent to Baltimore before the start of the 2023 campaign.
So what sets them apart? “Just their dedication to their work and their humility. If you needed anything from all three of those guys, they would be there for you. That’s the humility that comes with their job, but it plays a huge factor in terms of their success as well.”
“Adley is just world class. He knows how to work. Incredible at understanding the situation, reading hitters. He’s just been doing an incredible job handling our staff, and now doing it batting leadoff.” According to O’s manager Brandon Hyde, Rutschman batting leadoff is something that will continue for the short-term and they’re going to “see how it goes.”
The 25-year-old switch-hitting catcher is batting .289 with a .375 on-base percentage (OBP) in 21 games out of the leadoff spot, just slightly better than his .272 average and .369 OBP on the year.
Worst to first with the Baltimore Orioles
It’s no surprise that the A’s aren’t a great team this year, but at 35-90, they’re flirting with some of the all-time worst teams to ever play. There’s no doubt they could’ve used someone like Irvin to throw strikes consistently and get them at least five innings most starts, especially early in the year when the starters really struggled.
Instead of going through that this season and hearing nightly “sell the team” chants both at home and on the road, the southpaw is on the best team in the AL, and just three games back of the juggernaut Atlanta Braves for the best record in baseball. They’re even a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second-best record entering Tuesday.
So can this team really compete with the best of the best without a star-studded lineup of veterans? Adam Frazier, who has started two of the team’s last six games, has six years of MLB service time. Backup catcher James McCann has eight. The bullpen is short on experience and high on talent. The rotation is a collection of arms in their mid-to-late 20’s with limited experience.
The Orioles have the tools to make some noise this postseason, but could they be lacking the experience to reach their full potential? It’s a fair question that will be asked over the coming weeks as the October baseball draws closer. But from what we’ve seen from this club over the course of the season so far, it would be pretty tough to pick against them.