Silent J’s Noisy Bat Stimulates Birds

Since our last edition, the Birds won two of three in New York before suffering the worst fall since Adley Rutschman’s debut, dropping five straight in Houston and at home to Cleveland. They bounced back with a bang, winning four straight against the Tribe and Rangers before laying an egg on Sunday Night Baseball’s final game. Fortunately, the Yankees also suffered a big loss, and as of this writing, the O’s are a few percentage points ahead of them in the American League East.

Let’s focus on the seven-game home series, a 4-3 stretch that precedes a six-game series out west against Seattle and Oakland starting tonight, and see who was up and who was down.

Three up

Heston Kjerstad

Silent J had a solid season, batting .438/.550/.938, a 302 wRC+. That included his first two MLB home runs of the year, the second of which was the game-winning grand slam Saturday night. In just 20 PAs, he drove in a team-high eight.

Heston Kjerstad looks set to stay at the MLB level this time around, but so did Kyle Stowers a few weeks ago. You’d think one of those players would be traded here at some point, right?

If this is an audition, Kjerstad certainly adds to his marketability. If this is the start of a long run in Baltimore, he’s forced into Brandon Hyde’s lineup decisions every night.

Cedric Mullins

Cedric Mullins appears to be setting the record straight once again. After batting just .136/.162/.182 in May, Mullins was much more respectable in June: .286/.329/.519 with five doubles, two triples and three home runs, and he finished the month strong, batting .333/.368/.778 with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs (221 wRC+, tied for second on the team over that span with Gunnar Henderson).

Mullins should be commended for his upward trend. We don’t need him to be the 30/30 Ced of 2021, but the Ced of April/May was unacceptable. Kudos to Brandon Hyde for continuing to let the veteran get away with it, and to Mullins for doing the work necessary to turn it around. This team is a much more legitimate contender when Mullins’ glove is patrolling the infield AND his roster spot isn’t a black hole. If he can be anywhere near league average, that’ll be enough.

Albert Suarez

Albert Suarez has been roughed up in his back-to-back starts in New York and Houston, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits in just 8.2 innings. We were all a little worried when he pitched Friday against the Texas Rangers, but Big Al responded well, scattering three hits over six innings, allowing no walks or runs, and striking out two.

You’d certainly like to see more strikeouts, and I’d be remiss not to point out the Rangers’ .158 BABIP against the AL that night, but results matter, and Suarez deserved at least a few more innings.

Honorable mentions

Gunnar Henderson (221 wRC+), Colton Cowser (3 HR, 157 wRC+), Ryan O’Hearn (134 wRC+), Jorge Mateo (113 wRC+, baserunning clinic), Grayson Rodriguez (7 IP, 2 ER, STOPPER), Corbin Burnes (7 IP, 1 ER), Keegan Akin (2 IP, 0 ER), Craig Kimbrel (RBI save!), Dillon Tate (3.0 IP, 0 ER), Cionel Perez (3.2 IP, 0 ER), Cade Povich (first MLB win)

Three down

Ryan Mountcastle

Ryan Mountcastle had a rough week last week, with just four hits (1 XBH, 1 2B) in 20 PA despite going 3-for-5 in Tuesday’s loss to the Guards. That’s a 48 wRC+, and Mounty missed his chance to improve his production by facing a guy he’s historically crushed, Texas’ Andrew Heaney, on Sunday night due to an illness.

I didn’t hit, I got sick. It was a tough week.

Hopefully Ryan is feeling better (and there are no rumors of the vertigo returning) and he’ll be back in the lineup against the M’s tonight or tomorrow. He’s currently facing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the second round of All-Star voting, so make sure to vote once a day and give Mounty his first All-Star start! With a career-high 120 wRC+ this season, the guy has earned it.

Cole Irvin

The Cole Irvin story has officially come crashing down to earth. After going scoreless in Boston on May 27, Swirv was 5-2 with a 2.84 ERA and pleasantly surprised us by filling a spot in the rotation admirably. However, June wasn’t very kind to the lefty, as Cole lost three of four decisions and got progressively worse as the month went on. In his first three starts of the month, he allowed nine earned runs in 17.2 innings. That’s a 4.71 ERA and a “okay, we can handle that as a fifth starter” kind of situation.

Since then, the wheels have completely come off the rails. Irvin’s last three starts:

4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 HR

4.0 IP, 10 H, 8 R (4 ER), 1 HR

3.2 IP 5H, 5 ER, 1 HR

The Rangers tied it Sunday night, putting an exclamation point on Irvin’s 6.30 ERA in June. In starts against Cleveland and Texas, he struck out just 3.52 batters per nine, while allowing 2.35 home runs per nine. When you’re giving up almost as many home runs as you’re getting strikeouts… yuck.

How much longer can the Birds keep playing Irvin every five days? We said the same thing about Albert Suarez, and he bounced back nicely (see above). However, Irvin has a slightly longer history of mediocrity, especially since arriving in Baltimore. It will be interesting to see how Mike Elias and company treat the old Swirv going forward.

Yennier Cano

The final spot was a toss-up between Yennier Cano and Nick Vespi. The win will go to Cano, as he has allowed more walks and struck out fewer batters than Vespi, and, more importantly, we expect more from him.

In his first appearance of the week on Tuesday, Cano allowed two runs on three hits in one inning. He had a triple and a single that drove in a run, turning an 8-7 game into a 10-7 one that the O’s ultimately lost 10-8. He rested until Friday, then failed to find the strike zone, walking the first two innings he faced and then allowing a single (around a strikeout) to load the bases before being replaced by Jacob Webb.

Fortunately, he was better Saturday, pitching a clean seventh inning in a one-run game.

There’s no denying it: This team needs another reliever. You can’t ask your backcourt stalwarts to throw a clean inning every three appearances.

Dishonorable mentions

Nick Vespi (8.10 ERA), Matt Krook (18.00 ERA), Ramon Urias (0 for 10, 1 BB)