Hello, friends.

The Orioles continue their confusing lurch towards the trade deadline. There are eight days remaining and seven games to be played between now and then. Are they the most incompetent bunch of jokers who ever took a baseball field? Sometimes it feels that way. Are they in fact possessed of a strong starting rotation that could help them overcome other deficiencies? That’s a yes. We saw both of these over the course of last night’s game, one that, unlike Friday, the O’s found a way to come out ahead in the end. Check out Stacey’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

This is the wild card picture after yesterday’s games: The Orioles sit 2.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild card spot. The Red Sox have, regrettably for me and perhaps also for you, moved up to WC2 for the moment. The Orioles will have to pass the Guardians, Twins, Astros, and Mariners to get into a playoff spot. They leaped over a couple of those teams with their recent seven-game winning streak and fell right back down when they dropped three of four afterwards.

What’s Mike Elias supposed to do with all of this? The team has a dire need for at least one good reliever, probably two. Based on his track record, he will respond to this need by getting Shintaro Fujinami- or Gregory Soto-level relievers who do not improve very much. I hope that he will surprise me.

The rotation has stabilized into something that should be good enough, though part of that does depend on whether Dean Kremer reverts to his prior season form over a longer timeframe. Then there are several underperforming spots in the starting lineup, but these spots are mostly occupied by players in whom the Orioles are, for better or worse, committed to this season. Like, could they upgrade over players like Coby Mayo, Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser, or Jackson Holliday? Yes. Do I think Elias is ready to pull the plug on any of them? No.

It’s not a great situation. There are times it’s downright painful watching these guys. I was in the stands on Friday night and I still can’t believe that botched Holliday toss to try to get one out in extra innings that set in motion a chain reaction that saw the Orioles give up four runs in the inning. It’s got to be one of the worst plays I’ve ever personally witnessed. I didn’t list him in the previous paragraph, but they also need to get more from Gunnar Henderson, offensively and defensively, and there’s not a backup plan for what if they don’t.

In all, the Orioles are too close to give up on this thing and they have too many problems to seriously go for it. One way I think they can try to thread that needle is if Elias is able to target players who have control beyond the 2026 season. Those guys will cost more if they are guys who are worth having. It’s a price the Orioles are going to have to pay if they’re going to be reticent to pay for free agents. The O’s need to field the best team they can in what is likely to be the last season where Adley Rutschman is around.

The way the Orioles play in the finale against the Braves is not going to definitively settle what they should or will do. It’s just that if they lose, the hole that they’re in gets a little bigger. They probably need to go 34-23 at a minimum. That feels like a tall order even after they finally got the big winning streak. It’s good that they did that, it’s just that they also need another one.

The series concludes with a 1:35 scheduled start this afternoon. Shane Baz and Reynaldo López are the scheduled starting pitchers.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Injury updates on Bassitt, Rutschman, Basallo (School of Roch)Not having any kind of timetable on the two catchers is not great to begin with and it feels worse each time I watch one of the substitute catchers bat. There are also some words here about Creed Willems that could mean anything as far as calling him up soon or later or never.