This story was excerpted from Zachary Silver’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Orioles’ second half of the season is full of promise. They entered the break at .500, owners of at least 46 wins in the first half for the first time since the postseason-bound 2016 club.
The Orioles’ second half is also full of questions. And here are three I’m asking:
How does this team look post-Trade Deadline?
Namely, do they subtract from any of their current ranks? Anthony Santander, Trey Mancini, Jorge López and Jordan Lyles are their biggest trade candidates -- all for their own respective reasons. How many of them are still on the team come the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline? I’d set the over/under at 2.5.
And how will their play over the next two weeks dictate their plans?
On the flip side, could the Orioles add to the big league club at the Deadline? If so, the overwhelming favorite would be to add a younger, controllable pitcher. Pablo López and Luis Castillo are the biggest names on the market who fit that bill. It’d require the Orioles to subtract from their farm system, but that’s in part been the expectation for some time. Might this Trade Deadline be the start?
Is there more to come from the offense?
Here are the Orioles’ offensive rankings in a few key categories from the first half:
“I do think we can improve offensively,” manager Brandon Hyde said this week. “I think some guys are going to have good second halves, and I look forward to watching them.”
One such is Ramón Urías, on a heater since he returned off the injured list to reach base in 13 of his first 14 games. He entered Saturday slashing .372/.413/.628 (1.041 OPS) and left it with a three-hit night and a two-run homer. A clean bill of health is suiting him well, but really, he’s been an above-average player since landing in Baltimore, with a .781 OPS across his first 158 games (nearly a full season).
“He's got sneaky power,” Hyde said.
The Orioles would also like to see a rebound from Austin Hays, who’s now closer to fully healed from the right wrist injury that slowed him to a .210 average and .612 OPS in his last 16 games entering the break. They’d like to see Jorge Mateo hit for better contact, knowing how dynamic he can be when on the bases. Eyes are also on Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman to keep their pre-break performances on par.
When do more reinforcements arrive?
For DL Hall, the time appears nigh. Is Terrin Vavra close as well? Kyle Stowers? What about a couple dark horses in Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg by season’s close? Could Grayson Rodriguez find himself back on a mound before the end of September?
The storyline of the Orioles’ season, before the surge into contention, was the arrival of prospects. It still is, but now it might be in relation to how they can help the former. No moves with prospects will be made solely with the big league club in mind, the Orioles have made clear, but it’s getting closer to a turning point that their arrivals will signal a wholesale elevation of the club.