Orioles manager Brandon Hyde will remember what happened Saturday at Yankee Stadium for the rest of his life, and this is a reminder why these early games are far more important to some teams than others. Looking at you, Mariners. You too, Padres, Rangers and, yeah, even the Phillies.
First, though, back to Hyde and the laundry cart and the beer and one of the coolest little scenes of this first week of the baseball season. Years from now, Hyde will have some memory of Saturday’s game, but that’s not the main thing.
Even if he leads the O’s back to the postseason -- here’s hoping -- it might not be much more memorable than Hyde being rolled into the showers and getting a good soaking with anything his players and coaches could find after a 5-3 victory over the Yankees.
When he met with reporters moments later, Hyde could have passed for the happiest man on earth. The Orioles weren’t supposed to win that game. Hey, they’re not supposed to win many games this season after losing 115 in 2018 and undergoing a top-to-bottom organizational facelift of their baseball operations.
This weekend will be a distant memory for the Yankees in October when they’re back in the postseason and all that. For the O’s, though, it’s a huge deal. It establishes some credibility and gives the organization a small charge of energy for the work ahead.
These first few days of the season are important in that way, especially for these five teams:
1. Orioles (2-1)
General manager Mike Elias was brought in from the Astros to remake the O’s in the image of his former team. Winning two out of three at Yankee Stadium on the first weekend catches the attention of the fans. Hey, maybe this new guy knows what he’s doing. It grabs the attention of the players, too, in their adjustment to deep-dive analytics and a new way of doing business. This is a start and nothing more. But for the O’s, it’s important.
2. Phillies (3-0)
This is also a big deal because while the Phillies look really good on paper, sometimes it’s difficult for that to translate into results immediately. Players do need time to get to know one another and trust one another. These three games have sped up that transition. Also, Bryce Harper had a great weekend. This matters, because a slow one could have caused at least a few fans to think -- or say -- “Was this guy worth all that money?” From firing up the fans in right field to hitting a pair of home runs, Harper delivered in every way.
3. Mariners (5-1)
Winning three out of four against the Red Sox will offer an alternative narrative to the one about general manager Jerry Dipoto undertaking a long, painful rebuild. That was never his plan. Instead, he saw a team that needed to get younger and improve its Minor League system. Dipoto accomplished all of that with a whirlwind series of trades that have made Seattle one of baseball’s more interesting teams.
4. Padres (3-1)
It has been clear for a while that the Padres were going to win at some point. General manager A.J. Preller simply had acquired too much young talent for any other outcome. This season, even after signing Manny Machado, the Padres are going to go only as far as their young pitching takes them. In taking three of four from the Giants, the Padres rolled out four kid starters who gave up two earned runs in 21 1/3 innings. Only one of them -- 25-year-old Joey Lucchesi -- is older than 23. And San Diego has one of the most pitching-rich Minor League systems in the game.
5. Rangers (2-1)
This is another club doing an organizational reset after a couple of painful seasons. In the end, the key for the Rangers will be the ability to develop pitching in the Minor Leagues. But general manager Jon Daniels has enough proven talent, as well as up-and-coming talent like Ronald Guzman, to make this season an interesting experiment. Taking two of three from the Cubs and battering their starting rotation is a step in the right direction.