Baltimore Orioles Daily: Birds ready to take on Royals at home

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Baltimore Orioles are floundering. Can they right the ship against the Royals?

The Baltimore Orioles are back on the East Coast, and with any luck, the change in scenery will lead to a change in their fortunes.

After an 0-6 road trip in California, the Birds have fallen to an AL-worst 8-26 — just three games ahead of the notorious 1988 Orioles through their first 34. With players like Manny Machado and Kevin Gausman, the roster doesn’t appear to be last-place quality, but remember that the 1988 squad featured the likes of Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray and Fred Lynn.

An optimistic observer might say that the O’s have nowhere to go but up, but we’ll see about that. They’ll kick off their home stand with a series against the Kansas City Royals, who, for all their struggles, are 4-2 since the start of May.

More from Birds Watcher

Tonight’s first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET. Until then, here’s what you might have missed yesterday.

Best of Orioles news and analysis across the web from 5/7/18

Questions — and answers — about the reasons for the Orioles’ dismal start: The Birds weren’t widely expected to make the playoffs this year, but they weren’t supposed to be 17 games out of first place by the second week of May either. Many O’s fans are scratching their heads in disbelief, and Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun has answers.

The Orioles didn’t make OBP a free agent priority, and it shows: The Orioles did make several moves this offseason, but none of them involved getting on base, a cornerstone of the modern baseball offense. Brice Freeman of Camden Chat explains how this oversight has hurt the Birds.

Inbox: Are O’s closer to dealing Machado?: MLB.com’s Orioles beat reporter Brittany Ghiroli answers questions about Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones and more.

Orioles Unveil Revamped Kids’ Corner: The Orioles may be bad this year, but at least disgruntled fans at Camden Yards will be able to blow off some steam with a nice long turn on the jungle gym — and if climbing isn’t your speed, there’s always skee-ball.

Next: The top 5 home run hitters in Orioles history

What do you think: will the Birds rebound against the Royals this week? Let us know on social media, and keep it here at Birds Watcher for more updates on the Baltimore Orioles.