Baltimore Orioles: Five Storylines To Follow In The Second Half

Here are five storylines for the Baltimore Orioles to keep your interest as the 2019 season sprints to the finish line.

As we enter the heart of summer and family vacations and countless other enjoyable summer activities fill the calendar, it’s likely to become much harder to sit for three hours on a perfect summer evening and watch the Baltimore Orioles lose yet another baseball game. Despite stretches of unwatchable baseball and the league’s worst record, there are storylines to keep your attention through September as the second half of the 2019 season kicks off tonight in Birdland.

The Orioles open up with a weekend series against the Tampa Bays, putting their 27-62 record against a Tampa Bay team who currently holds the top Wild Card spot in the American League, thanks to their 52-39 first-half performance. Offensively, the Orioles rank 26th in baseball with a .240 team batting average and .303 on-base percentage, which looks good compared to their league-worst 5.59 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 170 home runs allowed put up by the pitching staff.

To pass the time during a recent lunch break at work, I went into my office living room, made myself at home on a couch and turned on a John Means start from last week (I actually do real work at work, sometimes). A coworker came in and asked me a simple, yet difficult question to answer- “How can you sit here and watch these guys?”

No matter how bad things get, I’ll still watch the Baltimore Orioles and if you’re reading this, I have a hunch that you feel the same way. But when you turn the TV to MASN at 7 pm every night (most nights), what exactly are you hoping to see? Who are you cheering for? What keeps you coming back every night? Here’s the list I came up with of five storylines I’m anxious to follow as we head to the finish line of the 2019 season.

1) Is John Means a legitimate piece of the rotation for the Baltimore Orioles?

John Means is an unbelievable story that continues to grow. Just last season, Means was an average minor league pitcher, having a decent 2018 in Double-A and Triple-A with an outside shot of getting his chance in the big leagues as a relief pitcher for the Orioles. Fast forward to today and Means is a major league All-Star and not just the top pitcher in Baltimore’s rotation, but one of the top pitchers in all of baseball with his 7-4 record, 2.50 ERA, and 1.08 WHIP.

Maybe this is just me, but there continues to be a small thought in the back of my mind that questions Means’ legitimacy as a reliable starting pitcher (a product of being an O’s fan). Will teams begin to figure him out? Can he really sustain this success? Now halfway through his rookie season, he’s passing all of the tests and continues to put up bigger and bigger numbers.

Means saw his ERA, batting average against, FIP, and home run rate all drop each month this season, culminating in a spectacular month of June- 2-0, 1.71 ERA (3.15 FIP), .221 opponents’ average, 19 strikeouts, and one home run allowed in 21 innings.

If John Means is in the National League, there’s no way he’s even in the conversation for Rookie of the Year honors, with Pete Alonso and Fernando Tatis Jr.doing superhuman things on the baseball diamond, but he’s in the American League where only Brandon Lowe (Tampa Bay Rays) and Daniel Vogelbach (Seattle Mariners) sit ahead of Means in fWAR.

Being one of the very few pieces on the current roster who is likely to be around in two years, don’t miss a single John Means start from here on out.

2) What do the Baltimore Orioles do with Chance Sisco?

The Chance Sisco who walks to the plate for the Baltimore Orioles is not the same Chance Sisco who found himself in Triple-A Norfolk to begin the season. With the Tides, Sisco looked frustrated on a nightly basis, opponents ran at will against him on the basepaths, and very little appeared to be going right for the 24-year-old catcher. Now with the Orioles, Sisco is oozing with confidence and flexing some real power at the major league level.

https://twitter.com/Orioles/status/1146234801747312640

Through 19 games, Sisco is slashing .283/.394/.667 with six home runs. He isn’t being used as a platoon option for Brandon Hyde, but has been a steady contributor for the O’s and opening eyes, once again.

With Adley Rutschman clearly on his way to becoming the starting catcher in Baltimore for a very long time, hopefully, Sisco has to show Mike Elias and his staff that he can contribute in some capacity for this franchise. Elias doesn’t have to do anything right now with his catchers. He can continue to play Pedro Severino and Chance Sisco for the rest of 2019 and the majority of 2020, if he wants. Or will he make a move?

Will a team come calling for Pedro Severino at the trade deadline? If so, does Elias feel confident in giving Sisco primary duties for the next two years? Do we start to see Chance Sisco at different positions at some point in 2019? Is Sisco moved in the offseason after a dominant end to 2019?

So many questions! The catching position will be an intriguing storyline to follow from here on out. Both Severino and Sisco are auditioning to remain with the organization, both have been bright spots in the lineup, and both are fun players to watch. Let’s see how this one shakes out over the next few months.

4) Don’t expect the big names to make Camden Yards home just yet, but these few names may.

Mike Elias continues to preach patience with Ryan Mountcastle and Keegan Akin, thankfully. I don’t want Keegan Akin up in the big leagues this season and there’s just no reason to have Mountncastle up. He’s only 22, there’s plenty of time and that bat is real, so let’s hang back and relax.

However, there are a few names who we may see in the near future. The biggest name could be RHP Dillon Tate. Tate struggled with the Double-A Bowie Baysox as he began the year as a starter, but he’s found a new role and a big wave of success since returning from a stint on the Injured List.

Now a reliever, Tate looks like a brand new pitcher on the mound in Bowie (I’m literally watching him right now as I finish this story, produce swing and miss after swing and miss). Over his last 10 appearances, Tate owns a 2.16 ERA and a 19/1 K/BB ratio across 16.2 innings. In four of his last seven outings, Tate has thrown at least one inning without giving up a hit or walk.

The Orioles are going to need arms, especially if they deal a few at the trade deadline, and Tate could be an option from the farm to provide valuable relief innings. After all but writing off Tate, he’s turning heads again.

Tate likely won’t be the only reliever to make his big league debut at some point this season. Don’t be surprised to see Hunter Harvey finally take the mound at Camden Yards. Harvey has been in the bullpen for the past month and now calls Norfolk home after a promotion to Triple-A before the All-Star break.

As a reliever, Harvey and his 100 mph fastball has logged 12 innings, striking out 13 hitters and allowing zero runs on just two hits. Even if Harvey doesn’t get the call (again, no rush with him either), following his success in Triple-A is a big storyline to follow closely.

However, watching Harvey climb the mound at OPACY to end the season would be quite the moment for O’s fans. I think I just got the chills.

5) Who will the Baltimore Orioles trade? Who will they keep?

In an interview with The Athletic’s Dan Connolly ($), general manager Mike Elias discussed the possibility of deadline deals, saying that while numerous discussions have taken place, the market hasn’t been hot, yet. Once second-half play gets underway, expect this all to change.

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The Orioles have pieces who can be attractive to competing teams. Andrew Cashner is having a career year, Dylan Bundy has shown improvements and is still very young, Jonathan Villar provides speed and versatility, Mychal Givens has the stuff to be a fine bullpen piece (just not a closer), Pedro Severino is finally showing a solid bat to go with his impressive defense, and even Hanser Alberto may garner a few looks.

There’s also the much-discussed potential of a Trey Mancini deal and even the possibility of moving pieces like Renato Nunez. For contending teams looking to add help on the cheap, the Orioles have plenty of options.

For the Orioles, they could also elect to hang on to many of these pieces as they bridge the gap between the current roster and a roster which will compete. Unlike last season, Baltimore doesn’t have to jump on any deal that comes their way. They can sit back and wait as demand increases and the prices rise.

What do you think, O’s fans? What storylines are you anxious to follow?