After a four-game sweep in the Bronx last week, I was in no hurry to see the Orioles face the Yankees again. This time it’s gone better, although far from great. In Game 1, the O’s snatched a late win, with Coby Mayo going yard after his team had been no-hit for six innings. But in Game 2, Trevor Rogers looked homer-prone, and the team fell, 6-2.
The Orioles rotation is certainly struggling of late. Their 5.19 ERA is third-worst in the game. Now it’s Max Fried and Kyle Bradish in the rubber match, two pitchers whom you’d once squint and call aces. Bradish, because he had an out-of-nowhere 2023 campaign, finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting. Fried, because he’s often treated as just ace-adjacent—on the other hand, he’s certainly got ace-type numbers today.
Bradish (1-5, 4.83 ERA) could use a bounceback. He hasn’t given up fewer than three runs in any of his last three starts. Overall, this season has shown Bradish trying to shake off some post-Tommy John rust. At the time same time, he’s showing some signs of being back to normal. His last time out, against the Athletics, he gave up three runs but did go long, however.
Whether Max Fried (4-2, 2.91 ERA) is an ace or not, he’s certainly pitching like one right now. His BaseballSavant page is a sea of red (that’s good): pitching run value, expected ERA, fastball run value, offspeed run value. His curveball has been his greatest weapon this year, but he leans on his cutter more. Last week, Baltimore got their runners aboard (six hits, three walks), but only pushed across three earned runs over 5.1 innings. On May 8, he allowed five runs to the Brewers. So maybe the “ace” is going through a rough patch. And maybe the O’s can take advantage.
Orioles lineup
- Taylor Ward LF
- Gunnar Henderson SS
- Adley Rutschman C
- Pete Alonso 1B
- Tyler O’Neill RF
- Leody Taveras CF
- Coby Mayo DH
- Weston Wilson 3B
- Blaze Alexander 2B
Yankees lineup
- Trent Grisham CF
- Ben Rice 1B
- Aaron Judge DH
- Cody Bellinger LF
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B
- Ryan McMahon 3B
- Spencer Jones RF
- Anthony Volpe SS
- J.C. Escarra C
