Looking a whole lot different than the last time their fans saw them in person, the Baltimore Orioles are back home for a weekend series against the Athletics.
The Orioles had a busy stretch of off-field moves near the trade deadline that remade their roster.
They played six post-trade-deadline road games prior to making it back to Baltimore, where they’ll meet the Athletics in the series opener Friday night.
With the roster overhaul, it means new roles and opportunities for many of the Orioles. Among those players is corner infielder Coby Mayo, who appears to become an everyday player with the club.
“Coaching staff (has) been great with me,” Mayo said. “Constant communication and they believe in me, the work that we’ve been putting in. They’re not putting any pressure on me whatsoever. And they know what kind of player I am and what kind of player I can be in this league. Just having confidence in me helps a lot.”
Mayo homered when the Orioles won 5-1 on Wednesday at Philadelphia prior to Thursday’s off day. Baltimore is 2-5 across its last seven games, including a 2-4 road trip.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino of the Orioles said Mayo is bound to experience ups and downs as the team adjusts around him.
“Hopefully, he builds on it going forward,” Mansolino said. “We don’t expect him to become a star player right now. We expect him to become a really good player within the next couple of years.”
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill sat out of Baltimore’s game Wednesday after he sustained a wrist injury Tuesday by banging into the outfield wall pursuing what became a Philadelphia home run. His status isn’t expected to be revealed until Friday.
In the wake of O’Neill’s injury, the Orioles placed Vimael Machin, who has been with Triple-A Norfolk, on the medical taxi squad. He last played in the major leagues in 2022 with the Athletics.
Among the recent roster additions for Baltimore is utility player Vidal Brujan, a speedster who has been well-traveled the past few seasons. He played earlier this season for the Chicago Cubs.
The Athletics won two of three meetings with Baltimore in early June in West Sacramento, Calif.
It has been an encouraging beginning to this East Coast swing for the Athletics, who won two of three games in Washington. That included Thursday afternoon’s 6-0 decision.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said the team’s young pitching staff continues to make strides. After Jacob Lopez’s 7 2/3 shutout innings Thursday, the Athletics will send more pitchers with limited big-league time to the mound against Baltimore.
“The more they get out there, the more they pitch, the more they can learn and improve,” Kotsay said.
Colby Thomas smashed his first career home run in that game for the Athletics. Teammate Tyler Soderstrom, who has homered 21 times this season, has drilled long balls in each of the past two games after a nine-game stretch without a home run.
Rookie right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (8-5, 4.42 ERA) will be the starting pitcher for the Orioles. He has gone more than a month without a loss, recording a 2-0 mark in four starts in that span.
Sugano suffered a June 8 loss to the Athletics, giving up four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. That marks his fourth-shortest outing among 21 starts.
The Athletics will use right-hander J.T. Ginn (2-3, 4.28 ERA) as their starting pitcher. This will mark his eighth start and 15th outing of the year.
In his last appearance, he yielded a career-high five walks without finishing five innings Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In parts of two big-league seasons, Ginn has never faced the Orioles.
-Field Level Media
