For all the talk about the Orioles still being “mathematically alive,” today may be the day that stops mattering. Baltimore’s elimination number is down to one, and with two games on the schedule, the Orioles can be knocked out of the AL playoff race before the day is over. The Blue Jays are in the same spot, and both clubs would need a sweep along with a dramatic collapse from the White Sox and Rangers to stay in the chase.
The setup makes for a rough finish to the Orioles’ home slate in 2026. A split admission doubleheader is rarely anybody’s favorite kind of day, and the weather doesn’t figure to help the mood much.
Forecasts call for cloudy, cool conditions with temperatures reaching the mid-60s this afternoon, along with 10 mph winds and only a slight chance of rain. Attendance for the opener, especially, is expected to be sparse.
The pitching picture is still a little fuzzy, at least on the Orioles’ website. No starter has been listed yet for either game, though Chris Bassitt is expected to handle Game 1 against Max Scherzer in a rematch of last week’s meeting in Toronto.
Game 2 is still up in the air. Craig Albernaz appears to be weighing Trey Gibson against Cade Povich, and that decision may depend on what happens in the first game, since both sides are likely to treat it like a playoff contest.
In practical terms, it is one.
There should also be an announcement later today on the Orioles’ Most Valuable Oriole. Pete Alonso is expected to take the honor, though that has not been confirmed.
He’s the clear favorite at the top of the ballot, while Trevor Rogers, Brandon Young, and Shane Baz could draw support as well. Gunnar Henderson, despite his struggles, should get some votes too, and Rico Garcia might even show up among the names receiving consideration.
Roch Kubatko’s latest update also points to a possible early end for Samuel Basallo’s season. The team is dealing with concussion concerns after Monday, and Basallo has apparently not been fully right since coming off the injured list.
Baltimore also made a notable addition behind the scenes, with Ty Holub leaving a scout’s job and returning to the Orioles. Joe Doyle reported that multiple organizations pursued him, but he chose Baltimore, where he previously worked under the old front office from 2013-17 as a baseball operations assistant.
Elsewhere around the Orioles, Christian Encarnacion-Strand is getting a closer look as one of the season’s positives. The Baltimore Banner also noted that, unless he’s traded this offseason, he would look like a strong bet to be back with the Orioles in 2027. Jordan Westburg’s rehab is expected to carry into the start of next season, and Coby Mayo could also see time at another position to help keep his bat in the lineup more often.
There’s also the usual fall roster churn ahead. Baltimore Baseball outlined candidates for the Orioles’ 40-man roster, with the caveat that a Rule 5 draft may not need the same kind of protection this winter. Even so, the Orioles and other clubs are still likely to add a few interesting young players to the roster in the coming months.
As for birthdays, Willie Greene turns 55 today after spending part of the 1998 season with Baltimore in a deadline deal from the Reds for Jeffrey Hammonds. Greene appeared in 24 games for the Orioles and posted a .608 OPS.
Pete Harnisch is 60. The former Orioles first-round pick in 1987 debuted in 1988 and stayed through 1990 before becoming part of one of the most lopsided trades in team history, when Baltimore sent him, Steve Finley, and Curt Schilling to the Astros for Glenn Davis. Harnisch made the All-Star team in his first season with Houston and went on to have several more strong years.
The late Marcelino López, born in 1943 and died in 2001, also has a birthday today. He pitched for the Orioles across three seasons from 1967-70 and finished with a 3.23 ERA in 147.2 innings.
And on this date in Orioles history, Jack Harshman hit two home runs in 1958 to back his own 3-2 win over the Washington Senators. Brooks Robinson delivered a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning in 1967 to beat the Red Sox 7-5.
In 1997, Baltimore scored three early runs off Roger Clemens and held on for a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. The 1999 club saw a 13-game winning streak snapped in a 9-6 loss to the Athletics in the first game of a doubleheader, then answered with a 12-4 win at night behind Albert Belle’s four doubles.
In 2002, Jay Gibbons’ two-homer effort wasn’t enough in a 5-4, 15-inning loss to Boston. And in 2013, the Orioles dropped a 5-4 game to the Rays and also lost Manny Machado for the season when he stepped awkwardly on first base and twisted his knee.
In Other News...
Orioles Still Have Tough 40-Man Calls On Several Young Players
The Orioles took care of six roster decisions on Nov. 19, adding Flix Bautista and Kyle Bradish to the 40-man as part of the usual offseason protection process, even with the 2021 Rule 5 draft canceled. But the bigger work is still ahead. Baltimore is sorting through the rest of its 40-man picture with an eye on the wave of young talent moving through the system, and the next set of choices could say as much about the organizations priorities as anything it has done so far this winter.
Enrique Bradfield Jr., Aron Estrada, Michael Forret, Creed Willems and Nestor German are among the names in the mix, and each brings a different kind of case. Recent performance matters, but so do ceilings, injuries and the bumps that have shaped their seasons. For a club that has built so much of its identity around stocking the pipeline, these are the kinds of decisions that can feel routine on the surface and revealing underneath. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Suddenly Have A Jackson Holliday Problem This Offseason
The Orioles offseason health picture took another hit as Jackson Holliday is set to undergo wrist surgery later this week or early next week, a development that adds another layer of uncertainty around one of the organizations most important young players. The expected recovery window is about 10 weeks, which at least gives Baltimore a clearer sense of the timeline, even if it leaves the club waiting longer than it would have liked for a full offseason reset.
Holliday was already central to whatever the Orioles hope to build moving forward, and his situation now sits alongside a few other notable injury updates. Samuel Basallo has been placed on the 7-day concussion injured list, while Tyler ONeill received a PRP injection in his shoulder as the team looks toward getting him ready for next spring. For Baltimore, it is a reminder that even in the quiet months, the roster picture can shift quickly before the new season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Front Office Move Wont Silence The Bigger Mike Elias Debate
The Orioles have added Ty Holub back into the organization, hiring him as a senior analyst in the scouting department after his time with the Mariners and a previous stint in Baltimore as a Baseball Operations Assistant. Holubs background gives the front office another voice with a track record in both scouting and player evaluation, and it fits a franchise that has spent years trying to sharpen every layer of its talent pipeline.
Still, moves like this tend to raise the larger question around Mike Elias rather than quiet it. Baltimore has steadily tried to build out its staff and improve the process behind player acquisition, and Holubs return is another piece of that effort, but the broader debate over whether the Orioles have enough impact in the front office to match their on-field ambitions is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]