The Orioles’ season could end with a split-doubleheader and a standings “E” hanging over them by the end of the day.
That’s where things sit after the White Sox’s 14-11 win in Kansas City last night trimmed Baltimore’s elimination number to one. One more Orioles loss, or one more White Sox win, and the math is done. The club that opened the year with World Series hopes has now been reduced to waiting on the final punchline.
There is at least one small break in the schedule. The Orioles got the night off Tuesday, a chance to breathe and save the bullpen, and they’re off again Thursday before heading to Yankee Stadium this weekend.
But the calendar relief doesn’t change the bigger picture much. The last two home games are being squeezed into one day, and the timing feels about as friendly as the rest of this season has been.
Chris Bassitt will start Game 1, making his 20th appearance and 18th start to close out the year after signing an $18.5 million contract in February. His season was interrupted by more than two months lost to lower-back surgery, but he’s been solid since returning, putting up a 3.76 ERA in seven starts. He allowed two runs in five innings against the Blue Jays on Sept. 11 and one run in six innings on May 28 at Camden Yards.
The matchup in Game 1 also brings Max Scherzer, whose Hall of Fame career is winding down. Scherzer was hit hard on Sept. 11 at Rogers Centre, giving up six runs and seven hits in five innings, but he bounced back with one run and three hits allowed over five innings against the Tigers last Wednesday. Pete Alonso is 4-for-23 with two doubles and 10 strikeouts against Scherzer.
Bassitt has had his own success against some of Toronto’s hitters. George Springer is 9-for-26 with a double and two homers against him, while Myles Straw is 5-for-13. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 1-for-11, and he sat out Monday because of lower-back tightness.
The Orioles also may have to navigate the doubleheader without Samuel Basallo, who left Monday’s game after taking a foul ball off his mask. Manager Craig Albernaz said Basallo is being checked out and the team will decide later today whether he’s shut down.
“I haven’t seen a foul tip like that square a catcher up in a long time, and he felt fine,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “The thing is, with that, the concussions, sometimes that happens later on.
When he went back out to catch the next inning, he was flinching on some balls and I didn’t feel comfortable with him staying in there and flinching. So he’s getting looked at now, just to double and triple check, make sure he’s OK.”
If Basallo can’t go, Baltimore could go with two catchers, move Creed Willems from the taxi squad to the active roster, or bring up someone else. The extra game only makes that decision messier, especially with a 29th man allowed for the doubleheader and the possibility that the Orioles could use him to start the second game.
Trey Gibson looks like a logical option, though Cade Povich could also be in play on regular rest after pitching against the Brewers on Friday. The minimum wait is waived in doubleheaders.
Basallo’s own season has been one of the stranger stories on the roster. He was on the injured list in July with right shoulder inflammation at the same time as Adley Rutschman, and after Rutschman was traded to the Red Sox, Basallo became the No. 1 catcher.
The workload has taken a toll. Since returning from a month away, he’s hit .140/.235/.221 in 29 second-half games and is 12-for-78 overall.
Even so, his 18 home runs rank fourth on the team and his 54 RBIs are tied with Leody Taveras for fourth.
Another pitcher finishing the year on the mound for Baltimore is Shane Baz, who will lead the team in innings with a career-high 179 2/3 after logging 166 1/3 last season with the Rays. He’ll also finish with a team-high 15 losses, though that number doesn’t tell the whole story. Baz said the chance to stay healthy and keep taking the ball has mattered more than the record.
“Obviously, I spent a lot of time on the shelf, and I just have really wanted to put that behind me and show that I can be kind of a workhorse and eat important innings and still pitch well,” he said. “I’m definitely most proud of that this year, just the way that I’ve been able to stay in the rotation, take the ball every five days and give us a chance. And, you know, that’s been a bright spot for me.”
The day will also bring the announcement of the Most Valuable Oriole, with the award presentation scheduled on the field before Game 2. The results haven’t been shared with the media, but the name everyone is expecting is the one that rhymes with Skeet Alphonso.
In Other News...
Orioles Still Have Tough 40-Man Calls On Several Young Players
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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
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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 🡒]