Jackson Holliday is officially back with the Orioles! This may be the most exciting thing to happen in the flurry of activity that followed the trade deadline. Or at least, it’s the most exciting thing to me, because I’m not excited about the reclamation projects they acquired and I still believe Holliday’s talent will prevail.
Holliday is also in today’s starting lineup, so we’ll see pretty quickly whether he can take better at-bats or not and whether his time in the minors has led to adjustments he can put to good use. I hope so. Striking out half of his plate appearances last time out wasn’t so much fun. A nice swinging hit would be more fun.
Another player in today’s starting lineup is James McCann. It’s not surprising to have the backup catcher in the lineup for a day game. It’s a bit surprising since he was hit in the face by a baseball during Monday’s doubleheader and confirmed to Orioles reporters that he has multiple fractures in his nose. He wore one of those protective masks during pregame batting practice. Hopefully his eye is less swollen now.
There’s no way the Orioles can avoid a losing July at this point. They’re 10-13 for the month heading into this final game. We’ll probably all feel better about them if they eliminate the Blue Jays anyway, making it 2-0 since the trade deadline and giving the feeling that the mood has changed from a crazy month. A good outing from starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez would help.
Do you think we’ll see new Orioles reliever Gregory Soto today? He’s the only player from yesterday’s trades who’s been activated so far. The Orioles traded Terrin Vavra and catcher Blake Hunt just in case, while adding Soto and Holliday. They didn’t have to give up a pitcher to add Soto because they already signed Cole Irvin to add Hunt for a day. It looks like the additions of Eloy Jimenez and Austin Slater will have to wait for another day.
Composition of the Orioles
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Anthony Santander – RF
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Ryan O’Hearn – Designated Hitter
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Jordan Westburg – 3B
- Jackson Holliday – 2B
- James McCann-C
Rodriguez had two solid starts in July, two good and one bad. Hopefully he doesn’t end the month with another bad start. He faced a very different Jays lineup in early June and allowed just one earned run in 6.2 innings.
Blue Jays roster
- George Springer – RF
- Joey Loperfido – LF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Designated Hitter
- Spencer Horwitz – 1B
- Ernie Clement – SS
- Daulton Varsho – CF
- Davis Schneider – 2B
- Addison Barger – 3B
- Brian Serven – C
Jays starting pitcher Paolo Espino is a 37-year-old with a career ERA of over 5 and who hasn’t started a game since the 2022 season. This could be a bullpen game or something. I don’t know. What I can tell you is the Orioles need to go after whoever pitches today so we can feel better about the offense for a while.
