Giants-Orioles Series Preview: Battle of the struggling quasi-contenders

The Baltimore Orioles have been run by one of the Moneyball 2.0 acolytes since the Giants employed Farhan Zaidi in November 2018. Mike Elias was half of the Astros’ entrance workplace, and their innovation on the Billy Beane means of operating a baseball group* was not solely to cheat, however to infuse knowledge and “inefficiencies” into actually each space of ​​the baseball operation. Elias’s twist was to tank the Orioles for just a few years to enhance the prospect inventory after which let these low cost younger superstars carry the group into and thru a containment window.

It hasn’t precisely gone to plan.

However, the Orioles’ new proprietor has lastly infused the group with sufficient money move and approvals to compel them to extend their roster by different means in addition to their entrance workplace’s cleverness. The Orioles lastly signed a high 50 free agent after over a decade of not having finished so, and it is a good one! Pete Alonso is a Giants Killer. He has 13 dwelling runs in 39 profession video games to go along with a triple slash of .257/.326/.546.

They strengthened their rotation with the additions of Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt and signed Ryan Helsley and his 100 mph fastball to shut. They’ve additionally employed former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz as their new supervisor.

The 43-year outdated has an virtually farcical Massachusetts accent, however he means enterprise when he talks about how his group can enhance. There hasn’t been a Defector article written about his vibes —not but, anyway— but he’s already made public comments about the culture of the organizationparticularly close to how protection hasn’t been valued. Even in what has been, primarily, a “peak” into the full season, his team-focused public comments stand out when compared to what Tony Vitello’s up to.

This might be an expectations factor, although. The Giants are nonetheless attempting to recapture a time that has come and gone whereas the Orioles are merely attempting to remain related. The Orioles have some strain to succeed whereas they nonetheless have this explicit group of hitters, which incorporates Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, and Jordan Westburg; but in addition, a second line of younger hitters like Colton Cowser, Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers, and Coby Mayo.

They’re off to a 6-6 begin with only a 1 collection win: a 3-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago. The Giants are coming off a 3-4 homestand that ended on a excessive notice. This collection is the begin of a 9-game street journey and it is one I consider is effectively timed. Those again to again shutouts of the Phillies heading into a protracted journey is a perfect set of circumstances for a “new” group to bond. Spring Training and residential video games permits gamers and coaches alike to easily “go home” after the sport. On the street has a stage of being caught collectively, and that is the place relationships will be solid. Sure, lots of the Giants are fairly acquainted with each other — maybe too familiar in some cases! — however street journeys are a fantastic bonding expertise. On an interpersonal stage, this can be a large second in the early days of Tony Vitello’s main league profession.

But heaps of successful could be nice, too.

Who: San Francisco Giants (5-8) at Baltimore Orioles (6-6)
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards | Baltimore, Maryland
When: Friday & Saturday at 4:15pm PT, Sunday at 10:35am PT
National broadcasts: Friday (Apple TV), Saturday (FOX Network)

Projected starters
Friday: Landen Roupp (RHP 1-1, 4.22 ERA) vs. Shane Baz (RHP 0-0, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday: Landen Webb (RHP 1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Chris Bassitt (RHP 0-2, 14.21 ERA)
Sunday: Adrian Houser (RHP 0-1, 3.97 ERA) vs. Cade Povich (LHP 0-0, 3.18 ERA)

Players to observe (in addition to Pete Alonso)

Gunnar Henderson: He’s acquired 4 dwelling runs and a .890 OPS general to start out the season. The 24-year outdated is positioned as the face of the franchise, however now he is acquired lineup safety in the kind of Pete Alonso…

Taylor Ward: But additionally Taylor Ward! The Orioles acquired him in the offseason from Zack Minasian’s brother Perry with the Angels, and all Ward has finished is slugged .574 in his first 12 video games (56 PA) to slash .383/.464/.574. He has hit ZERO dwelling runs. I’ve does have a sport-leading 18 hits, although, 9 of which have been doubles. The 32-year-old has already recorded two 4-hit video games for Baltimore. In his 8 seasons with the Angels, he had ZERO 4-hit video games.

Grant Wolfram: A 6’7″ lefty with 9 strikeouts and ZERO walks in 5 innings? What’s going on here in this small sample? Well, it turns out he’s in the Matt Gage zone in terms of stuff — at least from my eye test. His fastball is in the 95 mph range, but his slider is sub-2,500 rpm. He doesn’t get much chase and hitters are able to make good contact when they do. Of his 9 strikeouts, 3 came against White Sox hitters and another was of Joc Pederson. So, just want to see if this is a candidate for “a guy the Giants get to at an important spot in a game” during this series.

Logan Webb: Usually, I put the Giants’ ace in the (besides) portion of the Players to watch header mainly because I don’t see a reason to spotlight him when everybody knows he’s The Perfect Giant and you should watch him whenever there’s an opportunity. In this case, though, I want to make sure we’re all watching Webb in this start because this has been a shaky start and how he performs will determine how far the Giants will go this season. His sole appearance at Camden Yards was back in 2024 when he struck out 8 in 5 innings in his penultimate start of the season (the Giants lost 5-3). Webb has been good enough in interleague play (3.75 ERA in 275.2 IP), but not so much against the AL East. Look at this breakdown:

Rafael Devers: We can think about how Pete Alonso has gotten the best of the Giants all we want, but that matchup pales by comparison to how Devers has tormented the O’s. In 124 career games (543 PA), he’s slashed .292/.352/.493 with 21 home runs and 79 RBI with 45 walks and 109 strikeouts. His 32 career doubles against them is his most against a single opponent. He also has 2 triples. A big chunk of that damage has come at Camden Yards, where he’s a career .290/.354/.511 with 13 home runs and 11 doubles (22 BB, 58 K). His 3-run bomb in Wednesday’s finale against the Phillies made him the hero then. Was it the start of a hot streak?

Jung Hoo Lee: I wonder if getting away from the fan section at Oracle Park might help Jung Hoo Lee clear his head enough to get his bat going. He was just 2-for-21 on the homestand with a pair of walks and 5 strikeouts. If his slump continues through this road trip, it’s not going to be seen simply as a bad start.

Craig Albernaz perhaps has the home field advantage, but it will be interesting to see which of the rookie managers looks more rookie-like. Vitello certainly won the matchup with rookie Craig Stammen, but Albernaz has a bit more of an MLB coaching background than either. Both managers have been executed already this season. Will the twitchy Missourian prove superior to Albernaz’s mouthy Masshole persona?

At the end of the day, these are two orange and black teams trying to forge a path to containment in the best way they know how. The Orioles are sticking with a culture that has so far produced some interesting prospects and a 101-win season, but you have slowly returned into frustration. The Giants rebuilt themselves into a 107-win team and have slowly returned into frustration.

I do know I used to be grasping in the Yankees collection pulling for 1 win and Giants followers have subsequently been spoiled by the group successful two collection, so, I’m simply going to say that I feel the Giants will win a sport on this collection.