Getty Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson celebrate an 11-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on April 16.
After losing two out of three games to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Baltimore Orioles recalibrated on April 15 and 16, putting on an offensive showcase in two games against the Minnesota Twins.
They’ve scored 18 runs in the two games against Minnesota. In a three-game series against the Brewers, they scored 12.
Call it pitching, call it batter’s breaking slumps, call it motivation from the Orioles’ new Homer Hydration Station; as long as you call this Baltimore offense for what it is.
Present and potent.
Team manager Brandon Hyde said as much after the 11-3 win over the Twins on April 16.
“We’re pretty dangerous, offensively,” Hyde told reporters after the game.
Hyde also called it one of the better games the Orioles have played this season.
“That was probably one of our most complete games of the year so far, just what we did in every single area,” Hyde continued. “The way we swung the bat, hit with runners in scoring position, the way we hit with power, the way we ran the bases. Grayson [Rodriguez, starting pitcher] was really good, we played really good defense. There was a lot of positives tonight.”
Gunnar Henderson hit a home run. So did Jordan Westburg. Ryan O’Hearn hit his third in three games.
Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun tweeted: “Orioles bats explode.”
Rodriguez earned his third quality start of the year. And the Orioles flexed their swinging muscles once more.
They’re in position to sweep the series with one game left against the Twins on April 17.
Colton Cowser Cooling Down?
One name not mentioned above, Colton Cowser, has seemingly fallen back to Earth after an unreal couple of games.
Kerry Miller wrote the former fifth overall pick into his “Biggest MLB Surprises” column for Bleacher Report on April 14.
“Baltimore’s highly touted prospect who struggled mightily during his brief stint in the majors last summer is outrageously averaging one extra-base hit for every three at-bats thus far in 2024,” Miller wrote.
After hitting four home runs in four games, Cowser has gone 2-for-8 at the plate against Minnesota.
His two hits came in the second game of the series, with one of them a single lined to center to help Anthony Santander score.
Even a cooled-down version of Cowser is a winning playmaker. Go figure.
His RBI single was followed up by the fourth home run of Westburg’s season, Baltimore’s latest hot hitter.
Westburg: ‘I Trusted My Ability’
Jordan Westburg didn’t have a “bad” rookie season in 2023.
But he didn’t live up to the power hitter projections that landed him in Baltimore to begin with. Westburg slashed .260/.311/.404 for three home runs and 23 RBIs.
Through 15 games with the Orioles in 2024, he’s hitting a much improved .302/.373/.547 with four home runs and 12 RBIs.
One of those came in the April 16 matchup with the Twins. Westburg hit a 404-foot two-run homer to extend Baltimore’s lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the third inning.
The fastest bat in the West.
The Orioles never looked back.
Neither has Westburg throughout the early-career struggles at the plate.
He told Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner as much in an April 16 interview.
“I trusted my ability, and I trusted the work I was putting in,” Westburg told Kostka. “And I think just being more comfortable up here helps, too.”
Westburg credited O’Hearn for pinpointing what makes for the best version of Baltimore baseball.
“O’Hearn mentioned the other day in the clubhouse,” Westburg continued. “Our best baseball is when we play fast and hard early, and I feel like that’s what the offense is doing right now. It’s more fun when you can kind of punch somebody in the mouth early, get that separation.”
His confidence in the Orioles is sky high, regardless of who’s suiting up in the one through nine order.
“One through nine, no matter what the lineup looks like, there’s a bunch of killers in this lineup.” Westburg told Kostka. “Like these guys are competitive, mentally tough.”
They’re going to have to be, with expectations raised after last year’s AL East title season ended abruptly in the divisional round.
The Orioles are second in the MLB in home runs, and sixth in RBIs, through April 16.
Hyde isn’t wrong. This is an offense that commands respect.
But it will take all of Cowser, Westburg and others being in sync at the same time for it to matter toward an October run.
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Orioles Manager Fires Warning After ‘Bats Explode’ in Win: ‘We’re Pretty Dangerous’