The Orioles are in some serious trouble right now

On Saturday night, the Orioles lost 2-0 to the Athletics. This was despite the fact that Kevin Gausman threw nine shutout innings while only giving up two hits and that Oakland did not have a runner in scoring position until the winning run made his way to home plate after Khris Davis hit a monster homer into the left field seats to win the game for the A’s. As improbable of a win as it was for the A’s, it was just as an improbable loss for the O’s, as the Win Probability chart from FanGraphs perfectly illustrates. Still, it’s another example of how this season has already gone sideways for Baltimore.

The Orioles are now 8-25 after losing to Oakland in dramatic fashion on Saturday and it’s been very bleak for them since last May. As a matter of fact, let’s take things back to May 9, 2017. At the end of that day, the Orioles were 22-10 and on top of the AL East following a walk-off victory over the Washington Nationals.

Fast forward to nearly one year later and the outlook has turned very bleak for Baltimore. They are solidly in the cellar of the AL East and they went into Saturday’s game with a record of 61-101 in their past 162 games. That record is terrible no matter how you slice it and it’s even worse when you consider that the Orioles aren’t even trying to tank.

Indeed, they’ve been putting their best foot forward and have actually been trying to put a competitive team out there. That alone is what makes their current state so sad. They're just plain bad right now and they don’t exactly have a bevy of exciting prospects on the farm to look forward to. Simply put, Baltimore appears to be spinning their wheels in the mud at the moment. Unless the team finally kicks things into gear soon (and judging by their performance over the last 162 games, it seems unlikely), it may be time for the Orioles to join the large brigade of teams who are tearing it down and building for the future. It’ll be painful, but it’s better than what they’re dealing with right now.

• Oh no, Yadi. The star catcher for the Cardinals took a foul ball in the spot where no catcher ever wants to take a foul ball at. If you dare to watch it, we’ve got the video for you. Just keep poor Yadier Molina in your thoughts today.
• Mark down May 5, 2017 as an important day in baseball history. This day will forever be remembered as the day when Colin McHugh of the Houston Astros made history by being the first pitcher to make use of Arizona’s bullpen cart.
• Matt Harvey is no longer with the Mets but Pinstripe Alley says that he shouldn’t have to leave New York to pitch – he should go to the Yankees.
• Matt Carpenter is still going strong for the Cardinals. With that being said, the crew at Viva El Birdos may have found something that could contribute heavily to his decline in the future.
• Tim Lincecum has been put on a rehab assignment which means that he’s inching closer and closer towards finally returning to the majors.
• Speaking of pitchers who are working their way back to the mound, both Madison Bumgarner and Mark Melancon are getting active and look to be in good shape at the moment.
• Speaking of the Giants, they’re currently having a great time playing at SunTrust Park as they’ve blown out the Braves twice in a row. But what do Giants fans think of Cobb County’s ballpark?
• The Marlins and Reds are both pretty bad right now. Amazingly, it might be the Reds who are the worse team right now.