So, what did I miss?

I’m using open-heart valve-replacement surgery as a convenient, albeit painful, excuse for being so far behind on transactions and other news. It’s also why I’m resting after every sentence that I’m typing.

A quick but heartfelt thank you to everyone who cared for me at Sinai Hospital, beginning with Dr. Peter Cho, who removed my faulty valve and gave me one from a cow. I just hope that one day I get to meet its family and show my appreciation.

My gratitude extends to Woodholme Cardiology’s Dr. Jonathan Rogers and Dr. Charles Cummings, who remained patient as the Orioles dictated when I could schedule pre-surgery appointments and the actual procedure. They were skilled and tremendous comforts. And everyone at Sinai who gathered after the surgery and yelled at me to “breathe!”

Can’t remove the tube unless you’re breathing on your own, and that’s solid advice in any situation.

Early this month, not long after the Orioles were eliminated from the American League playoffs by the Kansas City Royals, I expressed an opinion about the Orioles offense.

An offense that produced solid stats over the full season but fell off big time late in the year.

One way to break it down is with facts and going through a period where it was really good and then going through the period when it was not.

Through July 31, the Orioles were 65-44 (.596) with the third-best record in the majors. They were on a 97-win pace. In those 109 games, or 67 percent of the season, they scored 5.07 runs per game (third in MLB) and posted an OPS of .774 (first in MLB).

So, a top three record and offense.

When three teams that each won division titles and more than 100 games last year all lost in their first playoff series and went a combined 1-9 last October, the theory was that the long layoff was an issue.

This year three of the four division winners, teams that once again had five-day layoffs before opening their Division Series, won to advance to the League Championship Series.

In 2023, the 104-win Atlanta Braves and the 101-win Orioles and Dodgers went out quick in the postseason.

But this year three division winners - the Yankees, Dodgers and Guardians - are moving on. The Los Angeles Dodgers shut out San Diego in Game 4 and Game 5 to advance to face the Mets for the National League Championship. The American League series, which starts at Yankee Stadium on Monday, has New York versus Cleveland. 

So much for the theory that the five-day layoff is too much to overcome. That narrative was fun while it lasted. 

The Orioles are making multiple changes to their coaching staff following their elimination in the Wild Card series.

According to a source, the club isn’t bringing back co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández. The search begins for their replacements.

Fuller served as full-season hitting coordinator and Double-A Bowie’s hitting coach in 2021 before his promotion to the Orioles. The offense slumped in the second half this season, batting .246/.319/.412 after the break, .238/.307 /.395 over the last two months and struggling to produce with runners in scoring position. Injuries to Jordan Westburg and Ramón Urías were contributing factors.

The lull carried into the playoffs. The Orioles scored one run in the two losses to Kansas City that resulted in their second consecutive sweep.

Matt Borgschulte was hired as co-hitting coach in 2022, coming from the Twins organization, and he remains on the staff. Unknown is whether he'll operate solely or again be paired with another coach.

Here is the thing about baseball: It can indeed break your heart. And in a sport that takes six months to play 162 games and can seem never-ending, the actual playoff ending can take about 24 to 48 hours.

All those games, all those ups and downs, all those emotions, then it's over in a blink.

And a whimper for the Orioles scoring just one run.

Mike Elias indicated Thursday he doesn’t want to make any knee-jerk reactions to the season and that is prudent.

The fanbase, on the other hand, or segments of such, are providing us an overwhelming amount of knee-jerk reactions. Someone must pay for this!

Talk about being thrown into the deep end and having to swim, that is, in a sense, what is happening to Orioles prospects Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo.

These are top young talents, rated among the best in the game, that may be cornerstone players one day, but right now they are battling to get hits in a pennant race. And at a time when the team has lost games while the club is not scoring much. It puts pressure on everyone.

Yeah, a real challenge.

Over 51 games for the year, Holliday, age 20, has hit .170/.223/.298/.521. When he came back to the majors on July 31, he hit a grand slam and had an OPS of 1.072 in a 10-game span, hitting five homers with 12 RBIs. A few days later he had a four-hit game.

But now he is 2-for-26 with nine strikeouts the last 10 games. He did not start Saturday or Sunday in Detroit.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Orioles infielder Jorge Mateo remains with the club on its road trip that concludes today. He’s on the 60-day injured list with a left elbow subluxation.

Mateo hasn’t undergone surgery at this point. He’s got another medical appointment that the club says will determine the plan.

Mateo wears a brace on his arm occasionally and is allowed to remove it.

The Orioles go for another Tropicana Field sweep this afternoon with Coby Mayo making his first start in his home state.

Mayo is 0-for-13 with two walks and eight strikeouts since his promotion.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Double barrel action in a bullpen is the term used when two relievers are warming at the same time. For Austin Hays, it’s the unfortunate process of receiving treatment for two ailments in the trainers’ room.

Hays didn’t play again last night due to bruised ribs and tightness in his back, but he’s avoided another trip to the injured list. His status remains day-to-day heading into the three-game series against the Braves at Camden Yards.

The ribs didn’t prevent Hays from serving as a defensive replacement in left field Saturday afternoon. However, the back flared up and cost him a chance to start Sunday.

As usual, the timing is rough.   

Hays can set an example for Cedric Mullins, who went into Sunday’s game batting .170 with a .522 OPS and was hitless in his last 25 at-bats before a single and triple provided some relief. Hays’ problems at the plate stemmed more from poor health, dating back to his illness in spring training that caused him to lose about 10 pounds and feel weak. He went on the injured list earlier this season with a calf strain and was day-to-day in the Rays series.

The Orioles began play Sunday leading the majors in runs per game at 5.11 and they also led the majors in team slugging at .448 and in home runs with 100 even.

Then they went out and showed off that offense again in their latest win by 9-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the first game in team history, which dates of course to 1954, where they produced three triples and a grand slam.

Against a team and organization where they once had a 2-27 run, the Orioles tonight can sweep their first-ever four-game series at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles (42-22) are 5-1 this year versus the Rays and 13-6 since the beginning of last year. They have won 13 of the past 18 meetings between the teams and are 22-13 the last 35 games against Tampa Bay. The Rays last series win against the Orioles came at home in August of 2022.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Manager Brandon Hyde has tried to cure Cedric Mullins by feeding him a steady diet of at-bats. He’s sat Mullins in consecutive games to provide a reset. He’s studied matchups and made decisions to show his center fielder that confidence isn’t lost, but also, games must be won.

Mullins, in turn, has hit early, watched video and consumed every ounce of data until he’s stuffed.  

No one is outworking him. Every player is outhitting him. But Mullins finally had his day in the dome.

Leading off the top of the second inning yesterday, Mullins swung at a first-pitch slider from Zack Littell and flied to center field. He made the turn around first base and jogged across the infield to the visiting dugout. An all-too-familiar site for a player who was batting .170/.221/.301.

Up first again in the fifth inning, Mullins ripped a splitter into right field at 102 mph after falling behind 0-2 in the count and taking a fastball outside the zone. A single that seemed like a life preserver for a guy with the sinking stats who was 0-for-25 and 1-for-32.

To understand and appreciate Jordan Westburg's advanced approach to hitting, rewind to Tuesday night in the bottom of the first inning.

The Orioles were down 2-1 and had the bases loaded. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello got ahead two strikes, threw a third consecutive sinker and watched it roll into right field. Ryan O’Hearn and Colton Cowser raced home and Bello’s lead was gone.

That’s Westburg, in only his first full season in the majors.

Gunnar Henderson was the American League’s Rookie of the Year last season and is an early favorite to follow in the footsteps of Cal Ripken Jr., who won the award in 1982 and was chosen Most Valuable Player in ’83. But the low-key Westburg is ranking highly on the club’s statistical lists, placing second in average (.291), on-base percentage (.351), slugging percentage (.508) and OPS (.859) heading into last night. His 34 RBIs were third.

His 12 multi-RBI games led the team.

Has there been a hitter with stats so radically different from one year to the next than Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser?

Maybe there has been, but when your OPS gains over 1.000 points, from .433 last year to 1.444 this year after Sunday’s game, that is a big leap up. And yes, the sample size is small in both seasons – he had 77 plate appearances last year and has 38 this season.

“Very proud of him, very happy with his adjustments. He took what we said into the offseason, worked with his coach back in Texas. Made great adjustments, not just the physical adjustments, but the mental adjustments too. Really confident at the plate and goes in with a great plan of attack,” O’s co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller said before Sunday’s game.

Cowser hit a solo homer in the last of the eighth yesterday to provide a big insurance run as the Orioles beat Milwaukee 6-4. He is the first Oriole with four homers in four games since Ryan Mountcastle from April 10-13, 2023. He is the first Oriole rookie to do that since Mountcastle from June 16-19, 2021.

Through Saturday's games, Cowser’s K rate had dropped year-over-year from 28.6 to 23.5 and his average exit velocity increased from 87.4 to 92.7 mph. His hard-hit rate, which was 42.5 last year is now 58.3.

When it comes to evaluating any major league offense, we could look at a variety of stats – advanced and otherwise – but runs scored is a pretty good place to start.

The 2023 O's produced just the eighth season scoring 800 or more runs in 70 seasons of Orioles baseball. The team scored 807 runs – seventh-most in club history – and ranked fourth in the American League and seventh in the majors with 4.98 runs per game.

The late-season offensive struggles pulled the final season average under 5.00 runs per game. Just six teams averaged 5.00 or more in 2023. 

But the O’s were not a real power-hitting team, ranking ninth in the AL with 1.13 homers per game.

During Birdland Caravan Thursday, I asked two of their hitting coaches about the home run ball and if the team needs more of it going forward?

For a player that has been a key member of the Orioles’ everyday lineup for three full seasons after playing 35 games in the shortened 2020 season, there are many opinions about first baseman/DH Ryan Mountcastle. He can hit the ball hard and far and set an O’s rookie record with 33 homers in 2021, but fans are often divided on whether he will be a sure-fire future slugger for this club or someone that might not quite reach his potential.

His 2023 season was interrupted twice by injured list stints and the first one when he dealt with vertigo and missed time from June 13-July 8 caused some real concern. For the year, Mountcastle was limited to 115 games and 470 plate appearances.

Yet he produced his best full-season batting average of .270 and OBP with the club at .328. He also had a 7.9 walk-rate, topping his mark of 2021 (7.0) and 2022 (7.1). His OPS of .779 produced an OPS+ of 117, which was better than what he posted in 2021 (114) and 2022 (108).

The time missed in addition to the challenge of hitting one out to left field at Camden Yards left his homer total at 18 after he hit 33 in 2021 under the old dimensions and 22 in 2022 with the new ones.

Mountcastle was really struggling when he went to the IL due to vertigo. He batted .231 with an OPS of .691 in the first half and .322/.893 in the second half. That was a big difference and a big finish to his season even though he went on the IL in September also with left AC joint inflammation.

The 2023 season got off to a good start for the Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle. But it didn’t stay that way. On April 11 at Camden Yards, he tied a team single-game record with nine RBIs versus the Athletics. He homered twice in the game and hit a grand slam. An Oriole with nine RBIs had happened before just twice since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954. Jim Gentile drove in nine runs May 9, 1961 at Minnesota. And Eddie Murray did the same on Aug. 26, 1985 at California.

“Two greats,” Mountcastle told reporters that night of the first nine-RBI game in the majors since 2020. “To tie them in, I guess, any category is super special, pretty cool.”

So that was a special game and Mounty looked prime to have a big year.

And then he struggled and struggled some more. In early June, we learned he was dealing with the effects of vertigo, and he didn’t play again until July 9. When he took the field that day, he was batting .227 for the year with an OPS of .686.

Fans were not only questioning his presence in the lineup daily but also his future on the team in the long term. His critics seemed vast and were loud. When the season ended, we heard the sounds of mostly silence.

PHOENIX – In his fourth year in the O’s organization, Ryan Fuller, 33, is in his second season on the major league staff. He is co-hitting coach, working alongside Matt Borgschulte and offensive strategy coach Cody Asche.

The trio is there to prepare, provide scouting reports, help and work with O’s hitters in any ways they can to make them better.

The Orioles rank fourth in the American League scoring 4.98 runs per game. They trail only Texas, Tampa Bay and Houston in those rankings.

Fuller was interviewed this week on the Orioles Radio Network for the pregame show and was asked if the coaches have some hitting philosophies that pertain to every O’s hitter?

“Our cornerstones from the DR (Dominican Republic) all the way to the big leagues is control the zone,” said Fuller. “Positive swing decisions. If you do that it is going to lead to constant contact and if you have contact on pitches in zone, it’s going to lead to damage. And those extra-base hits and game-changing swings.

Orioles rookie Jordan Westburg stood at the plate yesterday against Mets starter José Quintana, nobody on base and two outs in the sixth inning, and got the barrel of his bat on a first-pitch sinker. His line drive through the left side of the infield, clocked at 108.7 mph, produced the Orioles’ fourth hit of the afternoon.

Catcher James McCann led off the seventh with a double down the left field line on a first-pitch changeup from Quintana, and he scored on a fielder’s choice grounder.

The only runs in the game.

Pretty much on brand for this club.

The Orioles began yesterday leading the majors with a .395 average on the first pitch after ranking 26^th last season at .316, according to STATS.

If two hitting coaches can help the Orioles, maybe three can do even more. So far that is proving correct as the co-hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte are in their second seasons together on the Orioles staff. This year they were joined by Cody Asche, named before this season as offensive strategy coach.

The “three-headed monster” as Fuller calls it, must be putting in some great work as the Orioles offense is among the best in the game to start this year.

Fuller was a pregame guest Sunday on the Orioles Radio Network.

“Great start,” Fuller said of the offense on the broadcast. “Obviously comparing it to last year we got off to a slow start. We hit balls hard but they were right at people. Felt really unlucky. But this year we get off to a good start, and have a winning record, that is what we wanted to do. Start fast and go throughout the year. We’re really happy but at the same time there are still guys we are looking to get more production out of. Hard to get all nine guys going at once but that is what we are trying to do.”

And the numbers are impressive for an O’s offense that scored 20 runs over the weekend in three games in Chicago and has scored 28 runs the past four games and 49 over the last seven. In 16 games to date, the Orioles have scored six runs or more nine times.

Former high draft picks of the Houston Astros were coming and going from the Orioles roster on Wednesday. The club did not pick up the 2023 team option on pitcher Jordan Lyles, taken No. 38 overall in 2008. But later in the day they added via waivers outfielder Daz Cameron, taken No. 37 overall by Houston in the 2015 MLB Draft.

So, the Orioles, at least for now, are parting ways with Lyles, who becomes a free agent. That means he is free to sign with any team including the Orioles, who seem to have interest but at a lower price than $11 million for next season.

On the plus side, Lyles finished 14^th in the American League in innings with 179 and he lowered his homer rate from 1.9 the previous year to 1.3. He was good in the expanded Oriole Park, going 5-3 with a 3.47 in home games and the Orioles went 17-15 in his 32 starts. He also led the club throwing 100 pitches or more 11 times, most by an O’s starter since 2018. He provided outstanding leadership for the young pitchers and enjoyed a role where he mentored that group. He led the club with 13 quality starts and the Orioles went 9-4 in those games.

He wanted to come back.

“I would love to be back here,” Lyles said during the season’s final days. “To see what we’ve done in the last calendar year as an organization, from what was expected of us coming into the season, and the transition to be where we are right now, it’s pretty special. I enjoy the guys. Hyder (Brandon Hyde) has been amazing. Definitely Manager of the Year in my eyes. A good clubhouse. Everything is positive here. I would love to come back.”

The conclusion of a baseball season often leads to major shakeups in coaching staffs, or at least some light jostling.

The Orioles didn’t find any reasons to make changes in 2023. They built a unit that worked for them. They weren’t going to authorize repairs if nothing broke.

Make a spirited run at the postseason and stand pat.

As I reported yesterday, Fredi González is back as bench coach, Chris Holt as pitching coach/director of pitching, Darren Holmes as assistant pitching coach, Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte as co-hitting coaches, Tim Cossins as major league field coordinator/catching instructor, Anthony Sanders as first base coach/outfield instructor, Tony Mansolino as third base coach/infield instructor, and José Hernández as major league coach.

Pitching coach Doug Brocail and third base coach José Flores were replaced by Holt and Mansolino, respectively, after the truncated 2020 season. Holt already was employed as director of pitching. Mansolino came over from Cleveland’s organization.