When I wrote this blog last week, it was a blog that, as I said then, where I was just thinking out loud about ways the Orioles could make small improvements in 2025 in how they do business.

This is not about the makeup of the roster so much, about adding or subtracting players, but about how the Orioles employ the players they do have.

That earlier blog made suggestions that the Orioles could potentially do themselves some good in being less aggressive in two-strike counts. More balls in play may be needed, even at the expensive of slugging pitches in such counts.

It is just one man’s opinion.

Same guy with a new opinion today.

With just two Gold Glove winners since the 2015 season, the Orioles will not add to that total this year. The Orioles had two finalists with Ryan Mountcastle at first base and Colton Cowser in left field, but neither won the Rawlings Gold Glove when the winners were announced tonight during a live ESPN broadcast.

Minnesota’s Carlos Santana won at first base and Nathaniel Lowe of Texas was the third finalist at that spot for the American League. Cleveland’s Steven Kwan won in left field for the third year in a row in the AL and the Yankees' Alex Verdugo was the third left field finalist.

The last time the Orioles had more than one Gold Glove winner was in 2014 when J.J. Hardy, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones were winners. Manny Machado was a solo O's winner in 2015 and Ramón Urías won at third base in 2022. Urías was the last Oriole to win the Gold Glove.

Baltimore’s 72 Gold Gloves since the award’s inception in 1957 are second-most all-time behind St. Louis with 98.

Had Cowser won the award and then later this month added the Baseball Writers' Association of America AL Rookie of the Year award, he would have been the first to win both since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.

The World Series is over and fans are deprived of an epic Game 7. The Dodgers ruined those hopes by winning in five.

The offseason is underway, with players on the 60-day injured list returning to the 40-man roster and teams having exclusive negotiating rights with their free agents for five days before everyone else jumps into the bidding.

Pitchers Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Félix Bautista and infielder Jorge Mateo are back on the 40-man. Pitchers Corbin Burnes, John Means and Brooks Kriske, catcher James McCann and outfielders Anthony Santander and Austin Slater are removed from it.  Bradish and Wells will go back onto the 60-day IL in spring training while recovering from elbow surgery.

Outfielder Daniel Johnson and pitcher Burch Smith declined outright assignments to Triple-A Norfolk and elected free agency.

The Orioles will make decisions on players with options for 2025 and which ones are tendered contracts and protected in the Rule 5 draft. The General Managers meetings begin next week. The Winter Meetings are scheduled for next month.

Was Robert De Niro robbed of an Oscar in 1992 for his portrayal of Max Cady in “Cape Fear?”

De Niro was amazing in that role. A brilliant performance. I would have chosen him. But I also can’t argue with Anthony Hopkins winning for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs.”

See, you ask and I answer. It’s that simple. Or in this case, I ask and answer to set up the latest mailbag entry.

(Martin Scorsese was robbed twice – for Raging Bull and Goodfellas – by first-time directors Robert Redford and Kevin Costner. And he’s been the victim of other snubs. Those just irk me the most. But I digress …)

I’m serving mailbag leftovers as we trudge through another week in the offseason. Any thoughts of editing for clarity, length and style were scraped into the trash.

Well I was not there and only saw a brief story or two on Tony Clark’s comments about use of pitchers. They were made at the World Series before the opening game on Friday.

Clark is the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

"The conversations that we've had with our players have suggested that unless or until you draw a line in the sand and force change, that the decision-makers on any one particular team are going to continue to make the decisions that they're making, which is have pitchers' - starting and relievers - max effort for the period of time that they can have them," Clark said at Dodger Stadium. “As soon as they seem to run out of gas, as the data suggests that they're going to, recycle them out and (move) to burn out another pitcher."

Because I have not seen many other quotes from Clark on this topic, I am not sure how he sees teams burning out pitchers. It is certainly not from use. Most starters are held often to about 100 pitches and teams pull starters often when they reach the third time through the batting order. Only four MLB pitchers even threw as much as 200 innings in 2024. Relievers are often held to one inning and seldom pitch more than two days in a row.

From this standpoint, teams are trying to protect pitchers and their investments in them.

The mailbag is filling up again, like the bases in the bottom of the 10^th inning in Game 1 of the World Series.

Freddie Freeman isn’t here to empty it, so I’ll take over.

You ask, I answer, and we have our latest sequel to the beloved 2008 blockbuster. I thought about editing for clarity, length and style, until I had a moment of clarity and decided against it.

Also, my mailbag clinches pennants and yours clutches pearls.

Can you get more specifics on Colton Cowser's hand surgery? Having broken my hand playing ball back in the day where I just got casted and healed for weeks, I am curious as to what they corrected with his surgery.
Sorry, but the Orioles aren’t sharing any information beyond how he had “successful surgery to repair a fractured left hand, and the procedure “was performed by Dr. Donald Sheridan in Phoenix, AZ,” and that the outfielder “is expected to be ready for spring training.” Anything else must come from Cowser during his next media availability.

Colton Cowser has received his first honor.

Are there more in his future?

The Major League Baseball Players Association has chosen Cowser as American League Outstanding Rookie. The announcement came earlier today.

Cowser received the Players Choice Award over finalists Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox and Austin Wells of the Yankees. He also is viewed as a favorite for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America award, which will be revealed on Nov. 18.

The fifth-overall pick in the 2021 draft appeared in 153 games and batted .242/.321/.447 with 24 doubles, three triples, 24 home runs and 69 RBIs over 561 plate appearances. He was chosen the AL’s Rookie of the Month in April after hitting .303/.372/.632 with seven doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs.

The notebook is cleaned out, but my mind remains cluttered.

You’ve been warned.

* Anyone with an obsession over splits is going to be drawn to Adley Rutschman.

He’s a conversation starter.

Rutschman batted .219 with a .631 OPS from the left side of the plate. However, he hit .280 with an .889 OPS from the left side as a rookie, compared to .174 with a .552 OPS from the right.

Turns out, I didn’t empty the mailbag. The questions kept comin’ and I couldn’t keep up.

Here are some leftovers for breakfast to go with your cold pasta and pizza. Maybe that half-eaten sub or the sushi roll that comes with a strict deadline for consumption.

Or you could be weird and go with eggs and toast.

Zach Eflin or Grayson Rodriguez on Opening Day?
Could be none of the above. What if Corbin Burnes or another stud starter is with the team? OK, I don’t anticipate Burnes re-signing, but someone similar could get the assignment. Otherwise, unlike 2024 spring training, there might actually be a competition for the No. 1 spot.

Will Jorge Mateo be on the Opening Day roster?
First, the Orioles would have to sign him to another contract. He’s eligible for arbitration again and MLBTradeRumors.com projects his raise to $3.2 million. That’s hefty for a player who doesn’t project to start and hasn’t hit after hot starts to the season, and with the Orioles more likely to keep Ramón Urías in a utility role. And let’s not forget about the elbow surgery. We’re told that Mateo should be ready on Opening Day, but there might not be room for him.

Colton Cowser has a chance to be special in two more ways in 2024.

Cowser is trying to become the first Orioles outfielder chosen as the American League’s Rookie of the Year since Al Bumbry in 1973. Bumbry is remembered as a center fielder but he made 58 starts in left and 24 in right. He didn’t have more than one start in center until 1976 – making 53 in center and left.

Infielder Gunnar Henderson was named Rookie of the Year in 2023, reliever Gregg Olson in 1989, infielder Cal Ripken Jr. in 1982 and designated hitter/ first baseman Eddie Murray in 1977.

The Orioles never had a left fielder win a Gold Glove, but Cowser is a finalist. Rawlings began distinguishing outfield positions in 2011, but eight-time winner Paul Blair was a center fielder.

(Props if you remember the one game that Blair played at third base in 1968. He didn’t start but he totaled eight innings and committed an error.)

Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle is a repeat finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, another nod to his immense improvement at a position that he had to learn. His fourth and final position as a professional.

Rookie Colton Cowser, the fifth-overall pick in the 2021 draft, was chosen as a finalist in left field to give the club multiple representatives.

The Orioles’ last season with multiple winners was 2014 with shortstop J.J. Hardy, center fielder Adam Jones and right fielder Nick Markakis.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was a finalist last year but didn’t make it onto the 2024 list. Left fielder Austin Hays also represented the Orioles last fall, losing to the Guardians’ Steven Kwan, but he was traded to the Phillies at the deadline.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson seemed like a lock earlier in the season to at least become a finalist, if not win the award, but he fell into a fielding slump, finished with 25 errors, and was excluded. The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe and the Guardians’ Brayan Rocchio are the last shortstops standing.

The uncertainties over the Orioles’ roster for 2025 include how they intend to use Heston Kjerstad. Will he receive an opportunity to play every day, no matter the matchup, and how many starts will he get in the outfield?

Some stability would be a nice advancement for the second-overall draft pick in 2020.

Kjerstad was optioned multiple times and had multiple stints on the concussion injured list. He totaled 39 games and 114 plate appearances, batting .253/.351/.394, and made his second playoff roster.

It’s hard to label Kjerstad’s usage as a platoon because he didn’t play regularly, but he had only 16 at-bats against left-handers and collected six hits.

Manager Brandon Hyde was asked at his season-ending media session about platooning some of the younger hitters.

The sunny disposition that Colton Cowser carries into games, the clubhouse and pretty much every step in life was put to the test Wednesday night.

The Orioles lost Game 2 of the Wild Card to again get swept out of the playoffs. Cowser wasn’t on the 2023 Division Series roster, went 1-for-7 against the Royals and dealt with the additional pain of a fractured left hand. In its totality, no one hurt more than him.

That’s enough to break anyone, but Cowser still managed a smile and a few quips as he walked to his locker and took questions about the pitch that eventually forced him to the trainers room. It was an unfortunate finish to a season that could give the Orioles back-to-back Rookie of the Year selections following Gunnar Henderson in 2023.

Closer Gregg Olson was the last Oriole to earn the honor back in 1989 before Henderson came along. Yankees pitcher Luis Gil appears to be Cowser’s primary challenger and I’ve seen national media favor both of them. An article on FOX Sports referred to Cowser as a “shoo-in” but noted the reduction in odds.

You know which way Orioles manager Brandon Hyde would vote.

More baseball is being played while the Orioles regroup and think about 2025. They'll move past the crushing Wild Card loss to Kansas City but also use it to avoid feeling this way next fall.

Since we're looking back ...

* The Orioles worked backward over the last few seasons and it’s skewed perceptions that lead to some skewering of the organization. At least, that’s my theory and I’m floating it like a birthday balloon.

They unexpectedly won 83 games in 2022 after losing 110 the previous summer. Then, they jumped to 101 wins in 2023 to claim the division and earn the top seed.

This team raises bars like Jon Taffer.

The music didn't play. The reflections from the disco lights didn't bounce off the walls and ceiling. The Orioles sat in silence at their lockers or circled the room and hugged, failing to repeat as division champions and now mimicking last year’s morose elimination setting.

The losing streak in the playoffs has reached 10 games. Any chance to snap it must wait until 2025.

The Royals broke a tie in the sixth inning on Bobby Witt Jr.’s infield single with two outs that scored Kyle Isbel, and the Orioles lost 2-1 in a do-or-die Game 2 of the Wild Card series before an announced crowd of 38,698 at Camden Yards.

That’s it. Being all-in with the winter trade for Corbin Burnes and talking about avenging last year’s ouster in the Division Series in Texas led to another sweep. Too many injuries and too little offense.

And now, a lot of time to think about it.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde took a temperature check of his team this morning. He walked in the clubhouse and the weight room. No one seemed to be sweating yesterday’s loss that pushed them to the brink of elimination in the Wild Card round.

“I think it's totally business as usual,” Hyde said.

“I think guys are in great spirits and ready to get after it today.”

They must or there’s no tomorrow.

“I have all the faith in the world in this team,” said Colton Cowser. “I think yesterday it was just one of those days. I think our guys, we're really confident, really comfortable, and we're looking forward to bouncing back.”

If the Orioles reach the Division Series, Game 1 would be played Saturday at 6:38 p.m. at Yankee Stadium. Game 2 would be played Monday at 7:38 p.m.

They need to get there first, and a loss today destroys that goal.

Colton Cowser is the cleanup hitter this afternoon, Adley Rutschman is catching and Ryan O’Hearn is the designated hitter.

Zach Eflin pitched for the Rays in Kansas City on July 4 and allowed five earned runs and six total in five innings. He owns a 5.09 ERA in four career starts against them totaling 23 innings.

Eflin tossed a complete-game shutout against the Royals on May 11, 2019 with the Phillies.

The Orioles have two games remaining in the 2024 regular season and they are two games that won’t change much for the club in that they have a playoff berth secured and after last night, the top American League Wild Card spot secured too.

The Orioles will host either Detroit or Kansas City next week, beginning Tuesday in Baltimore in a best-of-three series.

The Orioles (89-71) beat Minnesota 7-2 Friday to lock down the No. 4 playoff seed and by losing, Minnesota was eliminated from postseason contention.

Friday’s win improved the Orioles to 4-0 this year against Minnesota by a 29-11 score. They have scored seven, 11, four and seven runs in wins over Minnesota. The Orioles have produced 47 hits in the season series with 11 homers, batting .320 and with a team OPS of .922.

The Orioles have now won eight games in a row over Minnesota, outscoring the Twins 55-17 in those games.

MINNEAPOLIS – Keegan Akin didn’t make last year’s Division Series roster. He didn’t stand a chance.

A lower-back injury ended Akin’s season on June 28. He allowed 10 earned runs and 13 total in four innings over his last four appearances, an ugly stretch by any measurement.

The Orioles are meeting to discuss their roster for the upcoming Wild Card series and Akin’s spot is secure. He’s healthy and having the finest season of his career. He’s just doing it quietly.

More people should be talking about this guy.

Akin’s 65 appearances rank second to Yennier Cano’s 69 and are 20 more than his previous high in 2022. He’s registered a 3.13 ERA and 0.927 WHIP, the best of his five seasons in the majors, and he’s struck out 96 batters in 77 2/3 innings.

MINNEAPOLIS – Never mind that the Tigers refused to lose again tonight, still behaving like a team determined to run the table. The Orioles used their own tools to nail down the home Wild Card.

Ryan O’Hearn hit his first home run since Aug. 27, Cade Povich twirled 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Orioles pulled away from the Twins for a 7-2 victory at Target Field.

Game 1 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series will be played at Camden Yards, with the opponent and time to be determined. It’s finally done.

The Orioles can adjust their rotation this weekend and rest some regulars. They can schedule their Monday workout. The only reason to check the out-of-town scoreboard is curiosity or boredom.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win the division but to get home field through the Wild Card is huge," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We’re gonna be pumped to play in front of our fans. We know there’s gonna be a lot of energy and excitement in the ballpark and our guys are really looking forward to that.”