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.

The changes coming to the Orioles coaching staff will be more extensive than anticipated earlier this week.

The co-hitting coach arrangement with Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte is completely gone. The Orioles aren’t retaining Fuller, and a source confirmed today that Borgschulte is returning to the Twins organization.

Borgschulte was Triple-A St. Paul’s hitting coach in 2021 before the Orioles hired him. He’s accepted a position as a Twins hitting coach.

Minnesota is shaking up its staff by moving on from hitting coaches David Popkins and Rudy Hernandez and assistant Derek Shomon.

The Orioles are down to offensive strategy coach Cody Asche, who pretty much served as a third hitting coach. They haven’t confirmed the departures or how the staff will be structured in 2025.

Constant fluctuations in run production are expected over the course of a 162-game regular season. The dam bursts and is rebuilt.

The Orioles were shut out against the Yankees on May 1 and scored seven runs the following day. They beat the Reds 2-1 in Cincinnati, erupted for 11 runs in the next game and lost 3-0 in D.C. They totaled seven runs in a three-game stretch, opened the weekend Mariners series with a 9-2 win and were no-hit last night through five innings before Gunnar Henderson's three-run homer off Sonny Gray.

The club ranked 21^st in the majors in runs scored this month with 64 heading into last night’s game in St. Louis after ranking fourth in the majors and first in the American League with 132 in April.

“We’re just continuing to work through it,” said co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte. “We just want to continue to take good at-bats and put pressure on the pitcher and hopefully continue to grind out some more good at-bats like we did (Saturday) night and first game of the series.”

Austin Hays was putting together better at-bats right before his left calf strain in Kansas City. He had hits in five of six games heading into last night.

Anthony Santander can hit if he’s sent to the plate. His swollen and bruised left knee can handle it. But playing the outfield is on hold.

Santander is receiving treatment on the knee after he slammed it into the right field wall in the third inning Wednesday afternoon while chasing Bo Bichette’s fly ball that deflected off his glove and resulted in a two-run double.

The knee already was tender, and Santander aggravated it in the eighth inning while running the bases. He was replaced in right field in the top of the ninth and served as the designated hitter the past two games.

“The knee’s feeling OK,” he said. “It’s still swollen and bruised. A couple more days it’s gonna be fine.”

Santander said the soreness has been “the same” since Wednesday.

The Orioles are mashing some home runs to start the 2024 season. Through Wednesday’s games, they ranked as the most homer-happy team in all of Major League Baseball.

They led the majors in homers and homers per game and actually, and yes, it’s very early, they are a record pace for Orioles homers.

The most any O’s team ever hit was the 1996 Birds with 257. At their current pace, if maintained, this team would hit 270.

And sure, maybe that pace won’t be maintained. But last year the O’s scored a lot of runs thanks in large measure to outstanding runners in scoring position hitting stats. 

By the way, this O’s group is faring well there too, third in the AL as of yesterday with a team average of .293 with RISP.

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?

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.

The Orioles are following their first winning season in six years by leaving their coaching staff intact.

According to multiple sources, the only change coming is the addition of Cody Asche as offensive strategy coach. Asche just completed his first season as upper-level hitting coordinator in the minors.

Anthony Villa will now oversee the entire system as minor league hitting coordinator after working at the lower levels in 2022.

Manager Brandon Hyde, whose option already was picked up for next season, will again have Fredi González as his 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.

Holmes moved from the bullpen to the dugout this season, swapping places with Cossins. He previously held the title of “bullpen coach.”

The Orioles begin a four-game series in Kansas City tonight with Jordan Lyles on the mound after last night’s rainout adjusted his turn.

Lyles has a 4.50 ERA and 1.484 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced the Royals in Game 1 of a May 8 doubleheader and allowed two earned runs (four total) in a season-high 7 1/3 innings.

Tonight’s game won’t provide a matchup of sorts between the top two draft picks in 2019 - Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. A nice sidebar that’s put on hold until Friday.

Robinson Chirinos is behind the plate tonight. Rutschman is going to catch at least two games in the series and likely serve as designated hitter in another. He’s probably going to catch in three of the four games in Toronto, including Monday’s opener.

Rutschman already was going to sit tonight, and the postponement didn’t change the lineup pattern established days ago. Manager Brandon Hyde is easing him into the major league workload after the No. 1 prospect strained his right triceps at the spring training complex.

In November, the Orioles hired co-hitting coaches, a pair of 31-year-olds in Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller. 

Borgschulte had spent the previous four seasons in the Twins organization, making his way to their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul before landing in Baltimore. Fuller, on the other hand, was an internal promotion. 

Fuller joined the O’s in 2019, brought on as the hitting coach for the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds. From there, he was promoted to Bowie in 2021 before earning a trip to Baltimore this year. 

Coming up through Baltimore’s farm system, Fuller understands the importance of keeping hitting philosophies consistent, no matter what level of the organization you may be at. 

Ryan McKenna, recently promoted from Triple-A Norfolk, says that its been helping his development this season.