Another huge Orioles series has come and gone and the O's passed the test, overcoming some bad things happening to win three out of their four games against the Rays and give themselves a two game lead in the AL East. Things are going so well that Mark honestly doesn't know how to handle it. The O's are on a 100 win pace and we've never seen anything quite like it. Also in this episode, looking at the next opponent, the Phillies. The unheralded prospect is Kyle Brnovich, and the revisited prospect is Cade Povich.

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The Orioles beat the Rays and now they're in first place! This was beyond Mark's wildest imagination when this podcast began earlier this season so please forgive some jubilant shouting about the O's current place in the standings and the recent victory that put them there. Pausing the exuberance a little bit, Mark also looks at the trade acquisition, Shintaro Fujinami, hoping that Fujinami can work out like the last Japanese Oriole, Koji Uehara. The unheralded prospect is Yaqui Rivera, and revisited is Dylan Beavers.

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It's not the end of the world when the Orioles lose consecutive games, it's just really annoying when the games are as bad as the two losses to the Dodgers have been. Mark vents about everything going wrong, especially the things that reinforce the O's apparent needs to be addressed by trade. A question they have to figure out is: How hard should the Orioles go in on this season? The trade thoughts make Mark nervous, but that's mostly Dan Duquette's fault. The unheralded prospect of the episode is Ryan Long, and revisited is Heston Kjerstad.

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Things are going as close to good as possible for the Orioles right now with the team only a game out of first place and the Yankees and Red Sox tied for last. Mark is determined to enjoy this fun state of affairs for as long as it lasts. To see if the O's can keep the streak rolling, this episode looks to the coming Dodgers series, with Grayson Rodriguez returning to Baltimore. In the mailbag, some thoughts about MASN broadcasters. The revisited prospect of the episode is Connor Norby.

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The All-Star break has come and gone and now it's time for the Orioles to face the rest of their tough schedule. Mark looks at how the team's offense, defense, and pitching have compared to their AL East competition to see where they're measuring up and where they're not. With the trade deadline arriving before the end of the next challenging stretch of game, Mark also goes through some rotation trade candidates to see if he can talk himself into wanting any of them.

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Can you believe the Orioles are 54-35 at the break? Mark can hardly believe it either, but with regular waves of prospects hitting the team, maybe it's no wonder. New ones are still developing too, with recent promotions for Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo, and oh yeah, the Orioles also made their first ten rounds of draft picks on Sunday and Monday. Mark rolls through the draft class so far, starting with first rounder Vanderbilt OF Enrique Bradley Jr. on through all of the other college outfielders and pitchers. Plus, in the mailbag, a listener wants a Hunter Harvey reunion.

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Calling up a top prospect and then beating the Yankees twice is pretty good. Mark hopes the Orioles don't need that kind of jolt much more often though, because they're running out of guys to promote just now. What a two-game turnaround it's been! After running through the lovely totals from Thursday night, Mark's wondering what comes next. The last two games, however fun, are only two games. In the mini-draft preview, Colin Houck and Hurston Waldrep. The revisited prospect is Coby Mayo.

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Note: This episode was recorded prior to news about Colton Cowser being promoted to the Orioles.

Once on a 100+ win pace, the Orioles have gone 7-11 over their last 18 games and Mark feels like they're stuck in the downward spiral right now. Or maybe that's just the several annoying losses and a lack of offense since the last episode. Mark looks at what's gone wrong lately and what might go better without external additions, though he hopes those are made too. Top prospect revisited: Joey Ortiz. There's also a mini-draft preview of a couple of players - Arjun Nimmala and Bryce Eldridge - who've shown up in mock drafts as possible Orioles picks at #17.

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There's nothing that gets Mark's indignation fired up more than an imagined or real slight against the Orioles by MLB, which has absolutely occurred as the new All-Star "Phase Two" voting rules hosed Adley Rutschman out of a starting spot in the game. Mark's also still annoyed about the O's losing the series to the Reds, and crossing his fingers that they can do better against the Twins. In the mailbag, thoughts on Mike Elias seeming to prefer not to draft pitchers with high picks and how this has turned out early on. The unheralded prospect is Zach Showalter, and the revisited prospect is Jordan Westburg.

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The Orioles gave up just five hits on Tuesday, so they really should have won... except they only got three hits and they lost. Yes, Mark is grumpy about it, especially with the rain delay keeping him up late. The good news is the O's had another winning month. Now they just need to hammer a poor Reds pitcher on Wednesday to take the series. The unheralded prospect of the episode is Alex Pham. Revisited: Colton Cowser.

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