The Final Strike

Stephen Heckman delivers a blunt breakdown of the Orioles' slump after a four-game sweep by Boston, blasting manager Craig Albernaz for poor fundamentals, baserunning and defensive errors, and confusing bullpen usage. He contrasts the front office moves and injuries with coaching shortcomings and declining on-field execution.

Heckman also addresses fan frustration, roster decisions, and the uncertain outlook with 19 games left, arguing the team has the talent but lacks consistent leadership and execution to turn the season around.

10. Orioles complete a sweep of Oakland and continue a strong road performance.

9. Bullpen numbers have improved, with recent low ERAs and solid late-game work.

8. Baltimore claims Luis Roberts off waivers to add a right-handed bat and outfield depth.

7. Gunnar Henderson fires a breakout game, giving the lineup a major boost.

6. Pete Alonzo is checked after a head impact; team monitors injuries and lineup flexibility.

5. Felix Bautista shows promise in AAA rehab outings, raising expectations for a return.

4. Heston Kjerstad’s AAA production sparks debate over a September call-up and roster needs.

3. Roster expands Sept. 1; choices between an extra pitcher or hitter could shape the stretch run.

2. Managerial moves and depth are tested amid injuries and long-season fatigue.

1. Overall outlook: Orioles are heating up at the right time and remain in the wild-card hunt.

Attention, please. The show starts in...., 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go. What is going on, Birdland? And Stephen Heckman here for the Final Strike Podcast, brought to you by the Baltimore Battery. We are coming to you after the Baltimore Orioles drop the final game of the series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays today. 3-1. Seems like the only person who showed up to play any offense today was Colton Cowser. He had both hits for the Baltimore Orioles, both extra base hits. Mind you, on junk pitches, one was a double off a cutter and a home run off a changeup. So good to see that happening. But, uh, Baltimore Orioles, unfortunately did drop the final game of the series today and they did finish their final game of the season against the Rays. It is their fourth seas.., sixth season in a row they've had a winning record against the Rays. So we are glad to see that the Orioles are at least keeping up the tides with them. Um, um. So, the Orioles finished the season series against the Rays 8-5, six consecutive winning seasons against the Rays. Also has the most victories since 2020 against the Rays of any other team. So, good thing the Baltimore Orioles have come to show up against the Rays. Unfortunately, the Orioles went 5-5 over their last 10 games, in which they needed to do better than that, between the Rays and the New York Yankees. This sweep against the New York Yankees definitely was very difficult to endure, and unfortunately, might be a struggle to get things back on track. They are getting ready to head out on a nine-game homestand, or a nine-game road swing, so we'll see what happens there. At worst, they cannot do anything worse than 6-4. They have to do, have to do, at least 7-3, is realistically what we're looking at. So mind you, we're over on TikTok right now while we're recording this live. So everybody in the TikTok universe, thank you for joining in. We will be talking about the Baltimore Orioles here, some things. So if you have any questions pertaining to the Baltimore Orioles, playoff push or anything that you'd like to know about, now's your opportunity to get them in as we are recording the podcast for the final strike that will be going out later on tonight. So get your questions in while we're recording. We'll be glad to answer any questions pertaining to baseball. Okay, so I want to make sure we don't get any of those far out from left field, questions that don't belong here. So, welcome everybody on in. Glad to see you. I know the Orioles have had a rollercoaster of a season, and they still continue to have a rollercoaster of a season. I was talking to a buddy of mine, and we were trying to figure out what Albert is doing with the lineups. Yes, he is a first-year manager, but once again, as we've mentioned many a times here, The pedigree of what Craig Albernez came in with, there are some questionable things that he is doing that leaves us wondering. What in the hell were we getting when we got this guy? Because he's supposed to be so far advanced from other people that we were looking at that we were willing to bypass getting veteran managers to bring this guy in. So what I mean by that, and we've talked about it in the future or down in the past pertaining to this and one of the reasons why the Baltimore Orioles are where they are. You take a look at today, the Baltimore Orioles are 4-7 when it comes to series in which they have an opportunity to sweep the other team. So you're talking about seven losses in those situations that could be the difference of what's going on right now. They at least will be a game back after the end of today. So flip that around with those seven losses and add them as victories, and you're talking about you're sitting pretty for a wild-card spot. That's just there. You know, you take that out elsewhere and, you know, you're looking at other situations where the Baltimore Orioles in one-run games aren't much better. You know, you look at some of the games that the Orioles lead the league in blown saves. And yes, they've won some of those games. But last time when I looked it up, you know, a few weeks ago when we discussed this, the Baltimore Orioles had led the league with 19 blown saves. Even if you convert half of that, you know, you're sitting there talking about eight to nine regular saves that get converted. Those are victories if you convert those. So once again, you're sitting yourself into a playoff position. Now, yes, Albernez can't go out there and play the game himself. We understand that. But the way you're unrolling the bullpen, the way you're putting players in positions, the way you're putting out the lineup is what is causing a lot of this to actually be unfolding the way it is. You look at the sixth inning where the wheels fell off the bus for Shane Boz today and, you know, three ground balls on two strike pitches, you know, the one ground ball just out of the reach of, you know, Jackson holiday, you know, And I saw somebody sitting there saying that his range is not that good. It's not his range. You know, it matters of where you had him lined up defensively. Because, you know, one step too far this way, one step too far that way, and you're talking about the difference between him getting that ball and the ball skirting under his glove like it did. Pete Alonso holding the runner on first. You go and look at that, and the play he dives to try and make the play on the ball, and the ball just misses his glove, you're talking about one step over instead of holding the runner on the bag, and you've got to double play. So these are the situations that I'm talking about that come into play here. Was the runner on first a threat to steal after Samuel Beseo had already thrown out two runners by the sixth inning? I doubt it. But, I mean, everybody has seen Sammy Busseo has a cannon for an arm. You know, he threw out Simpson, who had 35 stolen bases already on the season, and it wasn't even close. So, I'm sorry. Holding the runner on first there I don't think was as big a priority as defensively being lined up to prevent the runner from moving forward. You're not going to pick the guy off. I mean, it's just Shane Boz does not have the greatest of pickoff moves. And right there at the time, his play was designed to get the runner at the plate. I'd rather him be in a situation to turn a double play than play the runner on first. Even if he's just a step off the bag, he makes that play on the dive. And you're talking about a possible double play there. But in that situation Two strikes, two outs On all three of those hits You're out of the inning either way. So you're looking at situations, small, minute details that are the difference between the Orioles winning and losing games. It's like the other night with the Pete Alonzo home run. That was called a foul ball. Anybody who knows anything about baseball, the yellow pole is called a fair pole. It's not a foul pole. It's a fair poll because it indicates the field of play, where the fair play stops. Once it goes across that, it becomes foul territory. So it's the fair poll. That ball, I don't care how you look at it straight down the line. Yeah, it could appear that way. But there are plenty of angles that you look at. You could see that ball was in play. And yes, that one play particularly did not lose the game for us. But in that situation, especially with a team who went 0-for-19 in the series with runners in scoring position, that one play was significant because it changed the whole momentum of the game. Like, the whole team's confidence, the whole team's energy just was deflated on that one play. And you could see it. It just was deflated on that one play. And when you get something like that in the middle of a playoff race, those small plays can be the determining factor that is going to make your team, excel or your team collapse. And like I said, we want five and five on that road trip. You're talking about the team collapsing at the wrong time. You could not afford, let alone at home, to be swept by the New York Yankees. And what's worse is we end the season playing against the New York Yankees in New York. Our best hope at that point with the way the Yankees have been playing is that they've locked up a playoff spot. Now, there was an actual situation the other day, and it only lasted a day, where the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Orioles all had the top three wildcard spots locked down. And then Tampa Bay had the top seed locked down in the AL. I'd love to see four teams from the AL East go into the playoffs. That would send everybody into a shit fit. But that's here nor there. Back to what I was discussing. Craig Albernez needs to keep consistency right now. You have less than 35 games until the season's over. You cannot be switching around your lineup the way you're doing it. There's no reason that Colton Couser, Dylan Beavers, and Tyler O'Neal are not playing every single day. There's no reason. Unless they're injured or unless they need a break. But this crap of bringing in a lineup one way and then bringing them in halfway through the game, that's not cutting it. You're just putting yourself in a situation where you're going to create an injury because the players aren't warmed up properly or ready to go into the game. So you're over-preparing, and you're also shortening your bench later on in the game. In a 1-0 game, if you've already shortened your bench because you've put people in in the 5th inning because they switched from a right-handed pitcher to a left-handed pitcher or vice versa, if you go into extra innings in the 10th or the 11th inning and one of your players gets hurt and you've already switched players out by that point because they switched to a different reliever, you're talking about shortening your bent or putting a player into a position that they are not used to playing or worst case scenario not having a player be able to play a position. I'm more than likely have not going to see that but that is the possibility that does happen that's why i'm not a fan of this well six inning let's go ahead and switch this player because this pitcher came in. No. Dylan Beavers is capable of playing every day. He's capable of playing against lefties and righties. He has a very good idea of what the strike zone is, what the strike zone isn't. It's one of the best things about Dylan Beavers. He has an awkward way of holding the bat. Yes, he has an awkward way of swinging the bat. Yes, but he has been productive in his career and there is a reason he is where he is. He has the talent to fulfill him. Colton Couser has proven with more consistent playing time, he's going to hit the ball. Look what he did today against a cutter, which he usually struggles against anything other than a fastball, two-seamer, four-seamer. There's a cut fastball, but cut fastballs seem to play more like a slider or even a heavy changeup. And he deposited that as for a double. His first double on a non-fastball pitch this year. His second hit was a home run off a changeup. Main reason we only had two hits today was Colton Couser. The main reason we didn't get shut out was Colton Couser. He's the only one who produced any offense for the Baltimore Orioles. He's the only one who was a base runner for the Baltimore Orioles today. He's the only reason we had any offense whatsoever. Poor Shane Boz has pitched his guts out for us. I mean, the guy's 4-13. He has an ERA that's just under 4 or just right at 4. If I remember correctly, he's getting, like, the fourth-worst run support in baseball. I mean, you got a guy going out there who goes six innings and gives up two runs. It's horrible and doesn't win. It's ridiculous. When Shane Boz goes out and pitches a quality start, the Orioles are something, I think they said they're like 1-9 or 2-9 when he has a quality start. And yet when any of the other pitchers have pitched a quality start for the Baltimore Orioles, they're something like 7-3 or 11-7, something weird like that. They have a winning record with all other pitchers who have a quality start and they have a losing record when Shane Boz has a quality start. So the talent's there. He's proving he is worth the five-year extension that was given. He's proving that he is everything that the Orioles wanted when they got him. So there's no reason that there should be any objection to having Shane Boz on our team and extending him the five years. He's just getting no offensive support. Now, the Orioles are off tomorrow, which definitely is needed because they're going to be in a tough stretch, and it's not going to be an easy stretch, but they definitely need to do things. The other thing that's really got me and a few of my friends who've been talking grinding and scratching our head here is this kid Franklin that the Baltimore Orioles keep putting out there, and yet he's a rookie. He's now played 13, 14 games for the Baltimore Orioles, and yet you have Heston Kerstead, who has some major league experience, down in the minor leagues, swinging a pretty good bat. I mean. Last weekend, by the end of the weekend, he had 11 home runs. He had two more home runs in the series against the Gwinnett Stripers. Let's see what he did this week. He was batting 269, if I remember correctly. So his bats woke up. This guy was the number two pick overall in the draft in 2019. And never got an opportunity to fulfill his chances because COVID came around. Then you had... He had the top bout with biocarditis. then when he did get his opportunity to play in the big leagues, he got hurt, he came back, got a concussion. I mean, the guys just had some bad luck, and it sucked because if he's not going to play for us, I've got a feeling this kid's going to end up being the next. Kyle Stowers. I mean, I was a huge Kyle Stowers fan. I kept saying Kyle Stowers just needed the opportunity. He got the opportunity, goes to the Marlins, puts up a 25-home run, 80-RBI season, and makes the All-Star team. Case in point, here's Heston Kerstad, who came into the draft as the best pure hitter coming out of that draft. A lot of people thought we overpaid for him and we drafted him too early, which, excuse me, is not true. I thought he was the perfect pick where we got him, and I think he was well worth what we got him for. But here we go, let's see. Triple A, he's played 74 games Scored 33 runs, he has 81 hits in 74 games 15 of them are doubles, won triple 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, Now he has struck out 77 times So his strikeout numbers are a little bit higher than they used to But he's batting 285, so he's brought that average up, From where it was last week That means he's brought his average up at least another 24 points 26 points, I'm sorry, .026 points, he might look like a blind sloth in the outfield, but the guy's bat is there. He does have a good bat, and I'm sorry, when I've got Leoy De Tavares out there in the outfield who's committed four or five errors already this season, I'll take somebody who's got a bat as lively as Kerstead over that right now. Tavares was originally brought in to be a defensive help, and his errors have been costly errors when he's had them. His on-base percentage is .334. His slugging percentage, .441. He's batting just under .800 OPS. We do. We do have a lot of bats that don't have a lot of defense. But right now, we need the offense. Our defense, we're not going to fix our defense this year. We have the fourth-worst defense in the league. A lot of that's happening in the infield, not in the outfield. So I can agree with you definitely on that. But right now, we have no offense. Our offense is killing us. And when you get guys like, you know, Leo DiTavares, this kid Franklin, the backup catcher, I keep forgetting his name. I mean, he's good defensively, yes. But, I mean, those are pretty much almost consistent outs every time. We've got to be able to have more consistent offense. You know, and right now, my father is talking to Kevin Crest's jersey. Not like he was Stowers. No, he was. I'm not saying he was, but Stowers never got the opportunity either. Stowers would play once every four games, and that's what they were doing with Kerstad last time he was here. When he did play, unfortunately, like I said, he did get hurt, and then he had the concussions, but before that, it was myocarditis. He missed nearly two years of baseball because of that, And then before that, it was COVID. So, unfortunately, a lot of people say he will be a September call-up, but I'm not so sure about that. We need help in the bullpen. Our bullpen is not reliable right now. I do. I do hope he figures it out soon because I am a big fan of him. I was a big fan of Stowers, and, you know, Stowers has turned into a pretty serviceable player. I just hate that we're losing people because we're not giving opportunities to them. I mean, now that Couser's getting regular playing time, he's actually starting to figure some of these pitches that he was having problems out with. You know, he's brought his average way up. But, you know, it's nice to see that you give players the playing time, they're going to be able to succeed and do what they got to do. It's, you know, it's like, you know, you got Jackson Holliday. Yeah, Colton Couser. His home run was off a changeup today. His double was off a cutter. He's batting 214. But remember, he was all the way down to 160 at one point this year. 164, 165. So he's come a long way from where he was. Now that he's getting the consistent playing time, he's able to actually make the adjustments that he needs. One person I've picked on, if anybody's listened to the Final Strike podcast this year, all year long I have been riding Henderson's ass. And I was actually kind of proud to see the other day, there's a video of him, actually talking to Pete Alonso and taking advice and pointers from Pete Alonso, on his swing and his stance, which I'm actually glad to see because one of the things that frustrates me the most with the Baltimore Orioles, and it's frustrated me for the past four years, is this two-hitting coach approach. I'm not for it. I agree. I agree. I just said that a few minutes ago. Colton Couser, Dylan Beavers need to be in there every day. Samuel Beseo should be in there every day. If he's not catching, which he should be catching four to five times, he should be catching four times a week minimum. If we're playing six games a week, he should be catching four of them. If we're playing seven games a week, he should be catching five of them. We're in a playoff stretch. These players were high draft picks. These players were put in the position they were put in for a reason. You're in a playoff race, if you're trying to make the wild card, these players should be playing every day. There's no excuse they're not. You're sending Kyle Bradish out there, you're sending Shane Boz out there all the time. We do. And actually, I actually discussed this a couple weeks ago with Nathan from Full Count Chaos. We had him on the podcast. One of the things I said our biggest problem with the major league level from the minor league level is all our minor leagues are on the same level on what they want to do with the players. But once they get to the major leagues, there's no communication. Like once they're out of the minor leagues, the communication from the minors to the majors just stops because there's a whole different approach. I actually am surprised about that too. I'm surprised Cal hasn't stepped in more because I see him at a lot of the games and it kind of makes me wonder, how much information and how much support that Rubenstein's willing to allow him to do. I know a lot of people are on the Elias thing and one of the people I think, we haven't heard from this year, ironically, which is strange because if anybody's followed Baltimore Twitter, now X, for the past six years, Adam Jones has been one of the most outspoken former players for the Baltimore Orioles. And last week and the week before, I had even said that I kind of believe he's, being groomed to be the general manager. I think Adam Jones is going to be the general manager, and I think it's going to be named during the offseason. He's the only person who hasn't really spoken up about anything except a few weeks ago after the draft. He said he was in the right place doing the right thing, and that's about all we've seen or heard from him all season long. Usually Adam Jones has quite a bit to say, especially when the Orioles are in situations like they are now where they're not playing up to their potential, or their offense isn't playing up to their potential. So it's quite interesting. So, yeah, I found it really odd this year we haven't heard much from him. And last year he was hired as an assistant to Mike Elias. So I would really be fine with Adam Jones as a general manager for the simple fact that he's a player. He knows what the players want. He's very strong at identifying talent. Like, when he was here with the team as a player, he knew what players to take under his wings and work with. And to help make them better, he knew what players to give pointers to. And even when he was in Japan, that's one thing that they talked about is he was in the dugout always giving advice and pointing things out, even when he wasn't playing. So you know if he doesn't become a general manager from a talent perspective, i would honestly see him as a coach down the line uh, i think elias has more rope than people think he's rolling two jobs this year um he's the president of baseball operations, he's really not the general manager and i think i'm sorry he did a excellent job getting what we needed this year going into the season. He got us a closer. He has been horrible at replacing closers the past three years. The two closers he's brought in both times have screwed us. Helsley's pitched 17 games this year. He started off pretty good, but then the shoulder injuries came. He came back, wasn't so hot. I'd be surprised if we saw him this year at all. If he does come back, great, because Bautista is actually going to be starting a rehab assignment this upcoming week. So having Bautista and Helsley back would be a big boost to a bullpen that needs it. But he got us the right-handed bat and he got us the right-handed power hitters that we need. You know, Westbrook going down was a big loss. Nobody could anticipate that. That was a hard fill. I think Kobe May has actually done a pretty decent job in that position. CES has done a pretty good job coming into that position and helping out. Losing Jackson Holiday for the first six, eight weeks of the season was a big. So, I mean, there were some problems there. And then, you know, you had the beginning of the season where the starting pitching staff, we had some problems with Trevor Rodgers went on the aisle at one point. You had Dean Kramer on the aisle twice. Chris Bassett went on the aisle. You had Kyle Braddish miss a couple starts. So, I mean, you've had what started out as a strong point of the season was the bullpen has become the biggest liability of the season. You know, you lost Zac Efron for the year, which was a big loss. So I kind of expected him to have a strong season. Those are things that you can't expect or anticipate, and we did have the depth at pitching. Brad Young has turned out to be a wonderful, wonderful gem out of nowhere. Cade Povic filled in admirably in two starts for us this year. Albert Suarez pitched decent for us when we needed him to. Dietrich Enge, that's probably the biggest mistake I think was made is DFAing him and then bringing him back and not bringing him up to the bigs. Yeah. Yeah. Except CES also has three years of major league experience in front of him, too. So he played with the Reds for a few years before being sent down to the minors. His biggest problem is, I mean, the guy has 20 homer potential, 20 and 30 homer potential. Braddish is an ace Braddish is an ace in the making before his, Tommy John surgery he was 22 of 24 starts he had done 3 innings or less or 3 runs or less in his starts and I think he had like 17 quality starts in 24 outings. These last 3 outings have not been Braddish-esque But that's normal. He hasn't pitched in two years, so I think he's kind of hit a little wall. But I think that'll be all right. I think he'll be fine. He's not pitched horribly, but he's not pitched up to expectations. This past season was the first time he's actually had a full offseason of normal, preparation for the season in three years. So, you know, between Boz and Braddish, I think we have a good thing going on. I think we're going to Have a good one-two punch with them Young Going to be your third starter You're going to have to find a fourth and fifth starter. That's exactly right. Boz is the fourth fewest-run support in the league. His upcoming offseason looks like. Depends what you do with Heston Kerstad. That's going to be a big thing. Leody Tavares, you know, I kind of like him, but I'm not all for letting him go. Enrique Bradfield has definitely improved since the first part of the season when he was dealing with hamstring injuries, So I can see him actually coming up next year being a fourth or fifth outfielder. You do have Tyler O'Neal for one more year. I don't think we're going to cut him and eat $16 million. Starting staff, you definitely do have options inside that you can bring up, but we definitely do need to add at least one more rotation guy, and we definitely need to figure out what we're doing with our bullpen. Yeah, I don't believe they're going to be 2027 baseball. I really don't. Right now, from what I'm hearing and what I've read around 2027 baseball is not going to happen. They're so far apart on things. The players want a salary floor. The owners want a salary cap. And yet you can't get them to meet in the middle on that. I mean, it's obvious they both want the same thing, just in a different way. There's got to be a common medium but then you know the owners want different things with the draft the players want different things with the draft, uh there's different things with the franchise uh like franchise tags there's different things with free agency all that it's it's it's a bunch of this, so call this what what do we call them. Alrighty. Well, we're going to wrap up here. It's been fun. This is probably going to be a regular thing on Sundays. I'll say that there's no baseball in 20. I don't think we'll go two years without baseball. There definitely will be baseball in 2028. It's just, this is going to be worse than the 94 lockout. It's going to be harder to get the fans back. I don't think Albie's over his head. I think Albie's just not, Listening to the players. That's the biggest thing. He doesn't have roles for players. In the bullpen, that's your biggest area where you definitely have to have roles sorted out so the player knows how to get ready. As a pitcher, one of the things that, we did when I was pitching was if you were a starter, you prepared differently. If you were a reliever, you prepared differently. If you were a closer, you prepared differently. Those things go a long way in determining how you prepare for a game and how you prepare to get ready for a game. You know, you just can't, you know, like Tyler Wells, you had him long relief, you had him short relief, you had him set up, then you had him closing. You have no way of determining what way to get ready for a game. If you're going to be a long reliever, you have to prepare differently. If you're going to be a closer, you have to prepare differently. And things like that are problems. You know, things like that are going to determine how your player reacts and if he's ready to pitch when called upon. You know, um, same thing with the outfield, you know, if you're a fourth outfielder, you've got to be prepared to play all three spots. You know, if you're a fifth outfielder, the same thing, you know, you, you just can't take the player and say, okay, you're playing here today. You're playing here today. You're playing here today. And then the next day, oh, okay. You're not going to play for two, three days. And the next day, okay, you're going to play here. You're going to play here and we're going to move you into first base today and you can't do that shit, you these are professional players getting paid to play and they're getting played paid to play certain ways you've got to you know, in a certain aspect you've got to tell them you know what they're doing, you just can't surprise them at the last minute and that's that's a big thing and it does cause problems there's continuity problems there just like you should not be rolling out a different lineup every single day what works is what works. Don't change what works. You change what doesn't work. And that's the problem. Albie's not changing what doesn't work. So, Albie will get at least one more season. If you have another season like this, next baseball season we play, he won't be around. He will not be around. I really do hope there is baseball in 2027. But when the Dodgers keep doing the shit they're doing, I don't know how you can say, let's play baseball next year. Because, you know, it's almost like teams are just letting them get away with it. Because how can you compete with it? They're literally trading away every player they have that's a top prospect. They're spending literally all the money they can. And, you know, I'm sorry, you know, not to pick on the Orioles, not to pick on teams like the Marlins and, you know, even the White Sox and the Diamondbacks. But how can you compete, you know, when they're shelling out $1.7 billion between four players and your team doesn't even have a payroll accumulating $1.7 billion for the whole team? How do you compete with that? So anyway, we're going to wrap up. It's going to be a regular Sunday thing. Usually we come on around 6 p.m. Eastern time. So that's when we do our podcast generally, generally every week. We're going to start doing live on TikTok so we can actually start getting questions from you all and answer them live on the podcast. When the podcast is edited and put on the air, you're all going to be able to see it and questions will be posted. A podcast will be aired anywhere you can find podcasts at. Also, you can find the videos on YouTube, and you can listen to the podcast on YouTube as well. So I want to give a big shout-out to everybody who joined today. Thank you so very much. It's been fun. I love talking baseball and the Orioles with everybody. It's a great thing to do. Even as hard as the season's been. It's still enjoyable, especially when you get to share it with fans and see how people are frustrated with it. Big shout out to the baltimore battery obviously i wouldn't be here without them uh don't forget to check us out at tiktok obviously you found us here, but we are also on twitter form or x formerly twitter same tag handle at the b more battery uh you can also check out our website the baltimore battery.com where we have numerous articles uh we'll have a bunch coming out within the next couple days we've had a bunch come out over the past week, So go check out what we've got going on there. Articles are posted on Facebook and Twitter regularly. So you'll be able to find them there as well. But you can always go to thebaltimorebattery.com, check out all the different riders we have and what we do there. Big shout out to our sponsor, Advanced Mobility Solutions, formerly Scooters for Rent. If you're ever down in the Maryland, Delaware, Eastern Shore area and looking for mobility products, don't forget to check out Advanced Mobility Solutions. They do have mobility scooters, electric, manual, and beach wheelchairs. Also, they have lift recliners, one of the only companies in the area that do run out lift recliners for their houses, condos, and hotels. You can reach them at 302-280-6203. Please tell them Steven from the Final Strike sent you. And until next time Birdland Please remember to keep the beer cold Always keep rooting for the Baltimore Orioles And peace out We'll catch you on the other side.

Special edition after the trade deadline: the Baltimore Orioles made several surprising moves — including sending Adley Rutschman to Boston, trading Taylor Ward and Tyler Wells, and moving other key pieces — that left fans outraged and questioning GM Mike Elias’ direction.

The episode breaks down the returns (multiple prospects and cash), the possible reasons behind the decisions (injuries, Rutschman’s reported unwillingness to re-sign), and how the roster and prospect pool could shape Baltimore’s immediate playoff chances and future rebuild.

Stephen Heckman breaks down the Orioles' rain-shortened 8-0 loss, the team's offensive struggles, and the looming trade-deadline decisions as Baltimore heads into the final day at 6 p.m. ET.

The episode covers Adley Rutschman's contract uncertainty, Samuel Basello's injury and catcher depth, the Dean Kramer trade, bullpen and defensive shortcomings, and potential targets and prospects linked to roster moves.

Heckman closes by asking Birdland for reactions and predictions as the Orioles face a make-or-break stretch of the season.

Stephen Heckman recaps the Orioles’ seven-game winning streak and sweep of the Astros, previews the high-stakes three-game series in Boston against the Red Sox, and highlights Kyle Bradish’s new five-year extension.

The episode also covers injury updates (including Samuel Basello’s shoulder), bullpen and closer uncertainty, small-ball offensive adjustments, the approaching trade deadline, and community and sponsor shout-outs.

Stephen Heckman and Zachary Bucklew recap the Orioles’ recent sweep, Blaze Alexander’s left hand injury, and the start of the All-Star break while turning their focus to the team’s draft haul.

Zachary Bucklew joins as the draft and prospect specialist.

The hosts highlight a pitcher-heavy draft with an unusually large number of high school picks compared to past Elias-era classes. Victor Salazar is confirmed as an outfielder and the first-round choice surprised some fans. Eric Booth Jr. drew comparisons to Enrique Bradfield Jr. and raised health and development questions. Zach and Stephen debate whether Elias truly controlled the draft or if someone else ran it behind the scenes. They note several college arms and debate how college ERAs can be misleading. The conversation touches on signability, overslotting, and trade value for certain picks.

Key players discussed include Ty Head, Dominic Voegele, Ross Davis, Zane Adams, Kevin Roberts Jr., Jimmy Anderson, and Carlos Sanchez. Each selection is placed in context of the system’s current strengths and weaknesses. Ross Norman and other pitchers without big strikeout numbers are singled out as concerns.

The hosts stress development and coaching alignment from rookie ball to the majors as essential for prospects to translate skills upward. They argue consistent coaching philosophies and better communication between levels will help players adjust and reduce confusion. Examples include pitchers needing refined secondary offerings and hitters needing clearer swing approaches.

Several draftees resemble current minor-league players, prompting questions about redundancy in the system. Injuries and signability remain recurring worries for early-round high school picks. Jackson Holliday and other recent top picks are used as context for pacing and expectation management.

Overall grade for the draft is a C+, reflecting a mixed approach that answers some needs but raises concerns about too many similar profiles and a high school-heavy strategy. The group appreciates the added pitching depth but wishes for more balance in college-versus-high-school choices. They plan to reassess the class in a few years once prospects develop.

Stephen and Zach also discuss the July sign deadline, likely unsigned draftees, and how overslotting can free money to target priority signees. They note teams often use picks as trade capital and that this draft could generate future trade opportunities.

The episode wraps with a reminder to follow coverage at The Baltimore Battery and watch for Zach’s deeper prospect write-ups and the site’s upcoming mid-month prospect piece.

Check TheBaltimoreBattery.com for full draft coverage and the Final Strike podcast for more analysis.

Stephen Heckman recaps the Orioles’ 3-2 loss to the Reds, breaking down Kyle Bradish’s strong outing, late-game bullpen decisions, Craig Albernaz’s managerial choices, and ongoing closer injuries and All-Star snubs.

He also reviews the American League standings, trade-deadline implications, potential coaching fixes, and invites listeners to follow the show and join the conversation.

Stephen Heckman breaks down the Orioles' recent struggles, highlighting questionable bullpen management, lineup and bench decisions, and injuries that have hampered the club.

He examines Gunnar Henderson's slump, individual performances, and what the team must address before the trade deadline to turn the season around.

Stephen Heckman breaks down the Orioles' road series against the Angels: the starting rotation (led by Kyle Bradish) has been excellent, but the bullpen and inconsistent offense—especially struggles with runners in scoring position and Gunnar Henderson's strikeouts—are major concerns.

He discusses rehab call-ups (Povich, Kremer), roster decisions and the need for bullpen reinforcement as Baltimore heads into a crucial stretch before the All-Star break.