Good morning, Birdland!

Officially, there is nothing left for the Orioles to play in the regular season. Their win Friday night secured them the top wild card in the American League. This means they will host all three games of their wild card series against either the Tigers or the Royals, depending on which team performs better in the standings.

Paul reported on both of the Orioles’ potential opponents in the Wild Card round earlier this week. The Tigers present a clear challenge as the Orioles have only played them six games and it hasn’t gone well! But the Royals aren’t slackers, so we’re not playing as favorites. The Orioles feel at home and can tailor their pitch exactly how they want.

Speaking of which, now that the Orioles have won everything they can, it will be interesting to see how Brandon Hyde approaches these final two games of the regular season. There aren’t enough players on the roster to sit all the starters, but he could give some key players a breather.

For me, Adleyrutschman is the name that gives me a break. It seems like the backstop’s beater is moving at least a little (although it still lacks power). They need him to be as close to his 100 percent self as possible for the postseason. But there are probably a lot of people with nagging issues that the Orioles know better about than the public. So it’s up to everyone what they do.

Setting up pitching is probably more important and easier. There is no reason to use Corbin Burnes or Zach Eflin this weekend. Dean Kremer is on track to pitch on Sunday, but that would give him a short break for Wednesday, which would be Game 3 of the Wild Card round. If Kremer pitches on Sunday, it will likely be a shortened appearance with one of the weaker arms following him (Matt Bowman?). But Game 3 could also be an opportunity to tie right-hander Kremer with left-hander Cade Povich.

There is a built-in rest day on Monday, so the O’s don’t have to be overly conservative with the bullpen. No one will be pitching on consecutive days at the start of the playoffs. But again, there might be some guys who are a little hurt this weekend and Hyde will want to stay away from them.

Whatever they do, just stay healthy, get some stats, and stay on the upward trend into October.

Left

This, that and the other | Smelled Kubatko
Keegan Akin is a good example of how sneakily good certain aspects of the Orioles bullpen have been. No, they don’t have Félix Bautista and Seranthony Domínguez is a heart attack waiting to happen, but there are people capable of losing their nerve.

O looks forward to more baseball in October at Camden Yards | Orioles.com
Camden Yards always looks good, but there’s something special about it in the postseason paint job. Why couldn’t this team deliver the first World Series games in its history?

What we learned about the Orioles’ bullpen this week in New York | The Baltimore Banner
The most important thing for the bullpen is to be healthy. Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb are back and will be throwing high leverage innings in October. It would be nice to have Craig Kimbrel in the first half, but he’s long gone. That’s all they can ask for this time of year.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!

• Mike DeJean turns 54 today. He spent part of the 2004 season in Baltimore before being traded to the Mets for outfielder Karim Garcia.
• The late one Tood Frohwirth (born 1962, died 2017) was born on this day. From 1991 to 1993, he had a 2.71 ERA over 298.2 relief innings.
• A posthumous birthday for Grant Jackson (born 1942, died 2021). He played for the Orioles for six seasons from 1971 to 1976. He had a 2.81 ERA over 333.1 innings.

This day in history

1953 – American League owners unanimously approve moving the Browns franchise from St. Louis to Baltimore. The team was coming off a 54-100 attendance season in which it posted the lowest attendance in the league.

1958 – Orioles catcher Gus Triandos steals the first and only base of his entire 13-season career. He will go on to play 1,206 consecutive games without ever being caught stealing.

1971 – The Orioles finish the season with 108 wins, becoming only the third team to ever win 100 or more games in three consecutive seasons.

2011 – One of the most incredible final days of a baseball season ever. The Orioles contributed by getting back on top and defeating Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox 4-3. This, coupled with an unlikely win by the Rays, keeps the collapsing BoSox out of the postseason.

2023 – The Orioles earn their 100th win of the season, surpassing the milestone for the first time since 1980 and claiming their first AL East title since 2014.