Major League Baseball

After 19 straight losses, Orioles on brink of making worst kind of history

Updated Aug. 25, 2021 9:02 a.m. ET

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By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

The Baltimore Orioles lost a baseball game. Again.

The 14-8 loss at home to the Angels on Tuesday was the club’s 19th consecutive loss, which, if you run the numbers, crunch the data and do some research, is not exactly "what you want." These flightless Birds, a group of well-meaning gentlemen who have not won a baseball contest since Aug. 2, now find themselves on the brink of history.

Three more defeats would give the O’s 22 L's in a row and break the American League record for consecutive losses, a mark set by ... the 1988 ... Baltimore Orioles, who dropped 21 straight to start the season. The all-time record is 23 "not-a-wins" in a row, which was accomplished by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.

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And it’s not like the Orioles have been the victims of close losses, bad bounces and cruel luck during this torrid time. Just once during this streak have they lost a game by only one run, and they’ve lost by two runs twice. 

All in all, they’ve been getting absolutely walloped. Their average margin of defeat has been a whopping six runs per game. Compare that to the ‘88 Orioles (four runs) and the ‘61 Phils (3.5 runs), and you begin to understand just how dreadful things have been in Charm City.

Since their most recent win, the Birds have scored the fewest runs in baseball (55) AND allowed the most runs in baseball (162). And while the offense has certainly been un-good, it’s the pitching that has truly sunk the O’s. John Means has been the team’s best starting pitcher, and he has had an ERA of 6.52. The other starters during this landslide of losses — Matt Harvey, Jorge López, Keegan Akin, Alex Wells and Spenser Watkins — have allowed a combined 67 earned runs in 65 innings across 15 starts.

To be clear, I’m not trying to dunk on these pitchers or the Orioles' coaching staff. Everyone wearing a uniform is going to the ballpark every day and doing their damnedest. Watkins and his astronomical ERA aren’t exactly having a jamboree out there. Losing is worse for the players than it is for the fans.

Now, I’m a positive guy who tries to maintain an optimistic outlook, but there’s an unavoidable cold, hard truth in the numbers. These hurlers, at their current level of ability, are quite simply overmatched and out of their league right now. Some of them are young and might eventually develop into better pitchers. Some of them are Matt Harvey. But the front office has abjectly failed to assemble a rotation that can do better than a 9.00 ERA over a three-week stretch.

It feels like Baltimore has been the punchline of professional baseball for an eternity, but how did the Orioles actually get here, to the precipice of embarrassing history? 

Well, it wasn’t that long ago that the Orioles were half-decent. They most recently made the playoffs in 2016 and entered the 2018 season still in "going for it" mode. Then everything fell apart, they traded away Manny Machado, won 47 games the following season and have been in or around the AL East cellar ever since.

The current front-office regime, led by former Astros exec Mike Elias, took the reins in November 2018. It’s almost the end of year three of the Grand Rebuild, and the big-league team has shown few signs of improvement. Ownership and the front office have shied away from spending the money necessary to incrementally improve the MLB team in the short term, opting to tank hard-core to rack up draft picks. 

That has created an unwatchable product at Camden Yards and led to a duct-taped roster on the verge of 20 consecutive losses.

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In the front office’s defense, those execs were left with a bunch of bad contracts, few tradable players and a bottom-five farm system in baseball. It would have taken a miracle to turn that '18 team into an immediate winner. 

And things aren’t all bad. Cedric Mullins has been a legitimate top-10 MVP candidate this season and has solidified himself as part of Baltimore’s future. Ryan Mountcastle bounced back from a dreadful start and has posted an OPS over .900 since mid-June. And even though he has struggled recently, Means threw that incredible no-hitter in May and is definitely pretty solid.

The Birds also now have the best farm system in baseball (per MLB Pipeline), including the game’s consensus best hitting and pitching prospects in Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez. But at the end of the day, wins in Norfolk and Bowie don’t count, and the organization’s inability to plug the holes in a Swiss cheese roster has left the Orioles as the butt of every joke in the baseball world.

There was one moment in Tuesday's loss to the Angels that felt especially humbling. In the third inning, with the Orioles already down 8-1, manager Brandon Hyde elected to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani with two outs and first base open.

Objectively, it was a smart move — why pitch to the most dangerous home-run hitter in the world if you don’t have to? But as the impending American League MVP removed his shin guard and batting gloves and sauntered to first, a slice of the 8,781 fans at Camden Yards began to boo. They’d come for the Sho.

The Shohei Ohtani traveling show is a real thing, as it should be. There was a great piece at Baseball Prospectus recently about how Ohtani single-handedly raises attendance numbers. Last week, I went out of my way to attend an Angels away game in Detroit, just so I could see the once-in-a-lifetime two-way superstar in person.

But to hear those boos streaming down in Baltimore was jarring. It was a stark reminder that a significant portion of paying fans showed up not to watch their beloved yet depleted hometown team play some ball but to see the opponent. And with 19 consecutive losses harshing the vibe at Camden, who could blame them?

If the Orioles wish to stop the schneid on Wednesday, they’ll have to do so with a mix-and-match bullpen day against literally Shohei Ohtani. Maybe they’ll pull a miracle out of the hat that’s on the bird that’s on their hats, but my moola is with Shohei.

The Orioles' best chance for a win in the coming week is probably on Thursday, in the final game of their series against Anaheim. Because Friday, the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays come to town, and they’ve already dealt Baltimore seven of the 19 losses during this stretch.

Eventually, the Baltimore Orioles will win another baseball game. And maybe one day in the future, they’ll win a bunch. But the discomfort and lack of enjoyment for the team and the fan base is very, very real right now. 

No one in Birdland had illusions of competing in a stacked division this season, but 19 — going on 20 — consecutive losses is an unacceptable development on every front. The only thing O’s fans can do right now is sit back, enjoy some Cedric Mullins homers and see if their favorite ballclub can make a little bit of history.

Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.

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Major League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles

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Cedric Mullins

Shohei Ohtani

Jake Mintz