The O's roll into Washington at 20-26 and limping through a stretch where the trainer's room is doing more roster construction than Mike Elias. Brandon Young gets the ball as the closest thing Baltimore has to a stabilizer right now, which is itself a sentence that tells you everything about this rotation.
Young is the storyline worth tracking. He turned in his first quality start of the year on May 6 against Miami, then followed it up by holding the Yankees to 2 runs over 5.1 on May 11. For a staff that's been hemorrhaging length, those two outings are basically a parade. He's at 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA and he looks like the steadiest arm Baltimore has trotted out in weeks.
Mikolas, on the other side, is the reason the Nats are giving home dog plus-money in a game they should otherwise be favored in. The 7.00 ERA is ugly, but it's actually been trending the right way — Washington dropped him into bulk-relief work after a 12.41 ERA through his first 3 starts, and he finally got back into the 6th inning for the first time this year in his most recent outing. He's allowed 2 or fewer runs in 4 of his last 6. Cautious progress, not a fixed pitcher.
The Orioles injury list reads like a depth chart. Mountcastle, Westburg (Tommy John), Kjerstad, Holliday, Beavers, Kremer, Povich, Eflin (Tommy John), Bautista, Helsley — that's most of an Opening Day roster sitting in street clothes. Washington isn't healthy either, with Trevor Williams, Josiah Gray, and DJ Herz all working back from elbow stuff, but at least the lineup is intact. James Wood and CJ Abrams have been carrying a top-5 slugging offense, per the Camden Chat series preview.
- Day-To-DayRichard Guasch SP — no
- Day-To-DayWill Robertson LF — The Orioles reassigned Robertson to minor-league camp Wednesday, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.
- Day-To-DayKeagan Gillies P — Gillies will be sidelined for at least six weeks with a quad injury, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
- Day-To-DayLuis Vazquez SS — Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said Monday that Vazquez has been diagnosed with a broken right thumb, Andy Kostka of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILDylan Beavers RF — Beavers (oblique) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
- 10-Day-ILJackson Holliday 2B — Holliday (hand) will play at third base in a rehab game with Double-A Chesapeake on Sunday, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.
- 15-Day-ILRyan Helsley RP — Helsley (elbow) played catch Friday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILGrant Wolfram RP — The Orioles placed Wolfram on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a lower-back strain, retroactive to Saturday.
- Day-To-DayTyler Baum DH — Baum has not pitched this year due an undisclosed injury.
- Day-To-DayTravis Sykora SP — Sykora will undergo a UCL reconstruction on his right elbow in two weeks, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
- Day-To-DayJarlin Susana RP — Susana underwent surgery last week to repair a right lat tear, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
- 15-Day-ILCole Henry RP — Henry (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester this weekend, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILClayton Beeter RP — Beeter (forearm) is ready to begin a rehab assignment, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILMax Kranick RP — The Nationals signed Kranick (elbow) to a one-year, $800,000 contract Tuesday and placed him on the 15-day injured list.
- 60-Day-ILDJ Herz SP — Herz (elbow) will throw to live hitters Friday at the Nationals' spring training facility in Florida, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILTrevor Williams SP — Williams (elbow) began pitching off a mound at the Nationals' spring training complex this weekend, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.
The market has the Nats as the live home dog at +114 and a total of 10, which feels about right for a game where one starter is rounding into form and the other is still figuring out if he belongs in a rotation. Baltimore needs Young to give them 6 innings because the bullpen — minus Helsley, minus Bautista, minus Wolfram — cannot be asked to cover much more than that. Take the over and hope Mikolas reverts. Or trust Young and lay the run and a half. Neither answer is comfortable, which tracks for both of these teams.