O's find silver lining in loss: No. 2 Draft pick

TORONTO -- On opposite ends of a 230-mile stretch spanning the shores of lakes Erie and Ontario, certainty came Wednesday night for two rebuilding clubs eyeing 2020. On one end were the Tigers, who clinched the top pick in next June’s MLB Draft by dropping a 5-1 decision to the Twins in Detroit. On the other were the Orioles, who left Rogers Centre to board another somber flight but with one small consolation: they will not finish 2019 with MLB’s worst record.

Instead, they secured the No. 2 pick in next year’s Draft by falling 3-2 to the Blue Jays in the finale of their season series with Toronto. Though it's been a frustrating year on the field for the Orioles, that status positions them well to continue infusing talent into their farm system like this year’s top overall pick Adley Rutschman. The Orioles can still finish in a virtual tie record-wise with the Marlins, but would still own the No. 2 pick by virtue of their 2018 record.

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“We have three games left so we’re going to come out and play like we have any other game, leave it all out on the field, win or lose,” said designated hitter Trey Mancini. “[This season] certainly hasn’t been fun, but you have to look for little things throughout the season, and especially in September, there have been some really good bright spots. You look forward to that moving on into next year.”

Those bright spots were plain to see over this mid-week romp in Toronto, from Austin Hays’ stellar showing Monday to Mancini’s five-hit game Tuesday to strong series from DJ Stewart and Jonathan Villar. So were the warts though, the types that have plagued Baltimore all year, particularly on the mound.

So it was Wednesday when, even on a relatively breezy night on the pitching side, the Orioles fell exclusively via the long ball. All three of Toronto’s runs came on solo shots, first by Billy McKinney and Rowdy Tellez off starter Gabriel Ynoa, then another from Tellez against Paul Fry to provide the final margin. No. 303 allowed by the Orioles this season was the sixth to a left-handed batter (and seventh total) allowed by Fry, who surrendered just one in 35 appearances as a rookie in 2018.

“He’s just having a hard time with his slider,” Hyde said. “There was a couple outings where it looked like it was back to form. But the last couple outings here, it’s really staying arm-side on him.”

Offensively, the Orioles were shut out over six innings by Toronto's rookie right-hander Jacob Waguespack before scratching two runs across in the eighth. But their bases-loaded rally ultimately fizzled against Blue Jays reliever Wilmer Font. It ended as the kind of tight, low-scoring affair the Orioles have played few of given their pitching struggles, especially in the bullpen.

Perhaps that need and the position-player-heavy class they ended up with this June will persuade Mike Elias and Sig Mejdel to target more arms in their second Draft in Baltimore, though who they ultimately select at No. 2 will be driven by the Draft board itself. As of now, two advanced hitters -- Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson and Vanderbuilt third baseman Ausitn Martin -- are projected to be the top prospects available.

Such decisions are earned by slogging through a year like 2019, which is bound to produce its share of statistical oddities. Wednesday provided a few more. The loss dropped Ynoa to 1-10 on the season; he joined David Hess (1-10) as the first pair of teammates with double-digit losses and no more than one win since Jack Nabors and Tom Sheehan of the 1916 Philadelphia A’s. The Orioles are also the first team in MLB history to allow at least 300 home runs, and the first team in 40 years to lose at least 107 games and not earn the No. 1 pick.

In recent years, the No. 2 overall selection has produced the likes of Alex Bregman, Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton and Jameson Taillon. All would be welcome in a clubhouse Hyde has tried to keep positive all year in light of the circumstances.

“I want them to feel what it feels like to win, and I feel sorry for some guys a little bit at times because they’re trying so hard to win, and something happens late in the game, and it doesn’t happen,” Hyde said Wednesday. “I think there is going to be a day sometime soon where we’re going to win those games that we should’ve won, and our guys are going to look back at this and probably be better because of it.”