Mariners 10th straight! O's closing in on 10 straight!

Back when I was a kid, Brooks Robinson was my hero. "Mr. Hoover" was baseball history on our black and white TV.

I'll have to start watching more "Oreo's" games (as we used to call them). It is amazing how adding a player can change the course of a team -- was there anything else that may have contributed to their turn-around?

Trey Mancini beat stage 3 colon cancer in 2020 and seemed to still be feeling the after-effects in 2021 (AL Comeback Player of the Year).  Mancini rounding back into 2019 form is a big reason that the Orioles have a winning record.

Tyler Wells had TJ surgery in 2019 and missed all of 2020 recovering (and COVID-19).  The Orioles picked him up in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft.  He played last year, but seems much improved this year.  Wells becoming the de facto ace of the staff in his second full year in the Bigs is a second big reason that the Orioles have a winning record.

The Orioles got Cionel Pérez for nothing in the offseason off of waivers form the Reds, and Pérez has been the most consistent lefty reliever.

Jorge López was a terrible starter, who showed one flash of brilliance in 2018.  After one terrible start in 2020, the Royals waived him, and the Orioles picked López up for nothing.  López was a terrible starter for the Orioles, so the Orioles put him in the pen last year, and he shined.  The Orioles made López their closer, and he has shined even brighter.  He is the Orioles' All-Star this year.

Jorge Mateo was waived by the Padres a little less than a year after he broke into the Bigs.  The Orioles picked him up for nothing last year.  Mateo has played six different positions in the Bigs.  But the Orioles have been playing him solely at shortstop as their primary starter this year.

Ryan Mountcastle led all rookies in home runs last year.  The home runs are down this year, but he has been hitting a lot more singles and doubles.  Mountcastle has been the primary first baseman this year.

Félix Bautista has been in the organization for the past six years, but is having a great rookie campaign.  He is probably the second best righty reliever behind López this year.

Keegan Akin was a bad starter (primarily), who got hurt at the end of the last year.  Akin has been the second-best lefty reliever tis year behind Pérez.

And then there's Rutchman.

At a glance, Baltimore is getting a lot more consistent production at C, 1B, SS, and DH.  Most of the bullpen is has been overhauled and is better.  Wells is also much improved.

It seems to me that the Orioles have been quietly building for some time.  The surprise is less that the Orioles are good.  Rather, the surprise is that the Orioles are good this year.