Glenn and Griffin continue our Monday tradition for the 2024 baseball season Monday on GCR with ‘Three Up and Three Down’ where we rank the best and worst Orioles performers of the week, much like how we do with Pats on the Ass and Slaps to the Helmet during football season after Ravens games. The guys will each name three players, three trending up, three trending down, based on how they did for that week specifically. This week the Orioles took two out of three against both the Mariners and Athletics, although one of the two losses was a 19-8 final so maybe it feels worse than it was?
Without further adieu:
Glenn’s Three Up:
3. RP Jacob Webb
So I nearly put Craig Kimbrel here thanks to his 0.25 WHIP in a 4/4 save week BUT it’s slightly misleading because he also hit two batters in one inning against the Mariners and for some reason, we don’t factor that into WHIP (hey governor of baseball, fix this!). That said, Webb allowed just one baserunner over 3.1 innings in three Orioles wins and that feels like it deserves some recognition!
2. SS Gunnar Henderson
Every time you start to think there’s a chance he’s coming back to earth, you look up and he’s slashing .360/.385/.600 for the week and yeah, he’s Gunnar Henderson still.
1. SP Grayson Rodriguez
Griffin’s “two start” theory works again this week. Rodriguez allowed just three earned runs over 12.1 innings in a pair of wins this week, pitching to a 1.05 WHIP in the process. This is the guy you’re more than happy to have start Game 2 of a playoff series.
Griffin’s Three Up:
3. SP Grayson Rodriguez
Yeah, he made two starts and shoved in both, especially Tuesday night in Seattle, but he’s been so good that I’ve come to expect it, and there were two guys that felt even better this week.
2. SS Gunnar Henderson
He’s Gunnar Henderson and he’s freaking good. Leads the team in hits pretty much every week, and impacts the game by just his sheer presence on the field, forcing teams into mistakes.
1. Closer Craig Kimbrel
A reminder of what he can be, 4/4 on saves in a 6-day span. Doesn’t make you feel any less shaky about him pitching in these same spots in October, but it was vintage Craig Kimbrel this week.
Glenn’s Three Down:
3. C Adley Rutschman
Another head scratching offensive week for Adley, who went just 2/19 for the week.
2. RP Cole Irvin
This stinks. We’ve gone from “he’s an under the radar Cy Young Award candidate” to “can we justify his roster spot?” He did end up eating a few innings but…yuck.
1. SP Cade Povich
I am to understand that having a 72.00 ERA-even for a week-is undesirable.
Griffin’s Three Down:
3. CF Cedric Mullins
It was either Mullins or Cowser, and since Cedric actually got to play more, it was more noticeable. Only 4 hits and OPS’d below .500…
2. SP Cade Povich
These starts happen early on. That was horrendous on Saturday.
1. RP Keegan Akin
I’m pretty much done with him, and have never felt good about Akin coming into any game. He was useless against one of the worst hitting teams in baseball, and a team that you will see in the playoffs. Nick Vespi deserves to be on this team.
Here’s a look at the season-long standings. scoring is simple: 3 points awarded to the top player in ‘Three Up’ each week, -3 points for the top player in ‘Three Down’ each week:
No audio segment this week with the boys on vacation, we’ll see you again next Monday July 15.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
