Glenn and Griffin are bringing back our tradition we started last year for this 2025 baseball season Mondays 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.
With the Orioles at the All-Star break, we thought it would be a good time to do a special “3 Up & 3 Down” for the entirety of the first half. Grant DeVivo again joined us for this special version.
Glenn’s Three Up:
3. SP Trevor Rogers
I was really torn on what to do with this spot because it is very easy to say that Dean Kremer actually deserves it for the totality of the first half. But there have been just enough brutal starts mixed in and Rogers has been such a revelation that I’m giving him the slight edge.
2. SS Gunnar Henderson
For everything he hasn’t been so far this season, he’s still OPS-ing over .800 and leading the team in WAR. I can’t ignore that just because we want him to be more than he is.
1. DH Ryan O’Hearn
The .840 OPS is remarkable. He’s proven himself to be a professional major league hitter. It’s awesome that he’s getting his flowers this week and unfortunately, he almost certainly will be gone in the next couple of weeks.
Griffin’s Three Up:
3. Ramón Laureano
He’s been the most pleasant Oriole to watch play baseball this season, bar none.
2. 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn
He’s playing multiple positions and has been the best and most consistent offensive player all season. Much deserved All-Star selection.
1. RP Félix Bautista
Trevor Rogers made a late surge for a second pitcher spot on the ‘Up’ list but Felix is undoubtedly the pick for the Orioles best pitcher and given how much the rest of the team has underperformed, the best player period. It was a slow start but the strikeout rate is nearly the same as it was and he’s been lockdown in the 9th inning the last two months.
Grant’s Three Up:
3. SP Trevor Rogers
0.82 WHIP, 1.53 ERA, making last season’s trade pay off and is consistently giving the Orioles something of a chance to stay in ballgames
2. 2B Jackson Holliday
.722 OPS, second on team in RBI (38) and he is blossoming into first round star he was predicted to be.
1. DH Ryan O’Hearn
.286 and an .840 OPS, Bro’Hearn Bro’Clutch. Best hitter in the clutch and a captain figure for a young team.
Glenn’s Three Down:
3. SP Tomoyuki Sugano
It’s such a bummer because he got off to such a strong start. But everything since June 3 has been a mess-with five straight brutal starts before he finally had a decent one against the Mets. I admit there is recency bias here because his whole of the first half is still better than, say, Charlie Morton’s. But the trend is just so discouraging.
2. SP Zach Eflin
We can wonder how much the injuries have impacted him. But the 5.95 ERA and 1.44 WHIP are just so utterly disastrous.
1. C Adley Rutschman
Perhaps it isn’t fair to Adley Rutschman that the team’s ability to succeed is tied so directly to his individual performance. But for better or worse, that’s the Orioles’ reality.
Griffin’s Three Down:
3. SP Charlie Morton
I went back and forth on this one a lot, at first I thought there may not even be a starter on the list because they’ve all had some strong moments and all had some really, really bad moments. But I landed on Charlie because of how terrible he was the first two months of the season. The fact that every time he touched the baseball the first six weeks of the season the Orioles lost was not just merely correlation.
2. C Adley Rutschman
The two batters to pick were easier, Adley has been so confusing this season, and sadly it may just be who he is coming on the heels of last year’s second half. Last night’s Draft shows the organization may be just as puzzled…
1. OF Tyler O’Neill
For as head scratching as Adley has been this season, Tyler O’Neill has just been plain bad. The antithesis of Ramón Laureano: the most unpleasant Oriole to watch play baseball this season.
Grant’s Three Down:
3. OF Heston Kjerstad
Finally got an everyday playing chance and could only muster a .192 BA with it. Now back in Triple-A and struggling there as well.
2. C Adley Rutschman
Down year with the bat in what was supposed to be his rebound year from a rough 2024.
1. OF Tyler O’Neill
$49.5 mil for a .585 OPS and his star moment on Opening Day.
If you missed the segment discussing our lists, click play below to listen.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
