BALTIMORE — There was a certain calm Friday at Camden Yards, business as usual during batting practice and during the player and manager press conferences.
Calm before the ALDS storm, with the Orioles and Texas Rangers working out in an empty stadium 24 hours before Camden Yards hosts its first playoff game in nine years.
Well, it was mostly calm.
Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was bouncing around and swaying a little bit in his chair during his session with the media – and he admitted with a sly smile that he had just downed a “cold brew” coffee.
There were no visible jitters with Orioles’ right-hander Kyle Bradish, who, in his second season in the majors, will take the ball as the Orioles’ Game 1 starter at 1:03 p.m. Saturday versus the Rangers’ vaunted offense. Bradish, 27, was his even-keel self during his pre-game press session. That’s been his style on the mound all year; he’s not changing for a playoff game or a media scrum.
“I just try not to let one thing affect me too much,” said Bradish, who was 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA in 30 starts for the Orioles this year. “Kind of what I've been taught my whole career is take one pitch at a time, don't let the last one affect the next one. Just got to go out there, trust my stuff, my defense, and know we've been doing it all year. Keep it rolling.”
Rutschman, who made a point of taking a deep breath and soaking in the Camden Yards atmosphere during his debut in 2022, said he’s “really excited to see the fans and just feel the excitement.”
If previous playoff crowds at Camden Yards are any indication – no one in Baltimore will ever forget the ear-splitting “Delmon Double” in the 2014 ALDS -- it’s going to be nothing like Rutschman, Bradish or most of the young Orioles have ever experienced.
They are OK with that. More than OK.
“It’s going to be a blast having 45-plus thousand, Camden Yards filled up. It's going to be really exciting,” Bradish said. “I've played in big stadiums that are full and loud. Just have to embrace it. All these people are here to watch us and have fun, so why not do the same thing?”
Yep, no nerve-racking concerns. Simply a healthy anticipation.
Rookie outfielder Heston Kjerstad was at his locker Friday afternoon, smiling ear-to-ear. He’s not sure whether he’ll be activated for the ALDS – that’s a decision that won’t be revealed until rosters are made official Saturday – but just to be here for these games after starting the season at Double-A Bowie gets Kjerstad pumped. Pitcher Tyler Wells, who spent part of the second half of the season in the minors, said the same thing Friday. Bring it on.
Of everyone at Camden Yards on Friday, I may have been the most nervous – making my TV debut as an Orioles playoff analyst for WMAR-TV, a station I grew up watching as a kid. It’s going to be tremendous breaking down the games with WMAR’s Shawn Stepner and writing daily dispatches for wmar2news.com throughout the playoffs.
It’s what I’ve done for more than two decades – write about the Orioles and their games, especially the meaningful ones. So, this is what I do.
And that’s how the Orioles feel about this upcoming playoff series. After the initial butterflies, it’ll simply be another baseball game on Saturday, albeit a much louder one.
“Once you step on the field and get the first pitch out of the way, it becomes baseball,” Rutschman said. “There's a lot of things that lead into games, but once you get going, it feels like baseball again.”
The Orioles match up fairly well against the Rangers – they split the season series, 3-3, with two wins and a loss in Texas in early April and two losses and a win at Camden Yards in late May. The Rangers have a more consistent and powerful offense, and the Orioles have a superior bullpen.
The rotations might be a wash, but Texas could have an ace in the hole if future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 12 due to a back/shoulder muscle injury, is added to the ALDS roster. He pitched a simulated game at Camden Yards on Friday and his pitches, particularly his breaking stuff, looked sharp. It’s possible he could start one of the later games of this series or, perhaps, help Texas’ beleaguered bullpen.
One area where the Rangers have a distinct advantage, however, is experience; veterans such as Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and, of course, Scherzer, have played in October before. Seager has 63 postseason appearances, mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, on his resume.
It’s certainly something to consider. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has. Then he walked into his home clubhouse Friday, and he felt better about his club’s inexperience.
“It's really loose, and that's a great sign. Their workouts have gone really well the last few days. I don't feel any tension or guys feeling nervous about the games coming up,” Hyde said. “Our clubhouse right now is pretty loud and seems very, very normal, like the regular season.
“And that's what I was hoping was going to happen.”
If the Orioles lose this series, it’s because they couldn’t solve the Rangers’ rotation or because they fell prey to that formidable offense.
It’s not going to be because they are nervous or overwhelmed.
That’s what has made this team so interesting to follow. All year, they’ve thought they belonged in this postseason mix, even when many didn’t.