Does the Orioles' surge to the middle have the potential to carry them past that? The answer will inform how they go forward this summer.
In which surface-level math and deep, deep intuition are used to make sense of what it might take for the Orioles to sustain or improve on their recent success.
If the Orioles hold their current trajectory and continue to see benefits of their long-term plan to develop high-level homegrown hitters while piecing together a viable pitching staff to the point they contend again in the coming years, this weekend and winning streak will represent the moment any of that really seemed possible.
The Orioles enter the last week before the All-Star break at 43-44, two games out of the last Wild Card playoff spot. They’ve climbed out of the basement into the game’s middle class, at least for now.
Every Orioles win, especially against the AL’s mid-tier, has pulled them ahead of those clubs in the standings and closer to the new expanded six-team playoff field, to the point that even if it’s fanciful, it’s worth considering what it might look like if they kept this up and tried to make a run at October baseball.
You know what that means: it’s time to do some basic math.