Ask Grayson Rodriguez his vision for the Baltimore Orioles’ future, and baseball’s top pitching prospect and Orioles minor leaguer goes big: “Hopefully, a lot of wins and a couple of rings.”
Such World Series aspirations seem far from the team’s reality with another 100-loss season ending Sunday, one of the worst statistical pitching staffs in baseball history, and two weekslong losing streaks that have challenged fans’ endurance.
Sure, there have been highlights: Trey Mancini’s return from colon cancer, the return of fans to Camden Yards after the shortened, TV-only 2020 pandemic summer, a no-hitter by John Means, and breakout seasons from Most Valuable Oriole Cedric Mullins and Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Mountcastle.