Well, the trade market is finally coming to a simmer. Perhaps we can call it a boil after yesterday’s blockbuster. We had two major pitchers traded to teams yesterday, with Luis Castillo (in a down year) going from the Mariners to the White Sox, and, of course, Tarik Skubal heading to the Dodgers.
Maybe we should just call the baseball season now and give them their third straight trophy. Two other teams to keep an eye on take each other on today as the Phillies and Orioles square off.
The Philadelphia Phillies are floundering quite a bit. This has been a unique season where we saw them fire their manager after a few weeks of poor play to start the year. That was a move that probably should’ve been done in the offseason anyway. Then they were arguably the best team in baseball for a month or two. Now, they are just five games above .500 and likely going to be wrapped up in a wild card race for the remainder of the season.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler delivers against the New York Mets during the second inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The Phillies don’t have a ton of trade resources, but they also don’t need much more than maybe another bat and a better back-end starter. Their front of the rotation is solid with Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez. Wheeler is 10-2 for the season with a 2.53 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP, one of the best pitchers in the game. He did have a couple of tough starts in July, but he also had three quality outings. The Orioles are hitting .250 against Wheeler in 68 at-bats.
The Baltimore Orioles are also struggling, but they’ve pretty much been the same for the entire year. They are three games under .500, but they’ve never seemed to be a team that was going very far.
The thing is, the Orioles have the talent, but some years it just doesn’t click. It appears to be that type of season for Baltimore. Gunner Henderson isn’t having a great season with a .220 average, but he can’t be the sole person to blame for all of this.
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago on April 8, 2026. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
I’d point to the pitching and their rotation, as they are really not a very deep squad. They have some good arms, and their bullpen has been much better lately, but they don’t really have a lock-down starter. Maybe the closest is today’s starter, Kyle Bradish. I took him in his last outing, and it was a disaster.
The Tigers jumped on him for 10 hits and five earned runs over 4.2 innings. Phillies hitters have struggled against him over 32 at-bats with a .188 batting average.
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Maybe I’m foolish to do this, but I’m going to go against Wheeler. The Orioles are playing slightly better baseball than the Phillies. They both need this game to help with some momentum and to win the series. Wheeler isn’t likely to give up a ton of runs, but I think Bradish will bounce back in this outing. The money has come in on the Phillies a bit, but I think that is mostly people just looking at Wheeler and not the full pitcher. Give me the Orioles at +118.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning at Great American Ball Park. (Aaron Doster/Imagn Images)
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