What are the ramifications of the latest Orioles postponement?

MINNEAPOLIS — Even though Monday's rainout solved the Orioles' starting rotation problem this week, the Orioles will pay for it later this season.

The team lost its second off day with Monday's postponement. They will return to Minnesota to play on July 28 before a three-game series in Toronto.

The Orioles and Twins shared a few other common off days later in the year, but a rule of thumb when rescheduling games is to try to avoid the stretch run of August and September.

But by rescheduling Monday's game for July 28, the Orioles will now play 17 straight days coming out of the All-Star break. They were previously scheduled to play 13 straight days.

It's always important to play well coming out of the break. Last year, the Orioles lost five of their first seven games after the break. While they rebounded to win seven of their next eight, that second-half start contributed to the Orioles floating near and below .500 for most of the rest of the season.

One of Orioles manager Buck Showalter's biggest strengths is using matchups to line up his starting pitching. He digs deep into pitchers' track records against certain opponents and in certain stadiums. And he tactfully utilizes off days to put pitchers in their best opportunities to succeed and, when deemed beneficial, give them extra rest.

Now, that stretch coming out of the break becomes a much more difficult task, more difficult than the Orioles other rescheduled road game on June 20 in Texas. Originally, the Orioles had three off days in an 11-day stretch. Now they'll play nine games in a row in June.

Still, the addition of that game could mean that the Orioles could end up playing 13 games in 13 days over that stretch because they still need to make up a postponement from April 9 vs. Tampa Bay. The Rays make their next trip to Camden Yards on June 22-24, and they could play a doubleheader one of those days.

The Orioles might not even be out of the woods this week. Forecasts are calling for rain throughout Tuesday in Minneapolis, but the latest weather report predicts storms ending near gametime. Rain on Wednesday afternoon could put the afternoon series finale in limbo.

eencina@baltsun.com
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