I’m not going to dwell on the 40-year thing, but the Baltimore Orioles are making a serious run at the AL East. At 57-35 they have the third best record in all of baseball and are only 1 game behind the Rays. Last season they surprised everyone, but their due date appeared to be 2024 and not 2023.

If you’ve seen any of the national highlight shows, it’s hard to miss Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, and Kyle Bradish. Sprinkle in Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays, Tyler Wells and Felix Bautista and you can see why the O’s are competing and fun to watch.

The guy that somehow has gotten lost in all of the fun is outfielder/DH Anthony Santander. He’s the 28-year-old Venezuelan that is built like a brick house and has held it all together for the team. His is the name that out of town announcers stumble over despite his veteran status. He’s not a great player, but he’s always in the highlights. He currently leads the team in homers (17) and RBI (54). I’ll bet folks outside of Baltimore had no idea that he hit 33 homers last year.

Since he made his ML debut in 2017, he’s hit 100 homers and has struck out less than 25% of the time. He’s also managed to put up a respectable ,250/.308/.463 split. I don’t think I’ll jinx him by highlighting him here, but expect to hear a little more about him if the O’s continue to matter.