If you step back and honestly access the Orioles’ roster for what it is, we should not be too surprised by the current state of affairs. The starting pitcher options coming into the season were dire, and a decent April didn’t change that. It has all come crashing down in May.It’s also possible that a better-than-expected 2020 season (that lasted just 60 games, by the way) may have lulled us, as a fanbase, into a false sense that the team was closer to mediocre than bad. That probably was never true.At the same time, there are some pretty obvious ways that they team could improve and claw its way back to respectability before the end of the summer.The starting pitching, as a group, has almost nowhere to go but up. Some of the young pitchers in the mix are talented enough to tweak some things and get back to the level on which they know they can pitch.On offense players like Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander will lift their numbers back to the range where they belong as well. It’s possible that neither matches the performance from last year, but it shouldn’t be so far off.Also, a small influx of prospects will be coming...eventually. There is a decent chance that someone like Jahmai Jones or Mike Baumann makes a big league splash sometime in the next couple of months. That might not make a huge difference in the standings, but it sure would give us a rosier image heading into 2022.Links & NotesUpdating Hays’ hamstring, more on bullpen and Tate rehab | School of RochA healthy Austin Hays isn’t going to fix most of the Orioles problems https://www.baltimoregearshop.com/shawn-armstrong-jersey, but it would at least give us something exciting to watch. We’re grasping at straws here, people.Orioles’ Trey Mancini to Yankees? ‘Don’t hold your breath’ on a trade | NJ.comThis article claims the Yankees are in the market for outfield upgrades. Mancini is hitting well enough to make up for some defensive inefficiency, but he hasn’t played any outfield this year, so that would seem like an odd decision from the Yankees if it were to even come close to happening.Former Orioles catcher Matt Wieters among players on Team USA baseball roster for Olympic qualifying | The Baltimore SunDon’t act like you’re not going to watch a mid-30’s Matt Wieters try to get back on the major league radar with a breakout in Japan this summer. That would be extremely fun https://www.baltimoregearshop.com/mark-belanger-jersey.A ‘learning experience’ for O’s young arms | Orioles.comThere is value in young pitchers taking their lumps on the major league stage. And it is entirely possible that Dean Kremer, who is still a rookie through the end of this season, will end up as an effective big league starter. But he sure is having a tough couple of months.Orioles birthdaysIs it your birthday? Happy birthday! Gabriel Ynoa is 28. The right-handed pitcher appeared in 45 games with the Orioles, split between the 2017 and 2019 seasons.John O’Donoghue turns 52. He made his way into 11 games for the 1993 Birds, serving mostly as a left-handed option out of the bullpen.Stacy Jones celebrates his 54th birthday. Four of his six career major league games came on the 1991 Orioles.Orioles history1995 - Orioles outfielder Kevin Bass falls victim to the brilliance that is Ken Griffey Jr https://www.baltimoregearshop.com/austin-hays-jersey. in his prime. The Mariners centerfielder tracks down a Bass long fly ball into the right-center gap to make what is considered one of the best catches in baseball history, fracturing his wrist in the process.