NORFOLK — It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The Norfolk Tides, armed with perhaps the most stacked roster in the minor leagues as part of baseball’s most highly regarded organization, were set up to be world-beaters.
Instead, the defending International League and Triple-A champions entered Wednesday’s scheduled game against Gwinnett having lost 12 of 14, including a baffling 10-game losing streak that began April 7 at Charlotte and didn’t end until Friday at Jacksonville.
So what happened? Ask players and staff of the Baltimore Orioles’ top affiliate, and they’ll tell you it’s just the nature of the game.
“It’s April. Don’t panic,” catcher Maverick Handley said. “It’s April. That’s kind of the big message.”
The losing streak came after the Tides, who entered Wednesday at 9-13, started 7-1. They took the first five out of six at Charlotte in the season’s second series, scoring 69 runs. A 26-11 win set franchise records for runs scored, home runs (8) and hits (29).
But they followed with six straight home losses to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and three more at Jacksonville, which sent things fully sideways.
Defense has been the main culprit, manager Buck Britton said. Norfolk’s .956 fielding percentage was tied for the lowest in Triple-A.
Britton, leaning against an orange fungo after batting practice this week, didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Right now, we’re the worst defensive team in all of Triple-A,” he said. “It’s unacceptable. We’ve got to get better. We have the talent to be better. I think it comes down to some focus. I think we got on such a run in Charlotte that everybody kind of let their guard down a little bit.
“You come back to Harbor Park and get punched in the mouth by Scranton, and all of a sudden you go into a little bit of a tailspin. It’s kind of our job to figure out how to get out of this thing.”
The Tides entered the season with three of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball and no shortage of top organizational prospects. But top overall top prospect Jackson Holliday went to Baltimore after just 10 Triple-A games, and No. 41 overall prospect Heston Kjerstad joined him this week.
Slugging infielder Coby Mayo, ranked in the overall top 30, thinks the team is about to turn a corner.
“Those 10 games were tough, obviously,” Mayo said. “But the last few games have been good, so we’re definitely trending upwards.
“I think everyone goes through it a little bit, and we just went through it really early in the season.”
Norfolk, on the heels of last season’s triumphant run, entered Wednesday fourth in the IL with a .273 team batting average. The Tides were near the bottom of the league with a 6.02 ERA.
The game, of course, is rarely easy for anyone. The 20-year-old Holliday, the first overall pick in the 2022 draft, started 2 for 34 in his first taste of the majors.
His former teammates can relate. Holliday’s struggles are a reminder that baseball is about playing the long game.
“The guy’s never failed in his life, and it’s finally kind of happening,” Norfolk second baseman Connor Norby said.
“It’s baseball. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen, so I know I’m not worried about him, and I don’t think anyone else is. But it happens, and you have to go through it to understand how to deal with it. Same thing here for everyone else. But it is a marathon.”
No one, though, wins a marathon by only running hard at the end. Britton and his players understand that the stats start counting on Opening Day.
“They go right on the back of that baseball card,” Britton said.
“It is early, no question. But the reality is and the message always is that when that major league team needs help, they really don’t care if it’s April, if it’s June, if it’s been cold, if it’s been hot. They want somebody that can get the job done. And if you can’t do it, they’re going to go find somebody that will.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.
