Matt Wieters, 2013 Panini Prizm #17

The Orioles are undefeated in 2015 when Matt Wieters starts. Sure, it's a sample size of two games, but it's good to see the team's star catcher back in the lineup after a year-plus hiatus due to Tommy John surgery. He looks to be in great form, too; in Friday's 5-2 win at Cleveland, he had a single, an RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and a run scored in four trips to the plate. Today, Matt completed his weekend cycle with a triple (with an assist to overmatched Indians right fielder Brandon Moss) and a solo homer in a 7-3 O's victory. A week into June, the Birds are finally approaching full strength. They've got five and a half games to make up in the AL East, but there's an encouraging precedent. On this date last year, the Orioles dropped a 4-3 contest to Oakland to fall 6.5 games behind the Blue Jays. So, why not?

L. J. Hoes, 2013 Panini Prizm #279

Opening Week scheduling quirks left me without an O's game to watch last night, so I settled for some former Orioles beating the tar out of the Yankees.

The Bronx Bombers were in Houston to take on the lowly Astros, but the hosts flipped the script for one night. Scott Feldman, who gave the Birds 15 fair-to-middlin' starts after a midseason trade from the Cubs in 2013, assumed his mantle as the Astros' would-be ace when he signed a three-year deal in the offseason. He stayed on top of the Yanks for 6.2 scoreless innings, with two New York singles accounting for the only hits against him. Meanwhile the unheralded Houston lineup battered a newly-svelte CC Sabathia for four first-inning runs and six runs total, with L. J. Hoes' second career home run accounting for one of the tallies. The Yankees tried to make it interesting with a pair of eighth-inning runs, but stout ex-Baltimore reliever Matt Albers slammed the door with a scoreless ninth, pitching around a Kelly Johnson double to the gap. The 6-2 final, combined with Toronto's 4-2 victory over the Rays, gave the Orioles sole possession of first place in the hardscrabble American League East. That's a pretty good day off, in my book.

Adam Jones, 2013 Panini Prizm #33

Adam Jones, Chris Davis, J. J. Hardy. Just like that, the Orioles claim ownership to three Silver Slugger Awards in one season for the first time in team history. These awards are given out to the best offensive player at each position in both leagues, and all three Birds are first-time winners. In fact, Jones is the first O's outfielder to ever win a Silver Slugger. Davis and Hardy are in rarified air as well: Eddie Murray and Rafael Palmeiro are the other pair of Baltimore first basemen to be so honored, and Cal Ripken and Miguel Tejada are the two previous shortstops on the team list. As a matter of fact, Aubrey Huff was the last Oriole at any position to claim this prize, based on his strong DH performance in 2008. I don't expect Chris Davis to beat out Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera for the big prize (American League MVP) when those results are announced in a week, but the rest of the league is serving notice that these aren't the same cruddy Orioles.

Jim Johnson, 2013 Panini Prizm #77

Tonight I said my personal goodbye to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and I was able to leave smiling, thanks to a 6-5 comeback win that featured Brian Roberts' eighth home run in his 76th game, each of those his highest totals since 2009. Steve Pearce had a pair of doubles and three RBI, including the go-ahead hit in the bottom of the eighth. Young Kevin Gausman earned his third career win with some crucial outs in relief, and Jim Johnson earned his 49th save of the 2013 season by freezing Johnny Gomes with a 3-2 pitch to strand Quintin Berry on second base. The O's clinched their second straight season series win over Boston, the first time they've done the trick back-to-back since 1991-1992. Thanks for everything, guys. I'll see you in April.

Brooks Robinson, 2013 Panini Prizm #134

If Triple Play is an example of how to get MLB-license-deficient card sets right, I'd say that Prizm is an example of how to get them wrong. It's one thing to airbrush/Photoshop away logos and insignia, leaving blank caps and uniforms. But for some reason, Panini felt it necessary to edit out any and all color. Why couldn't they leave Brooks Robinson's helmet brim and his number 5 orange? We're left with drab, depressing black and gray. It looks like Brooksie's playing for a prison league team or something. They did the same thing with the current Oriole players; I've got Adam Jones and Jim Johnson's cards, and both are wearing plain black headgear with their home whites instead of the tri-color hats that the Birds now wear at home. So I won't be collecting this set, O's aside.