The Orioles’ 6-1 start was surprising to fans and media alike. Even more surprising, though, may be the team’s current seven-game losing streak.
During the seven-game streak, the Birds haven’t been hitting very much. Worse than the hitting has been the pitching.
After starting the season with brilliance, the starting staff has struggled to get deep in to games. As the starting pitching falters, the bullpen then becomes overused making the pitching staff very average.
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Yes, it’s spring training and yes, the games mean nothing, but the Orioles put on quite the power display Tuesday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the area where the Birds struggled most last season, they’ve succeeded two games in to the spring training Grapefruit League schedule.
Facing their division rival, and a pitcher they are likely to see a lot in Andy Sonnanstine, the O’s showed off their muscle blasting five home runs in the first two innings of the game. Two of the more encouraging home runs came from right fielder Nick Markakis, who was more satisfied knocking the ball to left field than hitting a home run last season.
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This is the rumor that wouldn’t die all winter long. It finally came true. According to multiple reports, the Orioles agreed to terms with designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero on a one-year $8 million contract.
The Guerrero agreement has a very good chance of being the last of the major roster moves by Baltimore this offseason. With the designated hitter on board, the Orioles can now pencil him in the cleanup spot every night and build the lineup around him.
Andy MacPhail went in to the offseason with a mission to upgrade the offense and pitching staff. He spent the first part of the winter upgrading the offense, then focused on pitching and now has upgraded the offense to bookend the winter months.
Now that Guerrero appears to be a member of the team (he needs to pass a physical and they need to make a roster move to get him on the 40-man roster) let’s compare this year’s projected lineup and last season’s opening day lineup:
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They vowed to improve their offense this offseason and the Baltimore Orioles have done just that with their acquisition of third baseman Mark Reynolds from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reynolds only hit .198 last season, while striking out 211 times and blasting 32 home runs. Baltimore traded relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to get the power hitter.
He is the middle of the lineup hitter that the O’s have desperately needed for the last few seasons. Reynolds will provide protection for Nick Markakis and Adam Jones especially if he can cut down on his strikeouts.
The 27-year-old third baseman has had positives to go along with his high strikeout total. He walked 83 times in 499 at-bats and his walk totals have increased each year since 2007. If Reynolds can cut down on his strikeouts he will be very dangerous in the O’s lineup. However, it appears the Birds aren’t finished with just obtaining Reynolds
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After a dreadful 2-16 start to the season, the Baltimore Orioles ended 66-96 giving them their 13th losing season in a row. However, the O’s took a roundabout way to get to the 66 win plateau. It took three managers and a hot August and September, but Baltimore pulled out 34 wins since Buck Showalter took over on Aug. 3.
Now, for grades.
Catcher: Matt Wieters/Craig Tatum/Jake Fox – C+
Wieters made strides defensively, but his offense wasn’t as good as what was expected going in to his season with the Major League club. Tatum played well in limited action. His defense was impressive and he didn’t look overmatched at the plate. Fox only played catcher a few times, but seemed to have a feel for calling a game. When he got a chance to hit, Fox liked to swing from his heels and was an all or nothing type hitter.
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Buck Showalter officially took over the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 3. The team had 32 wins at the time and appeared to be spinning its wheels towards another lost season.
This season is another lost season, but Showalter has the Orioles at 12-8, a .600 clip, since he began running the show.
The starting pitching has improved, with a few bad outings sprinkled in, the rotation has gone deeper in to games and given up fewer runs than at any point this season. Also, the bullpen has improved because the pitchers seem to know their roles better than at any time this year, except the closer’s role.
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With a struggling offense and trouble finding a leadoff hitter, the Baltimore Orioles made the decision to send down second-year player Nolan Reimold, transfer second baseman Brian Roberts to the 60-day disabled and purchase the contract of Corey Patterson. Patterson was having a good season at Triple-A Norfolk and it was a matter of time before a change was made. Since he was called up on Wednesday, the Birds have scored 11 runs and gotten two wins. So it begs the question: is Patterson the answer for the O’s offensive woes?
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Baseball season is now 28 games old and the Birds’ offense is still scuffling to score runs. Ty Wigginton is the only player that hasn’t had trouble getting on base, and even he wasn’t too productive this week when the Orioles got swept by the Yankees.
It’s time to look at adjusting the roster. Andy MacPhail indicated as much on Wednesday when he suggested some guys could be sent to Triple-A Norfolk if they don’t start producing. It appears the most likely candidates to be sent down, or even released, could be Luke Scott, Adam Jones, Nolan Reimold, Garrett Atkins and Julio Lugo.
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An announcement was made Tuesday that Orioles center fielder Adam Jones earned a Gold Glove for his play in the 2009 season. Jones is very solid with his glove, but this award comes as a bit of a shock.
Jones was able to sneak in for the award with Grady Sizemore shelved most of the season. I think this award is a shock though because Jones missed a lot of the season with injuries. However, Jones did have nine assists and his range is almost unmatched. I expect Jones to hold on to this award for many years to come now.
The only disappointment in his defense is sometimes he can be too nonchalant. I think as he gets older and matures, Jones will become a defender like Torii Hunter. So congratulations to Jones and let’s hope for him being even better next season.