Tomorrow night at Oriole Park, the Baltimore Orioles (28-17) will begin a weekend series vs. the Kansas City Royals (17-26). The O’s will enter the series as the leaders of the American League East, while Kansas City is currently in 4th place in the American League Central.

1) Hammel will be making his 3rd start tomorrow since be skipped. In his last two outings, he has gone 5, and 5.1 innings. He has thrown 94, and 95 pitches. His stuff early in the game has matched what we have seen from him in his previous starts; however, he quickly tired. Hammel has said the knee soreness has prevented him from doing some of his cardio work. Does he go a bit longer tomorrow? Does it become apparent that he will need some rest to get fully healthy?

2) Wieters was off Wednesday (aside from PH in the 9th), and obviously the team was off Thursday. Wieters has a .203 batting average, and a .651 OPS in May. Overall, he is batting .278 vs. LHP, but his OPS against Southpaws is just .711. Against RHP, he is batting just .225, but has a .807 OPS (all 8 of his homers have come vs. RHP). Wieters is 3 for his last 30, with 1 double. With a little extra rest, it would be nice to see his bat come back alive this weekend.

3) Hardy was also off Wednesday. The fact that he did not PH in the 9th was surprising. Is he back in the lineup tomorrow, or will the shoulder hold him out? Hardy has cooled off over the last week, and is now 3 for his last 21, with a triple.

4) After outstanding outings vs. NY, and Texas; Wei-Yin Chen was knocked around in DC vs. the Nationals this past weekend. With 6 er, in 4.1 innings; Chen’s era nearly jumped a run. How does he respond Saturday?

5) Matusz has won 3 decisions in a row, including a very strong performance Tuesday (9 k’s) vs. Boston. Matusz went 6 innings, and allowed 3 er for the win in KC on the 17th. Does he get up and over .500 for the year Sunday?

6) The O’s are 10-4-1 in all series played. Losing a division series at home to Boston was deflating. After this series with KC, the O’s head on the road for 9 games vs. Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Boston. It is important for the O’s to take 2 of 3 from KC at the minimum.

7) Bill Hall had 1 at-bat vs. Boston, 1 at-bat vs. DC, no at-bats in KC, and 2 at-bats in NY. Will Showalter find him at-bats vs. the Royals, perhaps against Chen tomorrow?

8) With his 2 homers Wednesday, N. Johnson is now batting over .200, and his OPS is .785. He also now has 8 walks. Does he get a couple of starts this weekend?

9) Avery has impressed so far, with 4 doubles, a triple, and 5 bb’s (8 k’s). Since coming up, he has had 5 multi-hit games.

10) The Bullpen should be helped by the off-day Thursday.
Johnson was off yesterday, and pitched an inning Tuesday.
Strop was off yesterday, and pitched an inning Tuesday.
Ayala went 1.1 innings Wednesday.
O’Day went a combined 1.2 innings Tuesday and Wednesday.
Eveland did not pitch vs. Boston.
Patton pitched 1 inning Wednesday.
Gregg pitched 1 inning Monday.

Projected Pitchers:
5/25: Chen (LHP) vs. Hammel
5/26: Paulino vs. Chen
5/27: Hochevar vs. Matusz

Chen: 3-4, 4.17 era, 54 ip, 54 hits, 6 hr’s, 11 bb’s, 38 k’s, .730 OPS against, 0.54 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/136600/

Paulino: 2-1, 1.42 era, 25.1 ip, 22 hits, 1 hr, 7 bb’s, 29 k’s, .642 OPS against, 0.81 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/462956/

Hochevar: 3-5, 6.61 era, 47.2 ip, 55 hits, 4 hr’s, 17 bb’s, 37 k’s, .778 OPS against, 0.80G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/460024/

C: Quintero  .637 OPS
1st: Hosmer  .593 OPS
2nd: Getz  .708 OPS
SS: Escobar  .766 OPS
3rd: Moustakas .830 OPS
LF: Gordon  .700 OPS
CF: Dyson  .622 OPS
RF: Francoeur  .703 OPS
DH: Butler  .886 OPS

Bench: Falu, Maier, Giavotella, Pena
Rotation: Chen, Hochevar, Paulino, Smith, Adcock
Bullpen: Broxton, Crow, Holland, Collins, Herrera, Mijares, Coleman

Current Ranks:

Kansas City
Runs: 20th
Batting Average: 9th
On Base: 16th
Slugging: 12th
ERA: 25th
Quality Starts: 28th
WHIP: 29th
BAA: 23rd

Baltimore
Runs: 7th
Batting Average: 14th
On Base: 20th
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 15th
Quality Starts: 22nd
WHIP: 9th
BAA: 14th

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

X