I went back and looked at my Oriole entries since the season started, and I noticed the two phrases I have used most often have been:

“The play has been pathetic,” and “The core going forward.”

It is Flag Day, and the O’s are 29 games under .500 and are playing .270 baseball. Calling that level of play pathetic is just not a strong enough adjective.

The O’s are at a ’62 Mets type of pace, and that is just sad. This was a team that had .500 level aspirations to start the year, and should have won a minimum of 75 games. While they have faced some obvious adversity through their injuries, even collectively those injuries do not justify a now likely 105 loss season.

What really makes this season worse for the O’s is that a lot of the players you are depending on as the ‘core going forward’ (Markakis, Wieters, Jones, Reimold, Bell) have stagnated or regressed. I think writing any of them off would be dumb, but ignoring their respective issues would be just as foolish.

I will continue to watch every-pitch of every game though, because there are enough things to hold my attention. I am looking forward to watching Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta each time through the rotation, and I am interested in watching Hernandez continue to pitch in higher-leverage situations.

I am hoping to see Pie get back sooner than later, and get into the everyday lineup for a couple of months.

Obviously Roberts is not the ‘franchise’, but him having a 3rd shot on the back raises real doubts about his future. Even if he was healthy, there was existing concern about normal regression during the duration of his contract. If he can’t get back by the the start of 2011, that just represents another long-term hole.

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.

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