The Orioles dropped 3 of 4 vs. the Texas Rangers, but with a day off Wednesday, and Chen and Hunter combining for 13.2 innings yesterday; Baltimore’s bullpen should be rested going into this weekend series vs. Tampa Bay.
1) The Rays arrive in Baltimore at 20-12, tied with the Orioles atop the American League East. The O’s are 10-5 against the Division. The O’s have won their two series with Toronto, their last series with NY, and their lone series with Boston. If you want to continue to assert yourselves, you need to win 2 of the 3 games this weekend.
2) Dana Eveland will get the start tonight for the Birds. The 28 year old lefty was 3-2, with a 2.21 era at AAA Norfolk. In his 36.2 ip, he allowed 39 hits, 0 hr’s, with 6 bb’s, and 19 k’s. His splits vs. LH and RH hitters were fairly close. One thing that stands out is that he allowed 5 bb’s in 12.1 ip vs. lefties, and just 1 bb in 24.1 ip vs. right handed hitters. While this his is first outing in the Majors this year, Eveland has made 59 starts in the bigs previously. He has 19 Major League wins to his name. I expect to see a guy who is not overwhelmed by the moment and opportunity.
3) Markakis had a 3 hit game, and 2 homers in the Texas series. Both were good to see. What is odd, is the lack of doubles. Between ’07 and ’10, Markakis had 40+ doubles each year. Last year that dropped to 31. So far this year he has 5. What compounds the oddity, is that Markakis’ line-drive % this year, is above his career averages. I want to see Nick get hot over a prolonged stretch of play, and start spraying some doubles into the alleys.
4) It is still early enough in the year to rapidly change your numbers with a good week. Hardy went into the Boston series sporting a .613 OPS. He ends the Texas series having raised that to .766. He has homered 4 times, and doubled 3 times in those 7 games.
5) Flaherty’s numbers are not attractive (6 for 31, 1 bb, 11 k’s), but I still like what we have seen from him. You have to remember that not only is he adjusting to the Majors, but he is also adjusting to sporadic playing time. He blasted his homer in the 1st game of the double-header yesterday, and he had a great approach on his PH single in the 9th of the 2nd game. He also added a fine catch in LF. The MASN announcers have relayed comments from Showalter several times this year, that the O’s see Flaherty as an eventual everyday Major League player. While I think he probably projects best at 2nd, the current opening is at 3rd. Flaherty played 102 games in the Minors at 3rd (and another 111 at SS). Maybe he needs to be getting some additional starts at the hot corner, allowing the O’s to see his defense there regularly, and determine if his bat is going to play. He struggled in 176 ab’s in the PCL last year, but he did have success in the AA Southern League (302 ab’s, .907 OPS, .305 baa, 20 doubles, 14 homers, 66 rbi, 40 bb’s, 55 k’s.)
6) After a strong offensive series in Boston, Reynolds singled just twice in 12 ab’s against Texas. He did walk twice. He can’t go into another slump. His bat needs to get hot, and produce now to stay in the lineup.
7) Davis is now 1 for his last 17, with 10 k’s. He got the night off in the 2nd game of the DH yesterday. The O’s offense is different with him producing. It would be a great sign from him for the rest of this year, if he could shake off this mini-slump with some positive outings this weekend.
8) Matusz and Arrieta take the mound Saturday and Sunday for the O’s. Both were excellent in NY, and both had disappointing outings vs. Texas. If these two (and later hopefully Britton) are consistently pitching well, and reaching towards their ceiling; the O’s can dream bigger. However, the approach with these two, and with the O’s in-general needs to be one game, one series at a time. Every-time these guys take the mound, they need to have the attitude of going out to prove themselves. (This is not to say they have not.) Tampa Bay has a juggernaut, primarily built around their young talented starting pitching. I want to see Matusz and Arrieta go match Moore, and Shields pitch for pitch. They are certainly capable of doing so.
9) Last night, Lindstrom allowed his first 2 er’s of the year (14 innings). In the first game yesterday, Johnson let up the 3 run homer in the 9th. Ayala had allowed two hits to start the inning. During Hamilton’s historic night, O’Day allowed one of the four homers. The bullpen’s success has been so overwhelming, it has been almost jarring to see things not go perfect. Rationally, we have been saying you can’t expect perfection from this group. The question was always going to be how they responded to a little adversity. It will be interesting to see how they perform this weekend.
9a) There was a lot of talk bout Pomeranz in the game thread last night. There is a lot to like with that arm, and the O’s need to find a way to keep him part of the staff.
10) Wieters has homered just once in his last 14 games. He has 1 double during the same time-frame. He entered the Boston series with his OPS at 1.009. That has dropped to .914 entering the series tonight. If he finishes the year with a .914 OPS, all O’s fans will be rightfully excited. That said, the O’s need him to be a consistent force in the middle of the lineup. This weekend would be a good time to break back out.
Projected Pitchers
5/11: Hellickson (RHP) vs. Eveland
5/12: Moore (LHP) vs. Matusz
5/13: Shields (RHP) vs. Arrieta
Hellickson: 3-0, 2.75 era, 36 ip, 32 hits, 6 hr’s, 15 bb’s, 23 k’s, .722 OPS against, 0.76 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/476451/
Moore: 1-2, 5.71 era, 34.2 ip, 39 hits, 6 hr’s, 18 bb’s, 28 k’s, .851 OPS against, 0.50 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/519043/
Shields: 5-1, 3.23 era, 47.1 ip, 43 hits, 7 hr’s, 15 bb’s, 43 k’s, .697 OPS against, 1.52 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/448306/
C: Molina .648 OPS, 57 ab’s
1st: Pena .789 OPS, 115 ab’s
2nd: Zobrist .790 OPS, 106 ab’s
SS: Rodriguez .613 OPS, 92 ab’s
3rd: Rhymes .543 OPS, 29 ab’s
LF: Jennings .738 OPS, 112 ab’s, 8 steals
CF: Upton .791 OPS, 59 ab’s
RF: Joyce .967 OPS, 98 ab’s
DH: Scott .852 OPS, 93 ab’s
Bench: Gimenez, Johnson, Allen, Guyer
Rotation: Price, Shields, Hellickson, Niemann, Moore
Bullpen: Rodney, McGee, Peralta, Howell, Badenhop, Davis, Ramos
Current Ranks:
Tampa Bay
Runs: 9th
Batting Average: 17th
On Base: 8th
Slugging: 7th
ERA: 19th
Quality Starts: 22nd
WHIP: 21st
BAA: 16th
Baltimore
Runs: 8th
Batting Average: 14th
On Base: 17th
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 8th
Quality Starts: 20th
WHIP: 12th
BAA: 12th
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.