The Baltimore Orioles (22-13, 1st in the AL East), begin a brief two game series with the New York Yankees (19-15, 3rd in the AL East, 2.5 GB) tonight.
1) This will be the 3rd series of the year between the teams. The O’s are 2-4 against the Yankees, 10-2 against the rest of the division. After tomorrow, the O’s will not see NY again until the last two days of July.
2) After being skipped, Jason Hammel is scheduled to start tonight. A number of different issues to watch here. Will his knee give him any issues? Is he sharp making his first performance since 5/6? This is his 7th start of the year, 5th against the East, and 2nd against the Yanks.
3) Chen has gone 7+ innings in two of his last three starts, and is coming off an outstanding outing vs. Texas. This will be his 2nd start vs. NY (ML Debut). A number of his starts have come on additional rest, with a schedule similar to what he had in Japan. Tomorrow’s start will be on normal rest. Any impact?
4) RHP Ivan Nova (starting tonight) has been hit pretty much equally by LH, and RH hitting. Tomorrow, the O’s will face LHP CC Sabathia. Over the previous 3 years, Sabathia has completely overwhelmed lefties. This year, left-handed batters have a .765 OPS in 51 ab’s vs. Sabathia, while right-handed batters have been held to a .595 OPS in 146 ab’s. Does that limited sample-size, impact the lineup tomorrow? Does Hammel’s propensity for getting grounders (1.56 G/F ratio), impact who is at 3rd tonight?
5) Hardy has played in 34 of the O’s 35 games. In his last 10 games, he has had 4 homers, and 4 doubles. His OPS has been raised from .597 to .755. Since he has been hot, I’m sure there is desire to keep him in the lineup, especially against the division. However, with Hall, Flaherty, and Andino on the roster; there is also an opportunity to give him a day off.
6) Andino has been slumping over the last 10 games, as his average has fallen from .337 to .283. During that stretch he has had just 2 walks against 12 k’s. With Reimold out, Markakis is the best option on the roster to lead-off. You would like to think Andino’s approach would be the same batting 9th, or leading off. If Showalter thinks Andino is more comfortable batting 9th, I’d rather just leave him there. If Andino is going to lead-off, he has to have better ab’s.
7) Since last Tuesday, Markakis has had 3 homers, 2 doubles, and 5 walks. This has raised his OPS from .687 going into 5/8 to back over .800 going into today. Good to see. You’d like to see him be able to sustain this, and get scorching over a prolonged stretch of play.
8) Hunter and Eveland are both still on the roster. The starter Wednesday at Kansas City has not been announced. Hunter started Thursday, Eveland went Friday. As Eveland went 6 innings Friday, I can’t see him providing multiple innings tonight if Hammel’s knee forces him from the game. Would they use Hunter in long-relief tonight if needed? If Hammel gets through tonight, without long-relief being needed, are both Hunter and Eveland on the roster tomorrow? If so, will one be used in relief Tuesday, with the other starting Wednesday?
9) With Flaherty, Tolleson, and Hall on the roster, Betemit should not see time at 3rd right now. If he does start there, you do have defensive replacements for later in the game. The same is true for Betemit in LF, with Avery (and again Flaherty, and Hall) providing options. This means Betemit’s time should be coming at DH. Over the past 3 years, Betemit had a .750 OPS vs. LHP (181 ab’s). So far this year, he is really struggling against LHP (.587 OPS, 9 k’s in 26 ab’s). Use him for what he was primarily signed to be – a DH against RHP.
9a) Nick Johnson had the back-to-back two hit games in NY, and then played 1 game in Boston, and had 2 ab’s vs. Texas. He came back this weekend with a nice series against Tampa Bay (3 hits, 2 hr’s, 3 rbi, 2 bb’s). Despite being left-handed, Johnson has always hit LHP well. He should be the DH against lefties.
9b) Davis has been in a tail-spin since the 17 inning game in Boston, but does have hits in 3 of his last 4 games. Primarily, I want to see Davis remain in the lineup through his positive stretches, and through his struggles. If they want Davis out of the lineup against a tough lefty (like Sabathia), Johnson can play 1st, but that does not mean Betemit has to be in the lineup at DH, or LF. That would be another opportunity to use Hall.
10) If Pomeranz had not been optioned yesterday, Showalter might not have been in position to try and get a 3rd inning out of Patton. If Eveland and Hunter will not be used out of the bullpen; the available pen is Johnson, Strop, Ayala, O’Day, Patton, and Gregg. The O’s wanted to avoid using Johnson and Strop for a 4th consecutive day yesterday. While understandable, the O’s are going to have to work to avoid subsequent days where both of them are unavailable. How does that impact their usage? Gregg has pitched well in recent times out (6.1 scoreless innings in his last 5 outings), but Showalter is clearly still picking spots to use him. Johnson, Strop, Ayala, and O’Day have each made 15 appearances. Gregg has made just 8. Are the O’s willing to use Gregg in non-blowout situations (or where they are forced to, i.e. the 17 inning game in Boston)? If the answer is no, then even though he is pitching better, he still needs to go.
Bonus: For years the O’s have played NY, with fear of being down late in the game. With respect to Robertson and Soriano (who both are very talented), neither is Rivera.
Projected Pitchers:
5/14: Nova vs. Hammel
5/15: Sabathia (LHP) vs. Chen
Nova: 4-1, 5.02 era, 37.2 ip, 51 hits, 8 hr’s, 11 bb’s, 36 k’s, .994 OPS against, 1.11 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/467100/
Sabathia: 5-0, 3.51 era, 51.1 ip, 45 hits, 5 hr’s, 10 bb’s, 53 k’s, .640 OPS against, 1.06 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/282332/
C: Martin .632 OPS
1st: Teixeira .644 OPS
2nd: Cano .790 OPS
SS: Jeter .956 OPS
3rd: Rodriguez .808 OPS
LF: Jones .816 OPS
CF: Granderson .904 OPS
RF: Swisher .890 OPS
DH: Ibanez .898 OPS
Bench: Stewart, Chavez, Wise, Nix
Rotation: Sabathia, Nova, Kuroda, Hughes, Pettitte
Bullpen: Robertson, Soriano, Logan, Phelps, Rapada, Wade, Garcia
Current Ranks:
New York
Runs: 5th
Batting Average: 4th
On Base: 4th
Slugging: 3rd
ERA: 20th
Quality Starts: 27th
WHIP: 22nd
BAA: 23rd
Baltimore
Runs: 7th
Batting Average: 13th
On Base: 18th
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 10th
Quality Starts: 22nd
WHIP: 9th
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.