Coming off of a 4th consecutive series win, the Baltimore Orioles continue play against the National League with a trip to the Big Apple, to face the Mets.
At 39-27, Baltimore is in 2nd place in the American League East, 1.5 GB of the Yankees. The O’s are currently the 1st Wild Card team in the AL, with Tampa Bay the 2nd.
The Mets are 35-32, and in 3rd place in the National League East, trailing the Nationals by 4.5 games. New York is a 1/2 game out of the 2nd Wild Card in the NL.
1) After being demoted to the bullpen, Arrieta was forced back into the rotation against the Pirates when Matusz had his batting practice mishap. While it can be mentioned that Pittsburgh has a poor lineup, Arrieta still responded with a quality outing (7 ip, 7 hits, 1 er, 1 bb, 9 k’s, 11 grounders). In a lot of Arrieta’s starts, it has appeared that he can be thinking too much. Against Pittsburgh he just attacked the lineup. I hope to see that carried over into his start tonight.
2) Despite the 0-18 Jones had after being on the wrist, Jones has still had a productive June (.767 OPS). In the last week, he is 9 for 23, with 3 doubles, and a HR. His production has been so consistently high, it has almost become easy to take him for granted. Love when he goes opposite field with power, like he did yesterday in Atlanta.
3) Seeing Davis in RF in Atlanta was a surprise. Seeing him make a great diving catch was a shock. Even if he is not a ‘good’ OF, he looked like he could be plenty adequate out there, especially if not forced to play the OF everyday. With 3 additional games without the DH, do we continue to see Davis in RF? After coming into Atlanta with a 7 game hitting streak, Davis was held without a hit in 10 ab’s vs. the Braves.
4) The O’s face R.A. Dickey tonight. Over his last 37 starts, he has a 2.51 era. That is fairly large stretch of performance, but I guess I am biased against the knuckle-ball that Dickey throws. I respect that that knuckle ball allows for the pitchers that throw them, to essentially be rubber arm type guys, and gives a look (movement, and lowered velocity) that hitters just don’t normally see; and that hitters often have trouble adjusting. I still don’t have a lot of respect for the pitch. The O’s need to be patient, and make Dickey show he can throw it for strikes.
5) Tomorrow, the O’s face lefty Johan Santana. This past week in Baltimore, the O’s knocked around Bedard (3.1 ip, 8 hits, 7 er). The O’s lineup vs. Bedard was: Roberts 2nd, Hardy SS, Davis DH, Jones CF, Wieters C, Reynolds 1st, Pearce RF, Tolleson LF, Andino 3rd. You could basically go with the same lineup, with Davis at RF, Pearce in LF, and Tolleson or Andino at 3rd.
6) Facing Santana will be Tommy Hunter. During the first 4 innings of his start vs. Pittsburgh, I was thinking he again looked capable of helping the O’s as their 5th starter. During the last two innings vs. the Pirates, I was reminded he is probably best suited a as a spot starter, and long-relief. I like that Hunter is pitch efficient, and does not hurt himself with walks. He has to do a better job of keeping the ball in the park. Will he do enough tomorrow night to earn another start, or will he be hit to the point, that the O’s determine he needs to be replaced the next time through?
7) Roberts played in his first 5 games back, and was off on Sunday. In 4 of his 5 games played, he has had hits. Through 22 ab’s, he is still looking for his first XBH. Does that come in NY? After coming up with the 2 run single in the 7th inning of Saturday’s game in Atlanta, he was getting antsy at 1st. He clearly wanted to run, and attempt to take 2nd. Will he grab his first steal of 2012 vs. the Mets?
8) Flaherty had hits in 4 out of 5 games vs. Boston and Philadelphia between the 5th and 9th. In the 7 games since, he has had 4 ab’s. Johnson was 2 for 3 vs. Philadelphia on the 9th, and has had 3 ab’s in the following 7 games. The lack of use for these two is limiting for the roster. I hope the O’s have determined what they would have to send back to Chicago, to allow Baltimore to take Flaherty off the active roster. Since the slump Johnson had to start the year, I think he has had a lot of good ab’s whenever given the opportunity. I understand that finding him time without the benefit of the DH being the lineup, is a difficult proposition. However, if you can’t find him any regular at-bats, you should probably look to add someone to the roster who could be better utilized.
9) Wieters was off Sunday vs. the Braves. The O’s are off Thursday prior to starting a 3 game weekend series with the Nationals in Baltimore. I’d expect Wieters to be in the lineup in each of the 3 games vs. the Mets. With Hammel, and Chen tossing the strong games in Atlanta, and that off-game coming Thursday; Showalter should be able and willing to turn to his bullpen early in any of these 3 games in NY if required.
10) Matusz was serviceable vs. Atlanta Friday, after a poor start in Boston. If you want to feel really optimistic about what the O’s can achieve this year, you need Matusz to be consistently good. In the 4 starts prior that start vs. the Red Sox, he had gone 6+ innings, and allowed 3 er or less in each outing. Right now, you expect Matusz to be ‘ok’ most time times out. When (if) you can expect him to be ‘good’, you will feel better about the rotation and team as a whole. He needs to show he can finish batters, and finish innings when needed.
Projected Pitchers:
6/18: Arrieta vs. Dickey
6/19: Hunter vs. Santana (LHP)
6/20: Matusz vs. Gee
Dickey: 10-1, 2.20 era, 90 ip, 66 hits, 8 hr’s, 19 bb’s, 90 k’s, .601 OPS against, 1.17 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/285079/
Santana: 4-3, 3.23 era, 78 ip, 62 hits, 8 hr’s 26 bb’s, 79 k’s, .643 OPS against, 0.51 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/276371/
Gee: 4-5, 4.43 era, 83.1 ip, 84 hits, 11 hr’s, 23 bb’s, 74 k’s, .720 OPS against, 1.19 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/518716/
C: Thole .652 OPS
1st: Davis .599 OPS
2nd: Murphy .665 OPS
SS: Quintanilla .762 OPS
3rd: Wright 1.032 OPS
LF: Hairston .907 OPS
CF: Nieuwenhuis .779 OPS
RF: Duda .790 OPS
Bench: Nickeas, Rottino, Turner, Valdespin, Torres
Rotation: Santana, Dickey, Niese, Gee, Young
Bullpen: Francisco, Rauch, Parnell, Byrdak, Ramirez, Batista, Hefner
Current Ranks:
New York Mets
Runs: 10th
Batting Average: 16th
On Base: 7th
Slugging: 19th
ERA: 24th
Quality Starts: 3rd
WHIP: 20th
BAA: 20th
Baltimore
Runs: 8th
Batting Average: 18th
On Base: 22nd
Slugging: 6th
ERA: 11th
Quality Starts: 25th
WHIP: 10th
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.