The Baltimore Orioles (29-19) are heading back out on the road, for a 9 game series vs. the division. The first stop is north of the border, vs. the Toronto Blue Jays (24-24).
1) The Adam Jones extension provided some distraction to the fact the O’s just loss back-to-back home series vs. Boston, and Kansas City. It is important for Baltimore to get right back on the winning track. The O’s enter this series 14-9 vs. the East, and 15-6 on the road. This will be the 3rd series of the year vs. the Jays, and the 2nd trip to the Rogers Centre. Baltimore has won 5 of the 6 games played between the teams so far, and holds a 5 game lead on 4th place Toronto. You want to see those trends continue.
2) Hunter will start Monday night. He enters 2-2, with a 5.07 era. In his 55 innings, he has allowed 60 hits, 11 hr’s, 14 bb’s, with 31 k’s. His OPS against is .817, and his G/F is 0.93. His start against Boston was not horrible, but he was provided with a 5-2 lead, and coughed it up. Hunter’s spot in the rotation is the most vulnerable as Britton is about to push his way back on to the roster. Will be interesting to see how Hunter responds to that challenge. This will be his 3rd start vs. the Jays this year. After allowing 4 homers in Toronto, he came back to beat the Jays in Baltimore.
3) On the home-stand, Davis had 3 hr’s, 3 multi-hit games, and a double. His OPS is up to .852. He strikes out too much (44 times), and does not walk enough (7), but I wonder if he should be moved-up while he is in another of his his hot-streaks?
4) Markakis has hits in 8 of the last 10 games, including 4 multi-hit games. His OPS is .806, and he is on pace for 41 doubles, and 27 homers. His bat seems built for Rogers Centre with his ability to use all fields, and those large alleys. There are 37 games until the All-Star break. I want to see Markakis catch fire, and earn his way to his first All-Star game.
5) Arrieta takes the mound Tuesday. He is 2-5, with a 4.87 era (4.01 FIP). In 61 ip, he has allowed 62 hits, 9 hr’s, 16 bb’s, with 53 k’s. His OPS against is .729, and his G/F is 0.90.
This will be Arrieta’s 6th start of May. His previous 5 have been:
5/2 @ NYY: 8 ip, 5 hits, 0 er, 0 bb’s, 9 k’s
5/8 vs. TEX: 6.1 ip, 9 hits, 6 er, 3 hr’s, 1 bb, 3 k’s
5/13 vs. TB: 3.2 ip, 10 hits, 7 er, 2 bb’s, 6 k’s
5/18 @ DC: 7 ip, 6 hits, 1 er, 1 hr, 1 bb, 9 k’s
5/23 vs. BOS: 5.2 ip, 8 hits, 4 er, 1 hr, 3 bb’s, 2 k’s
The starts vs. the Yankees, and Nationals were awesome. His most recent start vs. Boston was livable. His starts vs. the Rangers and Rays were poor. We continue to talk about wanting to see positive consistency from him. To me, when you see how high his ceiling is in those starts vs. NY and DC; you feel like he should be capable of a quality start nearly every time out. However, does anyone have concrete opinions on the results we will see from Arrieta Tuesday? This will be his first start vs. Toronto this year.
6) Avery was 1 for 13 vs. the Royals. He is 1 for 11 against LHP, and has clearly looked overwhelmed vs. lefties several times. If he is out of the lineup Tuesday against Romero, who is LF? Wouldn’t figure to be Flaherty, as he also bats lefty. Betemit is a switch-hitter, but does not hit lefties. You could go with Tolleson in LF, but that probably means Betemit at 3rd. I think I would probably play Avery in LF, just to have another OF who could run in that big OF, and play Tolleson at 3rd.
7) Jones enters the series with hits in 18 consecutive games. He has hits in 43 of the O’s 48 games overall. He has a .944 OPS, with 10 doubles, 2 triples, 14 homers, and 31 rbi. His UZR/150 is currently 13.9. By any measure, he is having a great season. However, in the O’s 19 losses, he has had just 3 rbi. He has to continue to produce, for this team to win.
8) After going 5.0, and 5.1 innings in his first two outings after being skipped, Hammel pitched 6 innings, and threw over 100 pitches (he had throw 94, and 95 in those previous outings) Friday. MASN reported during that game Friday, that his knee was improving due to conditioning in the pool. For the year, Hammel is now 6-1, with a 2.78 era. In his 55 ip, he has allowed 45 hits, 3 hr’s, 17 bb’s, with 53 k’s. His OPS against is .607, and his G/F is 1.32. As the O’s prepare to enter June, he has become the ace of the staff. I’m looking for the start that eliminates all questions about his knee, and cements that he is the guy you want to nail down a division series on the road.
9) Wieters had a walk, a hit, and some better ab’s the last couple of days vs. KC. Still, he has just 3 hits in his last 10 games and is batting .232. We understand he has been banged up, but this lineup needs him to produce, and it is important that he does on this road trip.
10) Johnson pitched 0.2 ip of an inning Sunday, and was off Friday and Saturday.
Strop was off Sunday, and pitched an inning Saturday.
Ayala went an inning Saturday, and was off Sunday.
O’Day went a combined 2.1 innings Saturday and Sunday.
Eveland went an inning Friday.
Patton pitched 1 inning Sunday.
Gregg did not pitch vs. KC.
Unfortunately Pomeranz suffered an oblique injury Sunday, and will be heading to the DL.
Projected Pitchers:
5/28: Hunter vs. Hutchison
5/29: Arrieta vs. Romero (LHP)
5/30: Hammel vs. Morrow
Hutchison: 3-2, 5.73 era, 37.2 ip, 44 hits, 5 hr’s, 14 bb’s, 27 k’s, .831 OPS against, 0.72 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/571800/
Romero: 5-1, 3.86 era, 65.1 ip, 48 hits, 6 hr’s, 37 bb’s, 49 k’s, .667 OPS against, 1.20 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/460069/
Morrow: 5-3, 3.47 era, 62.1 ip, 47 hits, 7 hr’s, 20 bb’s, 54 k’s, .642 OPS against, 0.77 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/453344/
C: Arenciba .749 OPS
1st: Gomes 22 ab’s
2nd: Johnson .761 OPS
SS: Escobar .651 OPS
3rd: Lawrie .681 OPS
RF: Bautista .790 OPS
CF: Rasmus .709 OPS
LF: Thames .657 OPS
DH: Encarnacion .906 OPS
Bench: Mathis, Vizquel, Davis, Cooper
Rotation: Romero, Morrow, Alvarez, Drabek, Hutchinson
Bullpen: Janssen, Cordero, Oliver, Frasor, Villanueva, Perez, Igarashi
Current Ranks:
Toronto
Runs: 5th
Batting Average: 25th
On Base: 23rd
Slugging: 11th
ERA: 21st
Quality Starts: 14th
WHIP: 24th
BAA: 11th
Baltimore
Runs: 8th
Batting Average: 15th
On Base: 21st
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 10th
Quality Starts: 17th
WHIP: 9th
BAA: 13th
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.