The Baltimore Orioles have the best record in Major League Baseball at 19-9. Winners of 5 games in a row, the O’s are leading the American League East by a 1/2 game over Tampa Bay. The O’s will now begin a four game set vs. the two-time defending American League Champion Texas Rangers. At 18-10, Texas is leading the American League West by 3.5 games.
1) With Hunter going just 4.1 innings Sunday, the O’s bullpen (not including Davis) went 10.2 ip yesterday. MASN’s Roch Kubatko is reporting (http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2012/05/pomeranz-expected-to-get-the-call.html) that Stu Pomeranz will be promoted today. I agree with Kubatko that the likely move is Pomeranz replacing Exposito.
2) The bullpen has simply been amazing. I have felt that a lot of their success, was predicated on the starters in-front of them providing some consistent innings. However, the bullpen deserves to be acknowledged for being awesome on their own.
Johnson: 12.2 ip, 7 hits, 4 bb’s, 11 k’s, 8 saves, 0.00 era
Strop: 17 ip, 10 hits, 1 hr, 7 bb’s, 15 k’s, 1.59 era
Lindstrom: 13 ip, 9 hits, 3 bb’s, 14 k’s, 0.00 era
Ayala: 15.2 ip, 10 hits, 4 bb’s, 9 k’s, 0.00 era
O’Day: 14 ip, 9 hits, 1 hr, 4 bb’s, 15 k’s, 0.64 era
Patton: 12.2 ip, 13 hits, 1 hr, 2 bb’s, 4 k’s, 4.26 era
Gregg: 8.2 ip, 9 hits, 1 hr, 5 bb’s, 8 k’s, 5.19 era
That is unworldly production. I still think they can continue to excel if the starters give innings, but you can’t expect them to maintain this pace. I’m still waiting to see how Johnson (and others) respond after some adversity.
3) Matusz has allowed 1 er over his last 12.1 innings, and is coming off an outstanding effort at NY. Beyond just wanting to see him have another effective outing, the O’s need him to provide innings, and some relief for the ‘pen. Facing this Texas lineup is a challenge for anyone.
4) Reynolds was 6 for 11, with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 6 rbi’s, and 5 bb’s during the series in Boston. Obviously you knew his bat would come around at some-point, but it was still great to see. Last year he had 3 different Month’s with 8 homers. Can he build on the last few days, and start to go on a real tear?
5) Texas enters the series 10-5 on the road, while the O’s are 8-4 at OPACY. Baltimore got the attention of a lot of people around baseball with their 5 wins this past week in NY and Boston. This 4 game series against the Rangers, is another opportunity for the O’s to make a statement.
6) With his 5 for 8 Sunday, including his 5th and 6th HR’s, Hardy raised his average 30 points, and his OPS 105 points. Similar to Reynolds, is Hardy now poised to carry the O’s for the next series or two?
7) Arrieta was awesome Wednesday in New York. 8 ip, 5 hits, 0 er, 0 bb’s, 9 k’s. The 0 walks were especially great to see against that patient NY lineup (and after Arrieta had walked 5 in his previous 10 ip). You can’t expect him to be that good every time out, but his ability to consistently strong (not just adequate) will help determine how fun this year can be.
8) If Pomeranz replaces Exposito, the bench becomes just Paulino, Flaherty, and Johnson. Wieters is not likely to catch today, does that short-bench eliminate using Wieters as the DH? I would think so. I’d expect Reynolds to DH tonight, with Betemit at 3rd.
9) Baltimore has 8 steals, and has been caught stealing 9 times. This is not really something to look for, but the ratio is so poor, it should be pointed out. One guy that should be running more is Andino. Last year Andino was successful in 13 of his 16 attempts.
10) Aside from his pitching performance, Sunday was pretty ugly for Chris Davis (0 for 8, 5 k’s). I’d like to see him put yesterday behind him right way, and have a positive series against his former team.
Projected Pitchers:
5/7: Harrison (LHP) vs. Matusz
5/8: Feliz (RHP) vs. Arrieta
5/9: Lewis (RHP) vs. Chen
5/10: Holland (LHP) vs. Hammel
Harrison: 3-2, 5.40 era, 30 ip, 39 hits, 3 hr’s, 7 bb’s, 19 k’s, .834 OPS against, 1.28 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/457448/
Feliz: 1-1, 3.81 era, 26 ip, 17 hits, 4 hr’s, 14 bb k’s, 18 k’s, .656 OPS against, 0.61 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/491703/
Lewis: 3-1, 2.97 era, 39.1 ip, 40 hits, 6 hr’s, 5 bb’s, 31 k’s, .764 OPS against, 0.45 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/407890/
Holland: 2-2, 4.43 era, 40.2 ip, 3 hr’s, 15 bb’s, 35 k’s, .693 OPS against, 0.67 G/F
Pitch F/X: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/502706/
C: Napoli .827 OPS
1st: Moreland .826 OPS
2nd: Kinsler .895 OPS
SS: Andrus .786 OPS
3rd: Beltre .916 OPS
LF: Murphy .773 OPS
CF: Hamilton 1.122 OPS
RF: Cruz .593 OPS
DH: Young .759 OPS
Bench: Torrealba, Gonzalez, Gentry, Snyder
Rotation: Lewis, Holland, Darvish, Harrison, Feliz
Bullpen: Nathan, Adams, Uehara, Feldman, Lowe, Ogando, Ross
Current Ranks:
Texas
Runs: 3rd
Batting Average: 1st
On Base: 2nd
Slugging: 2nd
ERA: 6th
Quality Starts: 6th
WHIP: 4th
BAA: 11th
Baltimore
Runs: 10th
Batting Average: 11th
On Base: 13th
Slugging: 5th
ERA: 2nd
Quality Starts: 18th
WHIP: 5th
BAA: 6th
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.