Nolan Reimold’s 2010 season certainly has not gone according to plan. Obviously he entered Spring Training off the well documented Achilles’s injury. As he struggled during his 83 at-bats with the Birds, it also became apparent that he was dealing with the birth of his child.
Since returning to Norfolk, he has now played in 36 games for the Tides and had a total of 127 at-bats. His overall 2010 production in AAA (.596 OPS) is less than he was doing with the O’s (.639 OPS).
Perhaps things are finally looking-up for the powerful righty? During his last 10 games, Reimold is 11 for 37 (.297 average). While those 11 hits only include two for extra-bases, he has hit in 7 of the 10 games. As he continues to get occasional starts at first, I think the O’s might as well promote him and make the move of cutting Atkins.
He has proven previously he can demolish AAA pitching, and proven last-year he can produce in the bigs. What he needs to prove is that is he is capable of adjustments. He has always been a bit of a streaky hitter, and I’d rather see the O’s benefit of a run of production from Reimold, instead of the Tides.
Bell has an .807 OPS in his last 10 games, including 5 doubles in the last 4 games. This has raised Bell’s overall OPS to .759. The disturbing part for the Birds is that Bell is still striking out with regularity (11 in his last 10 games, 67 overall).
I continue to believe the Orioles would be a better team with Tejada taking over for Izturis at SS (.538 OPS, including a .279 on-base % entering today), with Bell taking over 3rd full-time.
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.