The Baltimore Orioles are 54-77 overall, with one game remaining in August.
They are currently 31-33 at home, and 22-44 on the road.
The O’s remaining schedule is:
August 31st – vs NYY
Sept 1st-2nd – vs NYY
Sept 3rd – off
Sept 4th – 6th vs Texas
Sept 7th – off
Sept 8th – 9th @ Boston
Sept 10th – off
Sept 11th – 13th @ NYY
Sept 14th – 17th vs Tampa
Sept 18th – 20th vs Boston
Sept 21st – 23rd @ Toronto
Sept 24th – off
Sept 25th – 27th @ Cleveland
Sept 28th – 30th @ Tampa
October 1st @ Tampa
October 2nd – 4th vs Toronto
That is a total of 31 games, with 16 at home, and 15 on the road.
Goals, Thoughts, Questions to end the year
1) I think winning 10 games at home, is a reasonable goal. If accomplished, that would give the O’s 41 home-victories, and a winning record at OPACY.
2) The O’s are 16-31 for the year against the American League East. From tomorrow, through the end of the 2009 season, they will face the East another 25 games. My expectation is an 11-14 record against the East to end the year. A 13-12 record, should be the goal.
3) Matt Wieters has extended his most-recent hitting streak to 7 games. Earlier this year, he had a 9 game hitting streak. Wieters enters tomorrow with 16 bb’s, and 53 k’s. You want to see him improve his plate-discipline, and drive the ball with more regularity.
4) Felix Pie entered today with a .774 OPS, and then provided his 7th homer of the season. I would like to see Pie get another 25 starts, and roughly 100 at-bats. As he only has 20 at-bats vs. left-handed pitching in 2009, I would want him to get additional opportunities vs. south-paws to end the year.
5) Nolan Reimold has been playing with an achilles heel injury for over a year. There are reports that Reimold will have surgery on the heel after the season. While it does not seem to have impacted Reimold’s productivity (and has not impacted his hustle), the injury should force Reimold into the DH role for the remainder of the year. Not having to play the field will limit the wear-and-tear on his leg.
6) In Tillman’s last 23 innings of work, he has allowed 9 er, 26 hits, 7 bb’s, with 9 k’s. Tillman will enter September with an era of 4.24. If you can get Tillman through another 25 innings, and end the year with an era under 4.75, that will terrific for his development. You want to see how he handles pitching against the division, particularly on the road. It will be important to remember that Tillman is tiring-out, and how much left he has to give, remains to be seen.
7) After blowing the game Thursday night, Johnson came back today to record his 7th save. I have some doubts about Johnson being able to retain the Closer’s role, but am looking forward to seeing him to end this year. Can he keep the ball down, and eat-up opposing batters with his hard-sinker? Is his arm-strong enough to get through the season? Can you end the year, with Mickolio, and Ray providing a solid bridge to the 9th?
8) A lot of people in Baltimore believe that the O’s will be looking for a major acquisition at 1st or 3rd prior to the 2010 season. I do not think that is accurate. I anticipate that Luke Scott, and Ty Wigginton will the Opening Day starters at 1st, and 3rd. I believe that Andy McPhail would want those two to man the corners until around June, and the anticipated arrivals of Josh Bell, and Brandon Snyder. However, if Scott and/or Wigginton were to end these last 31-games on a particular sour-note, that might lead to a change in the expected Organizational direction. Scott has a .592 OPS in the 2nd-half, with just 9 XBH’s in 121 at-bats. Scott has consistently shown to be a streak player, and is due for a flurry of production to end the year.
9) Adam Jones has a .720 OPS since the All-star break. It is time for him to catch a second-wind and finish strong. He does not have to be the guy that had a 1.062 OPS in April, nor the guy that had a .960 OPS in May, but you need him to have a relatively-productive end of the year. Jones elevated his play in 2009 from 2008. You want him to go into the off-season feeling good about what he accomplished.
10) Brian Roberts entered today, just 1 for his last 20. With a 2 for 3 today, you hope that is the signal of another awakening. Overall for the 2nd-half, Roberts has a .897 OPS. All I want to see out of Roberts to end the year, is him getting on-base at a regular-clip. If Roberts has one more hot-streak in him, he can finish with the 2nd-best year of his career.
11) Guthrie has won his last-two decisions, allowing 2 er in 14 innings of work. In 2007, Guthrie pitched 175.1 innings. In 2008, Guthrie pitched 190.2 innings. In 2009, Guthrie has pitched 154 innings. Guthrie figures to get another 5 starts. One positive-goal he could obtain would be finishing 2009 with an equal amount of innings to 2008. A less realistic, but possible goal would be ending the season with a .500 record, and sub-4.75 era. (Guthrie enters his start tomorrow at 9-12, with a 5.26 era). Perhaps counter-intuitively, if Guthrie were to finish strong, that might make it less likely for him to return in 2010.
12) David Hernandez has made 13 Major League starts, and has walked 3 or more batters in 7 of those starts. Despite that, he has also provided at-least 5 innings of work in 10 of his starts. In outings of 5 innings or more, he has allowed 3er or less 8 times. I would like to see some improving control, and increasing strike-outs to end the year.
13) It seems likely that Koji Uehara will return for a few innings in September. How will he be used? It was previously stated that if Uehara returned, he would be limited to use out of the bullpen. With Bergesen now unlikely to be return in 2009, is it possible that Uehara is insterted as the 6th starter, and receives a couple of rotation-turns?
Probably not, as Uehara would likely not have the arm-strength to even work 4 or 5 innings.
During his last two seasons in Japan, Uehara posted the following numbers out of the bullpen:
2008 – 89.2 IP, 90 hits, 72 k’s, 16 walks
2007 – 62 IP, 47 hits, 66 k’s, 4 walks, 32 saves
If you can end 2009, with him contributing out of the bullpen, that could be a big help going into 2010.
14) The biggest question to end the season, is will the O’s be competitive enough, that Trembley will have the opportunity to return. 22 of the 31 games are against NY, Boston, Tampa, and Texas. If Trembley’s ability to return in 2010 depends on September wins and losses, a new Mgr. is likely. If Trembley’s ability to return in 2010 depends on the O’s battling through the end of the season, and playing hard; his chances greatly improve.
Wins and losses did not matter much in the 2009 season. If you want to be able to compete in the 2011 season, wins and losses will matter in 2010.
I believe the O’s have the basic pieces in place to win 81-85 games in 2010. If the O’s were to finish 10-21 to end this year, I would deem that unacceptable.
I see the Orioles ending the year as follows:
1-2 vs NY
2-1 vs Texas
1-1 @ Boston
1-2 @ NY
1-3 vs Tampa
1-2 vs Boston
2-1 @ Toronto
2-1 @ Cleveland
1 -3 @ Tampa
2-1 vs Toronto
14-17 to end the year, finishing 68-94.
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.