Orioles in Big Trouble

The Baltimore Orioles have been struggling lately, they are still contending, but everyday looking more and more like pretenders. If you had told me before the year, that the Orioles would start like this, I would not have believed you. This team came out guns blazing and actually looked like a playoff team for the first time in a long time. However, now we are in trouble. Unless something is done we will fall off now just like every year since 1997, it will just be later this time.

So how bad is it?

The Orioles lost to the Twins last night 19-7. Chris Tillman (who pitched 8+ in his last outing and looked brilliant) gave up 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning. He didn't even get out of the 1st. Just when you think Tillman put it together, he didn't. Same old Tillman, I mean the guy still hasn't won back to back big league start. That fact alone is utterly insane. It gets worse...

We all know we have been without our leadoff hitter Nolan Reimold for the majority of the year. Reimold was actually our second leadoff hitter after Brian Roberts was hurt. Brian Roberts makes an amazing comeback and then...he gets hurt again. Roberts appears done, in all fairness though Roberts wasn't doing much since he came back other than the 1st game. This is where it gets really ugly though, Roberts backup at 2nd base, Robert Andino, also got hurt recently and is on the DL. So we are now left with Tolleson and Flaherty at 2nd. It still hasn't reached the worst part, Jason Hammel is on the DL and we don't know for how long. Hammel has been our most reliable starter and has been lights out. His injury now marks us having 4 guys from our opening day starting rotation now out of that rotation.

How do we fix it?
The X-Man commeth
Xavier Avery needs to be back in Baltimore. For whatever reason he gives the team a spark. They play with more energy when he is on the team. He should be here. If you are worried about their splits, have no fear. I have another solution. Bring up LJ Hoes. Hoes and Avery should platoon in left for Baltimore for the rest of the year. It is by far our best option and the two are rather close.

Trade the calvary

I am not saying trade the farm, I am saying trade the "calvary" guys. I most often hear the calvary referred to as Tillman, Matusz, and Arrieta. These are the 3 guys to trade. Their value has soured over time, but I am done with this group. The only one I have any hope that he will regain his former self is Arrieta. Even with him I say get rid of him.

Make the Grienke trade and bring Rickie Weeks with Him

Sure Weeks is struggling, but he is a heck of a lot better than what we have at 2nd base. Grienke is sorely needed at this time, we need an ace. Trade for him and extend him. He already said he doesn't want to play in a major market, so maybe just maybe that gives us the edge. We are said to have the inside track at least.

Trade for Jason Vargas and Offer to take Chone Figgins

It can't be said enough that we need pitching. One way to get pitching is to offer to take bad other teams bad contract. Figgins is a bad contract, and he can help us. He is a solid glove at 3b and a decent leadoff hitter. I know he has underperformed, but he can help. Offering to take back Figgins will also limit what we have to give up. There is a chance that by offering to take Figgins and offering to give up a prospect, that we can actually get King Felix. Imagine that guy in Baltimore.

Who do we trade?

Try to limit the prospects. In 1997 in order to make a playoff run, we gutted our farm system. Due to that and extremely poor drafting/development since then we have struggled to recover. We don't want to get into that situation again to try to make a run. So trade the guys we deem losers that we think failed.

Trade Matusz

Trade Tillman

Trade Arrieta

Trade Gregg

Trade Chavez

Trade Pearce

Trade Reynolds

Trade Adams

Trade Mahoney

Trade Flaherty

Trade Betemit

Trade Exposito

Trade Bergessen

Start with that group and see what we can get. If they want Davis in a deal and it nets us a part of our future then go for it. No matter what though, I say trade all of that group either now or in the offseason and see what we can get. They offer us little at the moment. Those three arms hold a lot of value in Milwaukee if we want to offer some up for Grienke. Kranitz actually had some success with the calvary back in 2010. All I know is I want pitchers and guys that want to win. Mark Reynolds doesn't say I want to win to me. The best move we have internally though is Hoes/Avery. Don't forget either that Zach Britton pitches tonight. Britton is the 2nd best pitcher in the organization behind Bundy. So it may be alright for one night.

-Noland

Hammel Throws 1 Hitter Against Braves

Can the Orioles move to the National League? After destroying the Pirates in a sweep and running the NL starter with the best ERA out of the game yesterday I think it may be the way to go. Oh ya and Jason Hammel went through the Braves lineup like it was nothing.

Jason Hammel threw a complete game 1 hit shutout. Amazing. Before I go on, I need to give Dan Duquette mad props on the trade that brought in Hammel. I was not a believer in this trade at first, because I loved Guthrie, but man was it brilliant. We got two stud pitchers for a pitcher that is struggling currently. Great job Duquette. During the spectacular performance, Hammel had 8 strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 2.87. He is now 7-2 and that performance may have earned him an all-star spot. It sure will be exciting to see the Orioles with multiple all-stars this season.

While Hammel was the big star he wasn't the only star. The bats were working too as the Orioles won 5-0. It was a bit of an overreach to say the Orioles ran Beachy out of the game, because he was hurt. However, they did get a run off of him and raise his ERA to 2.00. Following Beachy's removal, the O's made the Braves bullpen look horrible. The offense was lead by somebody you might not expect either. The new and improved Brian Roberts went 2-4 with 3 RBIs. An awesome effort from Brian who raised his batting average to .318. If BROB is hitting like that, this team is going to be difficult to stop. Steve Pearce was also 2-4 in the win.

Feel free to check out my new superhero blog I am starting in a couple minutes. The site should be up and running within the hour. It can be found at superheroscoop.blogspot.com.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Bedard, Sweep Buccos

Do you remember when the Orioles traded Erik Bedard? Steve Phillips thought the Mariners were going to win the World Series because of the deal. Some of my friends thought it was a bad trade for the Orioles. Well, the proof is in the pudding ladies and gentlemen. Just Adam Jones would have been a win for the Orioles. Consider what else we got for Bedard though. We got George Sherrill, who was a filthy closer for us for 2 seasons, Kam Mickolio who was a power arm that helped us land Reynolds (I didn't like the Reynolds trade), Chris Tillman, who was their #2 prospect at the time and still is still in the system, and Tony Butler who was another top 10 prospect of theirs at the time. Andy McPhail straight took the Mariners to the cleaners with that trade. Huge trade for us which is a big part of us contending right now.

Anyways, last night Bedard gave up 7 runs in just over 3 innings. Whoops, poor Erik. He just didn't have it last night.

The Oriole hitting was on point last night luckily, because their pitching wasn't to great either. Baltimore won 12-6 behind some brilliant performances by a few people. They had 8 doubles in the game. That is amazing. JJ Hardy, Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters (2x), Mark Reynolds (2x), and Steve Pearce. Reynolds and Pearce also went yard in the game. Mark Reynolds had by far his best game with that performance. Overall, Reynolds went 4-5 with 3 extra base hits. He also had 2 RBIs and scored 3 times. Great game by Reynolds. Steve Pearce hit his first Oriole homerun with his blast. Pearce and Wieters both had 5 RBIs in the victory. What a fantastic offensive display. In your Brian Roberts update, you find out that he went 1-5 and scored a run. This team loves having BROB around. You can definitely tell. Right now they also love having Pearce and even Reynolds. Its a good time to be an Orioles fan.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Pirates

Before I get into the Orioles beating the Pirates in back to back games, I want to say that I will get to Matt Cain's perfect game at some point today. It may be part of the all-star post, if Cain makes my NL Squad for pitchers. However, as always the Orioles come first here at RAN.

Brian Matusz was injured from the batting cage incident the other day, so he had to have his start moved back a day. That change called for a new starter last night. Therefore, Jake Arrieta who was working on normal rest was re-inserted into the starting rotation after being moved to the bullpen following his last start. Based on how he was pitching lately, we should have expected disaster. We actually got brilliance for Arrieta though. Arrieta got a quality start as he went 7 innings and only gave up one run. The performance also got Arrieta a win and raised his record to (3-8). His ERA is still an awful 5.89, but he did earn another start. Hopefully, this is the start of a big change for Jake.

Pedro Strop also pitched well in this one. Strop pitched a scoreless ninth for the birds. That lowered Strop's ERA to 1.44. You might see Strop on my list of all-stars later today as well.

Brian Roberts went hitless in the 7-1 victory, but his average is still .333. JJ Hardy was 3-4 with 3 runs scored. Chris Davis was 3-4 with 3 RBIs. Davis also hit his 12th home run of the season and is now hitting .305. If 1st base in the AL wasn't so stacked, Davis would have a real shot at the all-star game. He may make it still. New OF Steve Pearce was 2-4 with an RBI. Pearce is hitting .286 since joining the Orioles. Not to shabby, Steve. Finally, the star of the night offensively was Wilson Betemit. He was 3-3 with 3 RBIs. Betemit also had his 8th home run of the season. Some may not like what Wilson provides and may liken him to Vlad, but Wilson has provided solid production for the Orioles. Are there other players I would rather have? Of course, but Wilson gets the job done.

-Noland

He's Back

Brian Roberts has returned for the Baltimore Orioles, and we could not be any happier. Not only did Roberts come back, but he collected 3 hits in his first game in nearly a year. Many people said Roberts was done so this was amazing. The 2nd baseman received a loud ovation. We love Brian Roberts and everything he represents, everything he has been through. My wife who barely followed baseball before she met me, loves everything Roberts represents and as I said previously that he is on our Orioles. 3-4 and an RBI after the long journey back, just amazing. Roberts said the following about the game...
"It'll be one of those (memories) that sticks out for sure. There's not a ton of games that stick out in your mind after a lot, but you have your few. Certain that will be, as much as my brain allows me to remember, it'll be one that's good."
"I'm just so grateful. I sometimes don't have words for what I've been through and where we are now. I'm humbled and grateful to have the opportunity."

Roberts even received a shaving cream pie in the face from the other star of the game for his efforts. The Orioles ended up winning 8-6 behind the emotional game. Adam Jones delivered the pie and most of the offense, again. Jones went 4-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Oh, and he hit another home run, his 18th.

There were two other home runs this game. One of which was hit by Mark Reynolds who collected his 4th on the season. The other home run was Chris Davis, who hit his 11th. Davis is actually having a really solid year at 1st and DH. Davis is now hitting .301, and he picked up 2 more RBIs last night. 11 homers isn't to shabby either.

The pitching was great as well. Especially Jim Johnson who picked up his 19th save on the season. He has been amazing.

The real story though remains Roberts. All I got to say is.....
Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back

-Noland

Brian Roberts is Almost Back

My wife's favorite baseball player is almost back. He is expected to be activated on Tuesday. It will certainly be interesting to see how the Orioles will use him when he is back, but it is good to see him back. Brian Roberts is such a good Christian man and I love that he is coming back. This guy looked like he was done, but he has battled his way back. Nobody knows if he can be an all-star level 2nd baseman again, but the Orioles want him to be that guy. He is trying to get back and has God #1. In my opinion, that is what it is all about.

"It is in our jobs that God puts us to be a witness" -Brian Roberts

He is going to do his best to help the Orioles and be a positive example. I sure hope he succeeds.

Watch the video below.

-Noland

Markakis Has Broken Bone in Wrist

The most dependable of Orioles is headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career. Right fielder Nick Markakis has a broken bone in his wrist and will have surgery to repair it tomorrow. He is expected to miss 3-4 weeks. Markakis started all 50 games prior to last night (48 in RF, 2 @ DH). This is a big blow to the Orioles' playoff chances having Markakis out for 3+ weeks. It is also one that I am not sure the Orioles can overcome. Yes, he was having a down year by his standards, but he is a hitter pitchers fear. Without him in the lineup, it will be much more difficult for Adam Jones to get quality pitches to hit. Losing your #1 hitter and your #3 hitter kills any lineup. The new lineup will have to somehow account for the loses of Reimold and Markakis.

There is good news though because Brian Roberts should be back soon. He is scheduled to finish his rehab stint June 11. Zach Britton is scheduled to be back after his rehab start in the next day. Britton's return will help fortify a struggling rotation while Roberts return will help a weak lineup. We just better hope Roberts is something close to his old self with Markakis and Reimold out still.
Here is my proposed lineup until Roberts gets back.
2B Robert Andino
SS JJ Hardy
C Matt Wieters
CF Adam Jones
1B Chris Davis
DH Wilson Betemit
RF Markakis' replacement
3B Ryan Flaherty
LF Endy Chavez


Once Roberts is back
2B Brian Roberts
SS JJ Hardy
C Matt Wieters
CF Adam Jones
1B Chris Davis
DH Wilson Betemit
RF Replacement
LF Endy Chavez
3B Robert Andino

Wieters is the only guy that makes sense @ #3 in my opinion. Unless we are trying to have a good hitter behind Jones. If that is the case then we need to swap Davis and Wieters. However, I would have my best hitter hit 3rd and Wieters is a better hitter than Davis.

You will notice that Mark Reynolds is not in either lineup. I am not a fan. I would try to trade him asap and eat some salary. I'd do the same thing with Gregg. We have to get another OF with Cakes and Reimold out. We need to do it asap.

What are the internal options?
Xavier Avery could come back up. The only problem with that is many in the organization think he is getting into bad habits. He may be getting into bad habits, but he is better than Chavez. He's certainly better than no options. If we want to compete for the playoffs, we might have to call Avery back up.

Jai Miller is still in the organization, but he is not playing well. He strikes out about every other time to the plate. That can't cut it in the big leagues.

Lew Ford is also an option for the Orioles. Ford is hitting .370 with 2 homers this season in Norfolk. This is in only 12 games, but perhaps Ford is the best option. We don't have much OF depth in the minor leagues.

Sure would have been good to still have Matt Angle on the 40 man at this point huh? Good thing we kept Josh Bell and Jai Miller when we let Angle go. That to me was the worst move of the offseason. Letting Matt Angle go was a really poor decision. We need to get someone to the Orioles that will hit. If we pay a price it is ok, but we can't give up our first good season in years without a fight. It should be interesting.

-Noland

Orioles Beat Red Sox, Roberts to Return Soon

Brian Matusz pitched perhaps his best game of the season as the Orioles beat the Red Sox 4-1 last night. Matusz improved to (4-4) behind another quality start. The guy had 9 strikeouts yesterday. When was the last time you remember Matusz having 9 strikeouts? I sure don't remember it. He only gave up 2 hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 4.86. The Orioles can win with this guy pitching this well.

 The bullpen was once again spectacular. Darren O'Day followed Matusz and pitched 2/3 of an inning. In that 2/3 of an inning, O'Day struck out both batters he faced. O'Day lowered his ERA to 1.23. Following Darren, was Pedro Strop. Strop lowered his ERA to 1.09 in a scoreless outing. The flamethrower picked up his 8th hold and got a strikeout in the process. Then, came the great Jim Johnson. Johnson recorded his 16th save with another amazing outing. The closer lowered his ERA to 0.87. He has been the leader of an absolutely amazing bullpen.

Nick Markakis was the only Oriole with multiple hits last night. The right fielder went 2 for 4 and raised his average to .264. Wilson Betemit hit a clutch 2 run home run. The homer came off of Matt Albers, and was Betemit's 7th on the year. Betemit doesn't play that often so the fact that he has 7 home runs is quite impressive. Very solid role player for the Orioles this season. Youngster Steve Tolleson had a big game himself. Tolleson was 1-3 with a homer, raising his average to .313. He also has one of the best on base percentages on the team at .353. Given it is a small sample size, but Tolleson has done a great job thus far. Speaking of high on base percentages, what about Bill Hall? Hall, entered the game as a pinch runner for Chris Davis and managed to get a hit in his only at bat. He now has an on base percentage of .545. Again, small sample size, but impressive.

More good news: B-Rob is almost back. The second baseman will begin his rehab assignment with Bowie tonight. He hasn't played since May 16, 2011 and is anxiously waiting a return. Position players get a maximum 20 days on a rehab assignment, and B-Rob is expected to take the full 20 days. After 20 days, the Orioles will have to make a decision on their roster. The clock on those 20 days starts today with Roberts first game. Roberts will play 2nd base at Bowie. I really wish Roberts all of the best.

-Noland

Lots of Orioles News

The game was postponed last night. Before the postponement, Endy Chavez had sore muscles and couldn't play. It now appears Chavez is headed to the DL and Tommy Hunter is coming up for the 2nd game of the double header. The Orioles are allowed 26 players on the roster for a double header, but a player has to go on the DL for Tommy Hunter to be recalled at this time. This is because Hunter was just sent down and has not been in the minors for the required 10 days. Because they are allowed 26 players today, an additional roster move is likely coming.

Also before the rain delay, Zach Phillips was optioned. He was optioned to make room for Steve Tolleson who was coming up due to the Chavez injury. I would have gone with Xavier Avery, but I understand this move. To make room for Tolleson on the 40 man roster, the Orioles moved catcher Taylor Teagarden to the 60 day DL. This seems like another interesting move to choose Teagarden over Roberts. It must mean that Roberts is closer to playing than Teagarden. Tolleson is not really an outfielder so this again is a curious move that Tolleson was brought up. It is unclear who will play left field with the Chavez injury.

Last night, Ryan Flaherty was in the lineup as the left fielder. Of course, the game never happened, but perhaps Flaherty is the guy that Showalter will choose in the absence of Chavez and Reimold. The guy sure does give you options. We also learned that Ryan Flaherty is the emergency catcher.

Jason Hammel was also skipped yesterday due to his own injury concerns. Let's hope that it isn't anything serious, because Jason Hammel has been our best starter. Hammel likely will not make the start this time around the rotation. Which leads to the final bit of news.

We still have no idea who will start Friday. Will Hammel be ready by then? Do we call up Eveland? Bergessen? Tillman? It sure will be interesting to watch.

Here is the current active 25 man roster just so you can follow along. More moves will be coming.

OF Adam Jones

OF Nick Markakis

IF Steve Tolleson

IF Mark Reynolds

IF Nick Johnson

IF JJ Hardy

IF Robert Andino

IF Ryan Flaherty

IF Chris Davis

IF Wilson Betemit

C Matt Wieters

C Luis Exposito

P Pedro Strop

P Tommy Hunter

P Stuart Pomeranz

P Troy Patton

P Darren O'Day

P Brian Matusz

P Matt Lindstrom

P Jim Johnson

P Jason Hammel

P Kevin Gregg

P Wei Yin Chen

P Luis Ayala

P Jake Arrieta

-Noland

Orioles Beat Red Sox in 13

Last night, the Orioles played the Red Sox in a wild 13 inning game. However, the Orioles did score 2 in the 13th to win 6-4. The Orioles had a big lineup shuffle last night to accompany the victory. Robert Andino led off the game and went 1 for 4. Andino's average now sits at .337 which is best on the team. Wieters went 2 for 4 as the DH and managed to hit a triple. The ball must have been hit really hard for Wieters to leg out a triple. The normal Orioles catcher also scored 2 runs. Wilson Betemit was in left last night and hit 6th. He got a hit, drove in one, scored once, and walked 3 times. Chris Davis hit in his normal spot and went 2 for 6.

None of those stories are the biggest at the plate though. Mark Reynolds had by far his best game hitting. Reynolds finally hit his first home run. Reynolds also went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Unfortunately, for the Orioles he also had a costly error that helped put them in extras. I say once again, hitting only for Reynolds.

Wei Yin Chen did not have his best pitching performance, but the bullpen was spectacular. Lindstrom, Strop, Ayala, Patton, and Johnson each pitched at least a perfect inning. Strop, Ayala, and Patton each went two innings perfect. Patton ended up getting the win and Jim Johnson picked up his 8th save on the season. What a tremendous job the bullpen has done thus far. An amazing change of pace from the O's.

Additional notes: Nolan Reimold was officially placed on the DL which is why Andino led off the game and why Betemit was in left. The Orioles decided to bring up catcher Luis Exposito who played a bit last night. Brian Roberts also appears to be coming along nicely. I recommend you check out the School of Roch for more information on him.

-Noland

Orioles Lose, Drop From 1st to 3rd

Is this where the slide begins? The Orioles were riding high early this season and now they look like the typical Orioles teams with no life. They also have the key injuries that fit all Oriole teams. Brian Roberts is still hurt for the what seems like the 5th straight season. I believe it is the 3rd straight season though with Roberts' injuries. Robert Andino has been having a solid year though so that one hasn't hurt the O's too bad. Nolan Reimold has been an animal with the bat this season, but he was out of the lineup last night due to neck spasms. Reimold is our replacement leadoff hitter, he was hitting .370 with 5 home runs. If Reimold is out for any serious length of time, it is big time trouble. Speaking of neck problems, Tsuyoshi Wada was shut down yesterday for neck spasms. Guess we will not see him anytime soon.

Now for the actual game. Jake Arrieta has been outstanding this season and started outstanding again last night. Unfortunately, for Jake he got rocked in the 5th inning. I for one am not gonna hang this one on Jake because of one bad inning. If we hadn't been playing the Angels we still may have pulled it out.

Hard to pull it out though when your offense has no life. Nick Johnson once again went hitless and is still at .000. How long do we remain patient with Johnson? Reimold's replacement Endy Chavez led off and went 0 for 4. He will get a longer rope than Johnson, but hitting .125 just doesn't cut it. JJ Hardy was also 0 for 4. My least favorite Oriole besides Kevin Gregg (Mark Reynolds) went 0 for 3. Just a punchless night from the offense.

There are some positives from last night though.
1) The Orioles found a taker for Josh Bell, more on that trade later
2) Matt Wieters hit his 5th home run
3) Adam Jones was 2 for 4 and is now hitting .311
4) Matt Lindstrom had another scoreless outing

That's it though. Maybe next time.

-Noland