Oh no, we're on a huge losing streak!! Our team isn't hitting right now! Our pitchers can't locate a fastball any better than a blindfolded person locating the tail on the donkey! Its okay....breathe in.....hold it....breathe out.....its April people. While games are important this month, there's a bit more of a curve allowed for this time as opposed to say August and September. Its the start of the race for the postseason. Its a marathon and not a sprint, so when your team loses a few games in a row it's not as bad now as it would be then.
As of last night, the Orioles are coming off an eight game losing streak, and they did it in a pretty big way with an 11-0 over the Twins. This is still a very young Orioles team, very developing Orioles team. Andy Macphail is doing a good job in the front office of trying to put pieces together to make a more competitive and winning franchise. Are all the pieces there yet? No, I don't believe they are and here is why. Right now, the Orioles have an OBP(on base percentage) of .294(stat taken from ESPN.com.) That means they are getting one runner on base for over every three batters, good enough to put them 28th in MLB rankings. In order to win games the simple fact is you have to get runners on the bases. Whether that's done through being more disciplined at the plate or making better contact remains to be seen. I think this team can be better than the current .294 OBP they have right now. I'll be very curious to see where it's at by the end of the season!
There's alot more I would love to go into right now but I will save some thoughts for future blogs! I want to pass along one more amazing stat here for everyone. As of last night, Mark Reynolds(3B) stats for plate appearances with the bases loaded:
"Lost in what is an easy Orioles win ...Mark Reynolds made another bases loaded out today. For whatever reason, Mark Reynolds is a TOTAL disaster in bases loaded situations. He is 6-for-51 for his career. He is hitless in his last 26 credited at-bats (!) in bases loaded situations (excludes sacrifice flies), with 18 strikeouts (including one on Tuesday). He has struck out in 5 of his last 6 plate appearances that came with the bases loaded AND fewer than two outs." (the above taken from ESPN.com, http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/_/name/bal/baltimore-orioles.)
Thats a huge issue to have in a lineup. He's known as a strikeout guy with some power. But k'ing in 5 of last 6 with bases loaded and less than two outs?! Bunt! Make contact, even if it's just a ground ball. At least give the opportunity to score and not whiff completely and leave your guys on base yawning!
The good news is the pitching is there on this team, and hitting will come around. This could be a 75-80 win team, but we'll have a much better idea whats in store come Memorial Day.
How do you think the O's are doing? What do you think they need to improve on to take it to the next level? Share your thoughts with us on this fun ride that is baseball season!
Current Baltimore temp: 80 degrees, sunny and some clouds.
Coming up in future blogs/podcasts: More Orioles baseball, NFL Draft discussion, the Ravens schedule, and baseball stories!
Whats on the grill? Some london broil, a lil nice montreal steak seasoning...medium rare please!
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