Bird Watching - First Place O's Took The Series In Boston, Look To Hot Stay Down In Texas
What a great start to the season it’s been. The O’s won their first 7 games until that win streak was snapped Wednesday night against Boston. After also losing last night’s game to Texas, the O’s sit at 7-2, and winners of their first three series of the year. A four game series against Texas started last night, and then have a series at home vs Toronto after that. To keep it simple, if the Birds keep taking two of every three, they’re going to continue building a cushion between themselves and the rest of the division.
Starters Need To Go Deeper
If I had to pick something that has me worried, it’d be the starting pitching. It was the weak point that everyone talked about all offseason, and they didn’t do much to improve it. They have been solid the first week, but nothing special. In order to stay atop the division, they will need better outing from their starters. How many of the O’s starts have included the starter going into the 6th? TWO, that is it.
Starters not going deep means the pen will be used more, and even with how good the O’s bullpen is, you’ve got to wonder when it’ll catch up to them. I’m not saying it is going to catch up with them a week into the season, but all these pen innings will catch up with the arms. Just take a look at the starters and how far they have gone into the games….
Chris Tillman 2 IP 0 ER (cut short due to rain)
Yovani Gallardo 5 IP 1 ER
Ubaldo Jimenez 7 IP 1 ER
Chris Tillman 5 IP 1 ER
Vance Worley 4.2 IP 2 ER
Yovani Gallardo 5 IP 5 ER
Mike Wright 5 IP 4 ER
Ubaldo Jimenez 5 IP 4 ER
Chris Tillman 5.1 IP 5 ER
Tillman last night became the second O’s starter to get into the 6th inning, and didn’t last very long. He was cruising until the Rangers did their best 2014 Royals impression and decided to bloop every hit, it unraveled there, and they hung a 5 spot before you could even blink. Luckily Kevin Gausman will be back to the rotation next week and Brian Matusz should be back in the pen. I expect Gausman’s arrival to bump Vance Worley from the rotation, and lets be honest. Vance shouldn’t be in the rotation, and he probably shouldn’t be in the pen. Is he one of the top 12 pitchers? Probably not.
I also wouldn’t hate seeing Mike Wright head to the bullpen, and see him replaced with Tyler Wilson. Wilson has looked great in his only two appearances this season, 6 IP, 4 H, 3 K, 0.67 WHIP, and an ERA of 0.00. Wilson has the stuff be a starter, and I think the O’s should give him a chance. He did a great job against Boston on Wednesday night, and helped save the bullpen by finishing out the game. Wright made some mistakes in his start against the Sox, mainly a fastball belt high to David Ortiz that he planted in the seats, not sure why he tried to challenge him, but Ortiz enjoyed it.
Even with all their innings worked this season, the pen still has a combined ERA of 1.90 in 34.3 IP. Just hate to see them used that much already, but love that they are finishing these games for the O’s, even if the starters can’t go deep.
Some Other Notes To Look At
– Adam Jones is back from his rib injury, starting for the first time last night since April 6th. Great to have Adam back, now you have to hope his bat catches up to the rest of the guys. Jones back also means you can slide Joey Rickard to left, Nolan Reimold to right, and have Mark Trumbo as DH vs lefties.
– This entire infield could win a gold glove. If you saw the O’s double play against Boston on Wednesday, you know what I’m talking about. Sox on 1st and 2nd, ground ball to Manny, he attempts to tag Betts, Betts hits the deck and slides under the tag, Manny throws to second to nab the runner, Schoop tosses the ball to Hardy who somehow knew to be at third because no one was covering, and gets Betts at third. Just your average 5-4-6 double play. Another example came when Schoop threw a LASER from his spot at second to nail a runner at third after a ball hit off the rubber on Thursday night. Just an insane arm, maybe the strongest infield arm in the league, including Manny. Chris Davis has done a great job scooping out some balls at first, and J.J. looks younger in the field, has had some nice plays so far.
– Manny Machado is still on fire. He’s hit in every game played this season, is 16/38 overall, 3 HR, batting .421, with a .463 OBP. He’s making this look so effortless too. He hit a double that one hopped the right center wall in Fenway, and the ball didn’t get more than 15 feet off the ground, just an absolute laser, all with the flick of a wrist. Manny can make a run at MVP this season, there is no doubt about that.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday 4/15 @ Texas- Vance Worley (0-0 3.86 ERA) vs. Martin Perez (0-1 3.65 ERA)
Saturday 4/16 @ Texas- Yovani Gallardo (1-0 5.40 ERA) vs Colby Lewis (1-0 3.00 ERA)
Sunday 4/17 @ Texas – Mike Wright (1-0 7.20 ERA) vs Derek Holland (1-0 2.31 ERA)
Tuesday 4/19 vs Toronto- Ubaldo Jimenez (or Gausman) (1-1 3.75 ERA) vs Marcus Stroman (2-0 4.22 ERA)
Wednesday 4/20 vs Toronto- Chris Tillman (1-1 5.11 ERA) vs R.A. Dickey (1-1 8.10 ERA)
Thursday 4/21 vs Toronto- Vance Worley (0-0 3.86 ERA) vs Marco Estrada (1-0 0.00 ERA)
Also, I’ll be joining Ryan Sebring on 105.7 The Fan this Sunday night around 8:30 to talk about the O’s and their first two weeks, I can’t tell you what to do, but all the cool kids and their mothers will be listening to me sooooo you probably should too.