Baltimore Orioles: Left Field Options Old and New

The only remaining positional battle for the Baltimore Orioles is in left field, where there are several current options and several rumored options possible.

Indications would seem to be that Korean import Hyun Soo Kim is not favored. There was the terrible early adjustment, though that had seemed to be addressed by better results over the past 10-12 days. But there might well be more to the matter than meets the eye, at least from a distance. And the eye that counts most belongs to Buck Showalter. And perhaps he doesn’t like the look in Kim’s eye, there’s always that.

Young Rule 5 draftee Joey Rickard has been as good as anybody, but the issue remains that it is spring training and he’s never played in a regular season game. How will this translate? I personally think he’s the real deal, but we’ve seen stars of the spring fade before Memorial Day in the past.

Nolan Reimold remains a viable option, especially since he has gotten hot over the past handful of games. A player who is alternately loved or scorned by varied constituencies of the O’s fanbase, he truly is fully healthy at this point and presents on-base skills beyond what most Oriole players bring to the team.

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It is rather certain that Reimold and Rickard are going north with the team. The Orioles could see Ryan Flaherty as a fifth outfielder (with Chris Davis available also) and keep Paul Janish as a utility infielder.

But other conversation in the past 24 hours has included two possible additions from outside the organization: David Murphy and Matt Joyce. Murphy was released by the Red Sox, which begs the question for me as to why we would want him. But that aside, he bats left-handed, as does Joyce.

Murphy is entering his age 35 year of play, Joyce age 31.  Both have had moderately successful careers, though with some ups and downs in various years. Murphy is a career .274 hitter, Joyce at .242, though with a career OBP of .335 which is remarkable for that batting average.

Let’s chart the two players, noting both their 2015 stats, and their number for the past three seasons …

There is not a lot in those numbers to get terribly excited about. It would seem to me that Kim should be able to do the same if given the chance. And beyond that, there are other options in the organization without adding more names to the mix. The Orioles are also going to give Christian Walker a chance to learn the position.

But Murphy was a first-round draft choice of the Red Sox, so don’t be totally shocked if Dan Duquette wants to get him.