Baltimore Orioles: Miscellaneous Monday Musings
Mar 17, 2015; Sarasota, FL, USA; Fans wear green shirts for St. Patrick
Two weeks from today will be the first game of the regular season as the Baltimore Orioles will take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida.
Today is an off day, the last of such until Easter Sunday – the day before the opener. So let’s take a day off from deeper analyses and just go with a list of miscellaneous musings on varied topics.
Adam Jones has a Big Day
Just yesterday in this column we wrote about the fickle nature of spring training statistics, noting that Jones has not had particularly great statistics so far in Florida. After his first 11 games, he only had one home run and three RBIs while batting .226. On Sunday Jones connected for a pair of home runs and four RBIs against the Cardinals. He suddenly looks a lot better for some reason.
Hunter Harvey Fracture
Even after an X-ray did not reveal a problem, a CT scan did reveal a fracture suffered from a comebacker. This will be a four to six week recovery. Though Buck’s remarks on the situation could be fairly construed as excessive optimism, he does make an accurate point. The Orioles were going to limit Hunter’s innings in the hope that he could be potentially available for any need late in the season. This way they will not have to pull him prematurely to control the innings tally.
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Harvey is 6-3 and 175 pounds. No wonder the ball broke something when it hit him. If he was built like CC Sabathia it would have bounced off him like hitting a rubber mat. Speaking of the big guy, he gave up three home runs in a game yesterday for the Yankees. I know you’re grieved.
The Worst Record in Spring Training
Is it the Orioles? Not any more, as the Orioles picked up a number of wins over the past week to go to 8-13. In Florida however, only the Detroit Tigers have a worse record of the 15 teams. The other half of MLB is playing in Arizona, where the worst record (by far) is possessed by … wait for it … wait for it … … the defending world champion San Francisco Giants at 5-16.
Bud Norris Continues to Struggle
Again, this all could (and likely will) turn around in an instant before long, but Norris is not having the spring training he would like to see. When only 41 of 71 pitches are strikes, that is a problem. However, he did put down the final six batters he faced, which evidences ability to make adjustments. It is just so difficult to expect that he can have a season like 2014 again (15-8, 3.65), even in a final year before free agency.
Who is this Chaz Roe Guy?
Every year at spring training we see a handful of players with little to no future with the Orioles who get on the field a good bit early in camp. Roe has appeared in six games so far, the most for any O’s pitcher along with Wesley Wright and Logan Verrett. He has given up 15 hits in 9.2 innings and has a 6.52 ERA.
It probably goes without saying that he was a first round draft pick. Why else would he be with the Orioles? It was in 2005 by the Rockies. He has only pitched a total of 24.1 innings in the majors, most recently with the Yankees just last year. His career ERA in the minor leagues is 4.38, so, this does not look encouraging.
Something has to Break Loose
The Orioles simply have too many players, particularly in the relief pitching area. There is no way to keep everyone they might like to. So it would seem that some sort of trade has to be forthcoming.