Baltimore Orioles: Struggling to Stuff the Scoreboard

May 13, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager

(center) walks off the field after removing pitcher

(not pictured) from the game in the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

While I am passionate about many sports, my athletic background as a high school student was in track and field and cross country.

When it comes to track and field, it involves individuals working to do their best, to help the team.

There are the sprinters, the distance runners, the throwers, the jumpers.  And for the team to be truly successful, all four facets have to do well.

Well, in baseball, there are numerous facets. The hitting, the pitching, the fielding, base running, and the relief pitching.

The Baltimore Orioles started the season with good hitting, struggling relief pitching, a few starters struggling, and fielding that was iffy.

By the end of April, fielding was still a concern, starting pitching was improving, the relief pitching was fine, and the hitting was tailing off a little.

Now, in the middle of May, the starting pitching has been pretty good, except for Bud Norris and Chris Tillman. The fielding has improved recently. The relief pitching remains good, despite a few blips recently. The baserunning, and other fundamental errors, are now starting to decrease.

But the hitting by the team is really struggling. Adam Jones hasn’t been quite as good as late.  Jimmy Paredes has been carrying the offense. Manny Machado has also done well. Caleb Joseph has been strong all year. But the corner outfielders are really struggling, Jonathan Schoop‘s injury has hurt second base production. Chris Davis continues to strike out at what may be a historic pace.

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On Friday, the Orioles lost 3-1 to Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

On Saturday, up until a rough 9th inning by Zach Britton, it was 3-1 Angels. Scoring one run is not going to be enough.

In their last 15 games, the Orioles are 6-9. In their wins, the O’s have allowed 9 runs. In their losses, the have scored 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 3, 1, 2 and 0 runs.

Their runs scored / against in the last 15 games is 39 runs for / 53 runs against.

The team has averaged 2.6 runs a game, going back to the games postponed in Baltimore (15 games ago). Meanwhile, the team has allowed 3.53 runs a game.

In most cases, the team should have a record of 9-6 or even better when the pitching is allowing 3.53 runs a game.  That is a really good number.  Instead, the team is 6-9.

The Baltimore Orioles, as I wrote yesterday, are still the defending champions in the East, and in my mind have the most complete team.

However, the hitters are going to have to wake up to get them back in the win column.