Baltimore Orioles: Frustration at Every Turn

Jun 2, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Mike Wright (59) reacts to Houston Astros third baseman Luis Valbuena (18) home run in the third inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles are facing frustration at every turn, losing to the Astros on Tuesday night by a score of 6-4, while blowing a 4-0 early lead. They drop to 23-28 on the season.

The O’s finally put together some good at-bats and hit around in the second inning, scoring four runs. But they would only put two more men on base for the entire seven innings that followed.

Meanwhile, Houston had their own big inning with five runs in the third frame, while adding an insurance run in the eighth.

There is plenty of frustration on the field. It looked like maybe the Orioles’ luck was changing as Jimmy Paredes got a cheap base hit off the end of the bat to get it going in the four-run second inning. Much of the year it has seemed like the O’s hit balls hard at people, while the opposition gets “seeing-eye” grounders through the middle and Texas League pops that fall in.

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But there would be no turn in the luck, as a bad-hop RBI single by Preston Tucker in the third inning thwarted a possible double play… the ball nearly decapitating Steve Pearce. Evan Gattis hit a crippling three-run shot to tie, followed by Luis Valbuena with a solo shot to give the Astros the 5-4 lead. For each, it was the 12th homer of the season.

Off the field, the frustration continues with injuries and a non-flexible roster. Jonathan Schoop sounds to be gone for a long time, while J.J. Hardy is awaiting word on an MRI related to a possible oblique issue.

If Hardy goes down and out for a time, it would appear that Paul Janish will need to be called up. He is a plus defender, but not much of a hitter … though neither has Hardy been this year.

Several of the Norfolk Tides hitters are performing well at this point, particularly Nolan Reimold. But the issue is how to bring him or any of the others up without losing a player like David Lough. If only they could interchange some parts.

Also hitting well right now is Henry Urrutia, surprisingly doing so from the leadoff spot. Chris Parmelee has been solid all year. And since there was great interest in the offseason about Dariel Alvarez, I will include his numbers in the following chart that looks at five different players’ seasonal average and last 10 games…

Name	Season Average	Last 10 Games
Chris Parmelee	58-for-184 = .315	8-for-36 = .222
Nolan Reimold	47-for-161 = .292	16-for-31 = .516
Henry Urrutia	45-for-166 = .271	12-for-38 = .316
Dariel Alvarez	47-for-197 = .239	11-for-35 = .314
Paul Janish	32-for-137 = .234	7-for-27 = .259

It is all a problem – call it a frustrating one. I don’t know the answer. But somehow the Orioles have got to be able to get some better offense.

Next: Searching for some Orioles optimism

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