Keys for Baltimore Orioles to Win the AL East

By Nate Wardle | Jul 16, 2015

Jul 10, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher

Chris Tillman

(30) pitches during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles sit four games out in the AL East, but they have plenty of time to come back and win the division.

However, there are several things the O’s are going to need to do in order to accomplish that.

I believe if the Orioles can achieve the following three goals, they will win the division. One they are already doing, one the team has been working on all year, and the other is something that will have to be done in the second half.

1) Continue to play good defense – The return of J.J. Hardy, Jonathan Schoop and Matt Wieters has helped the Orioles’ defense. The team also has gotten better defensive play from the outfield. Manny Machado has settled down, and the team has received great play at first base all year.

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To be honest, one of the biggest defensive concerns in the second half is Adam Jones‘ ability to throw out runners. His shoulder injury may not fully recover until the offseason, so the team will have to hope that he can be good enough. Jones is one of the best center fielders, but if he can’t make strong, accurate throws from center field, other teams will take advantage of that.

2) Settle on regular players in the corner outfield positions – The Baltimore Orioles have used numerous players as corner outfielders this year. Alejandro De Aza, Delmon Young, Travis Snider, Nolan Reimold, David Lough, Chris Davis, Steve Pearce, Chris Parmelee, One of these has to start at first base. Two are no longer on the team.

If it was up to me, I would start Reimold against lefties and Snider against righties. I would start David Lough regularly. I think Lough offers something that the team just doesn’t have, and he is hitting better recently. I think Parmelee’s time in Baltimore is about done. Pearce and Lough are both hitting around .200 against right-handed pitching, so I don’t think Pearce should platoon.

However, the Orioles will likely go with the hot hand, and that is ok, as long as they have someone who becomes the right hand. Because right now, of these six players, other than Chris Davis, all have been kind of lacking this year. And Davis should soon go back to starting regularly at first base.

3) Pitching, Pitching, Pitching – When I wrote about the problems with the teams in the AL East, I mentioned that teams need to have at least three good pitchers. Right now, only the Rays really have that. The Orioles have Wei-Yin Chen and Ubaldo Jimenez. They need one more.

It could be Miguel Gonzalez, who was pitching well until the last several games. He has become particularly prone to home runs this year.

Kevin Gausman is going to be another option, but he continues to struggle to be consistent. I believe it is a lack of focus for Gausman. He has all of the skill, just some times fails to focus on what he needs to do.

And then there is a third pitcher, and I think he is the one who both has the best chance of putting things together, and also the one the Orioles need to the most: Chris Tillman.

Tillman has been bad this year. But, he has started to show signs of turning things around. And Tillman has always been a second-half pitcher. With the All-Star Game so late, the O’s will have to decide if they are going to go with these pitchers, or trade for someone and squeeze Gausman out of the rotation.

I anticipate Tillman turning it around. He was arguably one of the top 15 pitchers in the AL since 2012, and there is no reason to think this year will be different. But it has; though maybe the days off will fix that.

To be honest, I think if the O’s can get better starting pitching and keep the defense stellar, they will win the division. That is, unless the team stops hitting, which has been a big problem at stints throughout the year.

The O’s need to be consistent on all fronts, and if so will take home another AL East crown.

Next: O's Trades?

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