Lack of Improvement Dooming the Baltimore Orioles

Aug 25, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez (50) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

At this point, I am watching the Little League World Series and not the Baltimore Orioles. And the team from about 15 minutes from me, Red Land, doesn’t even play until tomorrow.

My wife is a Royals fan. I’m not sure if that makes Monday night’s game more or less painful. Ubaldo was cruising along, and then the wheels fell off, and then the axle fell out from underneath the O’s bus, and then it rolled over and over again.

Last night, I turn on the game after I finished my run, and it was 0-0. That is, until Kendrys Morales took Miguel Gonzalez DEEP to right-center field. And then I turned it back off.

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But of course, I am now following the game online, because the Orioles are my team. And I see that Miguel Gonzalez didn’t make it through 5 innings.

That is the problem with this team. The Baltimore Orioles have not improved since the beginning of the year. If anything, they have gotten worse.

The core players of Machado, Jones, Davis and Schoop have done a pretty good job. However, it is all the role players that they thought would perform at the same level as last year that haven’t.

The list of players who have been released is absolutely mind-blowing. The fact that most of them are either free agents or in the Orioles’ minor leagues is a sign of their true value.

Sure, players like Chris Parmelee, Henry Urrutia, Nolan Reimold, and more showed signs of success when called up. But those signs quickly faded away.

Unfortunately all of these players appear to be AAAA players, or players who are not ready for the majors. And that is a lot of the Orioles’ roster right now.

But, the pitching rotation may be the biggest issue. Chris Tillman has gotten better as the year went on. So has Kevin Gausman. Bud Norris is gone. Ubaldo Jimenez and Miguel Gonzalez have both been awful in the second half. Wei-Yin Chen has been average, and I think he is just an average pitcher.

Some people want to blame the hitting coach, Scott Coolbaugh. I at times want to blame the pitching coaches. But, these players are who they are. The team is made up of a lot of home run hitters, that is what they do.

The pitchers are a conglomeration of guys who will do their best, but they aren’t aces, and maybe not even 3rd in the rotation starters for some.

The Orioles have a chance to make the playoffs still. Stranger things have happened. But, the questions in the offseason are going to be louder than any cheer that O’s fans might be able to muster the rest of the year.

But let’s hold off on that for now. We still have more time to go, and this our team.

Let’s Go O’s!

Next: Comparing the Royals with the Orioles

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