Baltimore Orioles: Miscellaneous Monday Musings

Before the Baltimore Orioles begin their final 10 spring training games, the team has an off day for us to ponder their current status with some miscellaneous musings.

The past week has given Orioles fans some overall better hopes for the coming season. They have been 5-2-2 over the last nine games, evidencing the resident power in the lineup and putting up some better pitching statistics.

It is not as if everything is perfect … it never is. There are always a few players struggling through slumps or physical ailments. This is a part of the game that fans have to live with.

The latest ailment to hear about is Kevin Gausman, who is getting a cortisone injection to deal with inflammation in the shoulder. The extent and gravity of the situation is unknown, as he’ll be shut down for about three days. This would seem to raise legitimate concern, especially relative to a rotation that is already quite shaky at best. To hear Showalter and the O’s talk about this injection, it almost sounds like taking a vitamin C tablet when feeling a sore throat … nothing more serious than that. It makes me want to go out and get one of these injections for my sore shoulder that has been hurting since shoveling after the blizzard a few weeks ago.

Another pitcher of concern has been Chris Tillman. He seems healthy enough now, as his velocity was very good in Sunday’s start against the Rays. Somehow, yielding three runs in four innings is being called a good start for him. Yes, it was only two pitches that hurt him, giving up back-to-back home runs. I want to hope for the best for Tillman to be the pre-2015 version, but the fastball continues to have practically no movement, and the curve does not entice anyone to very often chase it. I believe this situation with Tillman could go either way.

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T.J. McFarland’s numbers from Sunday look far worse than he did in reality. Giving up a grand slam with a 7-3 lead was not a good moment. It was an awful pitch. At age 61, I could have hit it. But T.J. deserved a better fate all around on Sunday. Everything else he gave up was junk hits, along with an error by Manny. In spite of the numbers, McFarland looked decent to me.

Speaking of looking good, Zach Britton simply has amazing stuff. Unlike Tillman, he has such great movement on his pitches, and he can afford to miss a spot without having to pay for it. In Britton’s one inning of 1-2-3 work, he faced three batters, threw nine consecutive strikes and recorded three strikeouts. It was almost unfair. The three hitters were all minor leaguers who had no real chance, guys with career minors batting averages of .257, .249 and .245.  But there is no shame in getting fanned by Britton; it happens to even the best.

Remember worrying about Hyun Soo Kim?  He has been on an 8-for-17 streak. He’ll be fine.

Add Caleb Joseph to the list of those who also seem to be getting their stroke and timing put together. Maybe Pedro Alvarez is as well. His slam was a monster shot for sure.

Speaking of Alvarez, the best quote of the day referenced him, and it came from Buck Showalter in speaking about Pedro getting a hit in his first spring game, but then subsequently struggling … “He’s doing fine. It’s like golf when you haven’t played in seven or eight months. First time out, the golf gods let you play well and then slap you back to reality.” Yep!

And finally today, it was great again to have the Orioles game on MASN, featuring a new sportscaster …

I really enjoyed listening to Brian Roberts on the broadcast. He certainly did not seem at all like a beginner. His commentary was insightful, filled not only with timely remarks that came from a person with recent experience as a player, but it was also laced with research and statistical analysis about varied players.

Looking at Twitter, I would guess that he was receiving about 80% positive remarks by fans. There were a few who continue to hold onto the Yankees resentment … geez, let it go. And a few were pining for Jim Palmer. Hey, Palmer is great and is inimitable. Bordick is OK, but honestly, Roberts was better in my humble opinion. I’m hoping he’ll be a regular voice on the broadcasts.