Baltimore Orioles: Additional Meaning for Spring Games
As the Baltimore Orioles finish their spring training schedule, the final games take on more significance and meaning and projection for the season ahead.
At this moment, it is difficult to put a pretty face on a Grapefruit League record of 6-14-4. All of the “just getting in our work” talk in the world does not really make it look much better.
Even so, it is true that the earlier half to two-thirds of the spring season features a significant percentage of players who will not be spending much time, if any, in Baltimore during the regular season. But that all changes in the final week, as we can look for the daily lineups to take on a bit more of the character of what the approaching season will entail.
So records for the first portion of the spring really do not mean a lot, but there is greater value to be placed upon the final eight games. There are seven in Florida, including five at home in Sarasota, and then there is the April 1st exhibition in Philadelphia.
Every year, one player seems to step forward as the story of the spring training season. Usually it is a surprise. Last year it was Jimmy Paredes. This year may well be remembered as the spring for Joey Rickard. His pinch hit in the ninth was a walk-off game winner for the Orioles on Thursday.
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For the spring, Rickard now has the most hits among Orioles players with a total of 19, two more than Jonathan Schoop who added to his total with his third home run. Rickard is hitting .388 with an OBP of 1.016! That’ll work!
Mark Trumbo has the third-most hits with 14, including four home runs for a .304 average. He features a nice swing and looks really ready to go for the season. This could be a great addition.
And stop the presses! J.J. Hardy hit a home run! Yes, his first of the spring. I am sometimes a critic, or perhaps better stated — a skeptic — when it comes to Hardy. But it is all a matter of health. He is a great athlete with perhaps the best eye-hand skills on the team. But bumps and bruises routinely find their way to him and seem to accumulate upon him like Velcro.
This leads into an interesting sort of discussion based upon comments by Buck Showalter about team composition.
The Orioles need to be concerned and prepared for injuries to once again pile up on Hardy. And Jonathan Schoop has not been exempt from such as well. Both middle infielders are having a great spring season, with Hardy now at .333 and Schoop at .370.
Along with this, the backup middle infielders are lighting it up as well. Ryan Flaherty is hitting .343 with Paul Janish at .314. Janish brings a defensive skill set that challenges that of Hardy — no small thing. Flaherty is a plus defender as well, especially at second base, along with abilities to play six positions including the corner outfield.
A possible scenario that Buck may have been hinting at would be to keep both utility infielders, giving the opportunity to rest Hardy more than in the past. Flaherty can be the extra backup outfielder beyond Rickard, who is now a certain fixture.
The odd man out in this scenario is Nolan Reimold, a situation that would satisfy some readers who believe this is a train that left the station a long time ago. Here on The Baltimore Wire we have much defended Reimold, due to his excellent OBP numbers and skills that he brings to the team. But it is difficult for even us to defend a 6-for-40 this spring as worthy of keeping in light of other needs.
But let us dispense with the injury prone narrative about Nolan. It used to be that when Reimold ran into things, he came away broken. But on Wednesday when he ran into the wall in left field, the wall broke. I guess this is progress.
Here we have done our writing again today about the offense, which is more fun to write about than the pitching. We previously have advocated on several occasions for Tyler Wright to be included in the rotation, and he yesterday added another bullet point to his resume for such.
Related Story: Why Not Tyler Wilson?
Is there reason to be worried about Darren O’Day, who gave away a three-run lead yesterday? Buck says he is not worried at all, even though the spring ERA right now is 10.50 with a batting average against of .393. This raised in my mind the question of previous springs and if O’Day has had some early-year struggles in Florida. Actually he has not; he has been as consistent there as he has over the entire four years with the Orioles.
There is always something to worry about … usually multiple somethings!