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Baltimore Orioles Offense Comes Alive at Home

By Nate Wardle

BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 13: Joey Rickard #23 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with teammates following the Orioles 17-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 13, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 13: Joey Rickard #23 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with teammates following the Orioles 17-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 13, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The Baltimore Orioles’ offense came to life in series victories over the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays over the last week at Camden Yards.

Just a week ago, the headline was how bad the Baltimore Orioles‘ offense was, and how it was spoiling good starts.

Now, well the offense looks pretty good.

So good, that it would be understandable if you missed Sunday’s Mother’s Day game and thought it was a football score, not a baseball score.

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Baseball is a funny game, isn’t it?

Over seven games played in six days, the Baltimore Orioles scored 7, 5, 11, 9, 6, 3 and 17. That is an average of over eight runs a game. Now, granted, they only lost two of those games, in which they allowed 15 and 10 runs respectively.

The signs have been up and down the lineup.

Trey Mancini is picking it back up, seemingly back into form after being injured sliding into the left field wall. Manny Machado continues to be an MVP candidate, despite the fact he is on a terrible team, he has been that good.

Chris Davis is starting to hit the ball the other way, hit two home runs in the week and is swinging the bat better, although also striking out more. Also, platooning Davis and not letting him play against left-handers has also been beneficial.

The real improvement has come with the returns of Mark Trumbo and Jonathan Schoop.

In 13 games, Trumbo is hitting .319/.333/.468, and that is before Sunday’s game. He only has one home run, but has four doubles and has been very productive.

Schoop, since returning at the start of this seven-game homestand, is hitting .269/.269/.577 (prior to Sunday). It still is not last year’s levels, but much better than the beginning of the season.

Add in contributions from Pedro Alvarez, Danny Valencia, Joey Rickard and Chance Sisco and the offense is really starting to be what the organization expected to start the season.

However, the Rays and Royals are also among the five-worst teams in the American League, with the Orioles.

A bigger test will come as the Orioles close out the homestand against a team that is contending for a wild card spot in the National League, maybe a year or two early, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Now, what does this mean moving forward?

It shouldn’t mean anything.

The American League is strong, led by Boston and New York with Houston and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim not far behind.

Add in the AL Central winner and that is five teams.

Even if the Orioles continue this recent surge and climb to respectability and then to .500, they will be well off of catching these playoff contenders.

The team is certainly back to watchable, especially if Chris Tillman and Mike Wright Jr. do not make any starts moving forward.

The offense will keep them in every game at this pace, and that makes this a team that can win.

Next: 3 Pitching Prospects Orioles Should Consider to Help Rotation

None of this should preclude the Orioles from not selling at the deadline. Pieces that are not part of the future should be moved. Machado, Adam Jones, Brad Brach, Zach Britton and more.

There is plenty to build around, but the Baltimore Orioles need to re-tool their organization and set it up for the future. In the meantime, it is good to see the offense successful and put runs up on the board.

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