With less than a week until the All-Star break, the Orioles find themselves three games up over the second place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East and nine games over .500. It seems like it has been a struggle and the O’s haven’t played their best ball yet, but the record indicates otherwise. With the second half of the season underway, here are some questions concerning the Orioles the rest of the way:
What to do with Chris Davis?
The hope is that Chris Davis snapped out of his season-long slump last night with the two-run home run against the Nationals. However, I thought the same thing when he hit the game winner against the White Sox recently. If Davis continues to struggle, the first move would have to be moving him down in the lineup again. With Manny Machado starting to look like his old self and Steve Pearce continuing to hit along with J.J Hardy hitting for a high average, Buck Showalter can’t afford to have the five hitter bat around the “Mendoza Line.”
The Orioles need Davis and benching him would be far too extreme, but the happy medium if Davis continues to struggle would be to lower him in the lineup.
Is Manny Back?
Speaking of Machado, the young third baseman finally looks like the player we have all come to expect. Since returning from the disabled list, his defense has remained top notch, but he struggled with the bat. To think Machado would pick up where he left off was unrealistic, but it took longer than most had hoped.
With Machado struggling late last year, it was starting to become more of a trend than just a slow start. However, the last 11 games Machado is batting over .400 and has now raised his season average to .261 after his career night with five hits.
I feel comfortable saying that Machado will continue to help this team for the rest of the year and Showalter will have to decide whether or not to return Machado to his customary second spot in the batting order.
Can Ubaldo Jimenez turn around his season?
For better or worse, the Orioles are stuck with Jimenez. I coule get on my soap box and say “I told you so,” but what good would that do? The bottom line is, in order for this team to not only make the playoffs, but advance, the coaching staff needs to figure out what made Jimenez so great in the second half of last year and get him to do it again.
In his last two June starts, it looked like Jimenez was starting to turn the corner by walking only three in 14 1/3 innings while striking out 13, but he was back to his old self against the Red Sox this weekend, matching a career high in walks with six and not even making it out of the third frame.
Will Kevin Gausman remain with the team for the rest of the year?
Showalter has admitted that there is a method to the madness behind shuttling Gausman back-and-forth between the big leagues and the minors. Not only because the team is usually in need of a reliever and unfortunately, Gausman has options, but this allows the team to limit his innings so he can be available for the entire season and hopefully a deep playoff run.
I should have known better than to question Showalter, but when Gausman is clearly dominating hitters, it is frustrating not knowing he will pitch every fifth day. It appears that will be coming to an end and the “Gas Man” will be a huge boost for the remainder of the season.
Will the Orioles make a trade to improve the club?
I hate this time of the year – and the offseason for that matter – as wannabe general managers come out and make unreasonable trade offers and feel like every free agent should be signed by their team. With the Oakland A’s trading for Jeff Samardzija (and Jason Hammel) over the weekend, it has already started. Dan Duquette has already proven he will make the necessary moves to help improve the club and I think he will attempt to do that again.
I don’t see them making a splash, however. The team could use another bat off the bench, a bullpen arm, and if they go extreme, a second baseman. The biggest thing for this team is to have the guys who are supposed to make an impact live up to that (I’m looking at you, Davis and Jimenez).
If that happens, that would be just as good as making a trade for the stretch run, and it won’t come with the cost of losing a prospect.
