Every Oriole fan is going to remember designated hitter Delmon Young as the player who had the biggest hit in the 2014 season.
Young came to up to the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, as the Orioles trailed the Tigers 6-4. Young came in fresh off the bench and drove in all three runs off of a double, which gave the Orioles a 7-6 lead.
Baltimore went on to win the game and took a commanding 2-0 lead against Detroit in the ALDS. Young cemented himself into Baltimore baseball lore with the play.
Young was a free agent this offseason and had problems finding the type of contract he wanted. He floated around with four different teams before joining the Orioles last season and has been used as role player the last few years, which didn’t help his chances of earning big money.
He eventually re-signed with Baltimore on a one-year, $2.25 million deal and looks to have a bigger role with the team this season. In fact, it seems to be a starting role.
The former No. 1 pick finished with a .302 batting average, seven home runs and 30 RBIs last season He was more of a nuisance in the field, but his clutch hitting during the season and postseason outweighed his poor fielding.
Young is one of the best options to take over for Nelson Cruz, who was mainly used as the designated hitter last season. He batted .312 against right-handed pitchers and batted .288 against left-handed pitchers, according to ESPN.com
The Orioles have a bunch of players fighting for roles this season, including outfielders Travis Snider, David Lough and first baseman/OF Steve Pearce. However, Young has better batting splits than any of these players.
If Young takes over as designated hitter, Pearce would start in right field and Chris Davis would be at first base (or vice versa). Snider and Lough would be role players for the team and would give the Orioles decent bench options.
Young also had impressive numbers against some of the top pitchers in the game last year. He went 3-6 against White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 3-3 against Angels’ pitcher Jered Weaver and 2-4 against Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka, according to yahoo.com.
Some might think Young’s hitting was a fluke last season, but the veteran has a career batting average of .283. It’s crazy to think a player with that high of an average has been on five different teams in eight seasons.
It’s time to give Young the designated hitter job so he only has to focus on the hitting aspect of the game and Baltimore can spell him from taking the field as much as possible.
Manager Buck Showalter will get the say in who starts for his ballclub, but he has spoken highly of Young in the past and will likely give him the chance to start at designated hitter.
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