After blowing a winnable game on Friday night and dropping their fifth in a row, the Orioles were on the verge of dropping their sixth straight game Saturday after a blown save by Zach Britton. However, a David Lough walk-off home run saved the day and it carried into Sunday when the Orioles exploded for 18 runs to win the series against the Boston Red Sox. The O’s finally play a team outside the American League East this week (local events will dictate exactly when/where) and continue to try and put their early season struggles behind them.
Defense & Mental Mistakes
We expect a Buck Showalter led team do two things: play great defense and don’t beat themselves. However, to start the season, the Orioles have struggled defensively and have consistently ran themselves into outs. It has been very frustrating to watch, but I expect the mental mistakes to stop as Showalter has no tolerance for things like that. The defense will be fine overall, but it will not be at the elite level overall that we are used to seeing, at least until guys like J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop are back, and there is really no timetable for either of them at the moment.
Offense Among Baseball’s Best
The Orioles lose the home run leader from 2014 and one of their best hitters for nearly a decade and you would expect a huge falloff right? Wrong. The O’s offense currently leads BASEBALL in the following categories: runs, home runs, and RBIs. They find themselves in the top five in hits, average, slugging percentage, and OPS.
My favorite stat though is that they are currently second in baseball in sacrifice flies. We know this has been an area they have struggled in, but this year when players are on third base, the guys are putting the ball in play and scoring that run.
Paredes Provides Huge Boost
Chris Davis’ injury saved Steve Pearce last year and it is possible that Schoop’s injury saved Jimmy Paredes. A roster crunch was coming where the Orioles risked losing Paredes, but Schoop’s knee injury opened a spot for Paredes and he has ran with the opportunity. Paredes can flat out hit and has provided a nice boost to the offense. He is a train wreck in the field which complicates things for Showalter with Delmon Young on the roster. However, until he cools off, Showalter will continue to write Paredes’ name in the lineup card.
Garcia’s Future
I am really not sure how long the Orioles will be able to keep Garcia on the roster. Showalter has been very careful with how he has used Garcia, but the results haven’t been there. Considering Steve Johnson has been dominant for the Norfolk Tides and a power arm like Mike Wright could provide a boost to the bullpen as well, Dan Duquette and Showalter are going to have to make a difficult choice with Garcia.
Eventually, Garcia may be a dominant reliever, but the Orioles are a team who is trying to get back to the postseason and advance. There aren’t many opportunities you can use a reliever solely in blowouts and they can’t remain patient with the youngster. The organization is hoping he gets corrected soon, or Garcia’s time as an Oriole will come to an end.
