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Thursday Thoughts: A Tough Week to Find Bright Spots

Wei-Yin Chen watches after giving up a home run.
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This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.

1. For a baseball team that’s lost 8 of its last 10 games, it’s difficult to look for positive signs. The Orioles are struggling, there’s no two ways around it, but I think there’s always been a bit of an expectancy for this team to go through an offensive lull like they have over the last two weeks or so. Perhaps the most alarming part of the recent downturn from the O’s is the teams it has come against. The Rangers, White Sox and Twins don’t jump off the page as being stiff competition. That’s especially true for Chicago, which is well under the .500 mark. Texas has had its issues but still has a strong lineup. The Twins are a different story entirely, and sit squarely in the race. Minnesota would actually be one of the Wild Card teams from the American League if things ended today.

I think the bottom line is that the Orioles weren’t going to continuing hitting with runners in scoring position like they had this season. The most precious thing about this is that it’s July. The O’s are within three games of both the division and Wild Card and there are 77 to play. I’ll take those odds, any day.

2. About a month ago I wrote that the Orioles would likely only have one All-Star in Adam Jones. Then more recently I thought there was a good chance Manny Machado and Zach Britton could join Jones on the AL squad. Little did I know that Darren O’Day was going to crash the party as well. I couldn’t be happier for all four, but especially Britton and O’Day, who have had their fair share of adversity to get to this point.

I love O’Day’s inclusion on the team especially because it gives the American League team something different, and something much of the National League likely hasn’t seen. He could be a weapon in the later innings to get a power right-handed bat out in a key spot. After all, teams are trying to win this game now. It’s still moronic that the All-Star Game counts for home field advantage in the World Series, but that’s the world we live in. Players and managers want to win it, and for good reason.

3. The Home Run Derby has lost a lot of its luster over the years. We are no longer in the days of Ken Griffey Jr. plunking the warehouse at Camden Yards. That was fun.

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GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld

The Derby has become very commercial, very long and frankly not very entertaining recently. I applaud Major League Baseball for attempting to change that this year. I’ll be especially interested with Manny Machado on board to participate for the first time, but this year’s new rules that involved timed rounds and bonuses for distance have be thinking it could actually be fun to watch. No longer will we have to sit and watch a slugger take six pitches, then smack one out of the park, then take another five pitches. Players will be forced to swing the bat and make the ball fly.

Not only is the new format intriguing, but the field is fantastic. Everyone would’ve liked to see Bryce Harper and Mike Trout take part, but how can you get much better than the mix of young talent and veteran experience that we will see in Cincinnati next week? I may be just as interested to see if Machado and Josh Donaldson are friendly as they each compete with one another on the American League side. Veterans Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols lead a young crop like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Joc Pederson. That’s just fun. I am a little surprised that MLB went with two Chicago Cubs and two players from the L.A. market, but there’s no arguing it’s a fun and intriguing field.

I’ll be tuned in.

4. The trade deadline is going to sneak up on everyone. It’s right around the corner, and the rumor mill is churning. I wrote earlier this week that this is a very crucial deadline for the O’s, but I also think it’s one where they aren’t very active. I just don’t see a lot of changes that will be made, especially with pending free agents on the current roster. Do you really see the Orioles trading Matt Wieters, Chris Davis or Wei-Yin Chen? Perhaps Bud Norris could be dealt if the right trade comes along, but I don’t see any team out there that would particularly jump at the chance to acquire him.

The Orioles are constantly moving pieces around on their roster already to compensate for the fact that they don’t really have any corner outfielders. Additional bullpen help is always welcome, but there’s such a roster crunch involving players without options that it’s tough to think of a scenario where they can add a piece to the current staff. What’s done at this deadline will be important, even if it’s nothing. It could help shape the roster going forward, or it could leave a lot of work to be done in the offseason.

Gausman ST 2015

GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld

5. Kevin Gausman is down in the minors for one reason, and one reason only, and that’s to get work during the All-Star break. I don’t think this is news to anyone, but the optics look especially bad after his poor outing on Tuesday. Gausman should hold a rotation spot for the rest of the season. The Orioles have messed around with him enough to have given him this chance only to take it away. There’s no question that Gausman is still going to have his growing pains. On Tuesday, it seemed he couldn’t get away from his fastball, and he couldn’t locate it well enough to boot.

He was simply crushed on pitches in the zone, and wasn’t able to get any rhythm going. There’s still a lot of pressure on Gausman to be good, but some of this has been created by the way the organization has played him like a yo-yo rather than letting him sink or swim. This latest “demotion” isn’t that at all though. If any other pitcher with options was throwing on Tuesday, he too would’ve been sent down to get work during the break. It’s just the way the Orioles operate.

6. Last week’s report from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick on baseball’s best managers shouldn’t have come as a surprise to many. Among the player favorites were Joe Maddon, Bruce Bochy and of course, Buck Showalter. The piece was very in-depth and breaks down everything from player relations to managing a pitching staff, media relations and development of young players. It’s obvious to anyone that a big part of the reason the O’s have had success in recent years is Showalter. He’s become a difference-maker partially because players believe in him and what he preaches.

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It’s interesting how few elite mangers there are in baseball these days. I had this discussion with a friend who is a dedicated fan of the Seattle Mariners, and is tired of Lloyd McClendon’s act. I asked him who he’d rather have as skipper of the M’s, and he basically said anyone. But when you really think about it, there simply aren’t a lot of veteran managers that make a great impact these days. Even some of the managers who have had recent success did so with a great foundation and roster already in place.

Take a look at Mike Matheny and Brad Ausmus as examples. Are they great managers, or products of a great environment? We’ve seen an influx of young managers in the game recently too. Paul Molitor, Craig Counsell, A.J. Hinch and Chip Hale all come to mind. No one really knows if any of these guys will have success long term, but it just points to the fact that baseball is in a bit of a transitional period in terms of great managers. The O’s have one.

7. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and I’m not even talking about the All-Star break. I love when the Orioles and Nationals hook up. This wasn’t a big deal with the Nats first moved from Montreal, but since the two teams have become competitive, the series always carries a little extra weight with me. It doesn’t matter that the O’s and Nats play in different divisions or even different leagues, this one means something to the fans.

That Baltimore-Washington, DC rivalry is a thing, no matter who you ask. There’s a certain crowd from Baltimore that can’t root for anything DC, and there’s a crowd that enjoys including teams like the Wizards and Capitals in their interests. There’s also DC folks that root for the Redskins but also root for the O’s because the Nationals weren’t around when they were growing up. It’s all a very mixed relationship and that makes things fun. The melting pot of the Beltway area gets a line drawn this weekend in Charm City, and that always makes for a fun time.

8. Baseball America has revealed its midseason top 50 prospects list. There’s one thing that’s very obvious once you take a glance at it: there are no Orioles on it. Baseball America isn’t the end all of ranking publications for these types of things, but it’s another indication that things aren’t trending well for the Orioles’ farm system. Injuries are a big part of this, obviously. Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey are the big pieces who have taken major steps back. The O’s basically have a plethora of C-level prospects that may or may not help in the near or distant future.

This points back to what many have said about attempting to deal current big league talent to replenish the system, but that’s still something I don’t see happening. The O’s aren’t going to give up a chance to go for a title this year. It’s just not happening. One thing I know to be true is that the O’s will likely dish out a ton of qualifying offers this offseason if they aren’t able to retain players long term. That will help stock up the draft with picks, something that will be crucial going forward. This year’s first-round pick, D.J. Stewart, already has his career underway at Aberdeen. I’ll be interested to see how quickly he’s able to progress through the system and learn the professional game.

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