Two months in the books

The Baltimore Orioles are two months into the 2013 campaign and sit at 34-28, fourth in the AL East. Through the first third of the season, the team looks well on their way to another run at the playoffs come August and September. But in a tough American League East where four teams are at least six games over .500 and within 3.5 games of first place, how will the Orioles separate themselves from the pack? Here’s how they got here and what they will need to make a run.

It starts with the starters

Through the first third of the season, Orioles starters are 20^th in baseball in innings pitched and 25^th in ERA. A starter has only gone seven innings seven times thus far, and Chris Tillman is responsible for three of those outings. This is a result of ineffectiveness, and on occasion, a quick trigger finger on the part of Buck Showalter.

The bullpen has certainly felt the sting of all this. Entering the weekend series against Tampa Bay back on May 17^th, the Orioles bullpen had posted a 2.48 ERA which ranked second in the league. Since then, the bullpen has pitched to a 5.94 ERA over 21 games to leave the overall bullpen ERA at 3.90, 15^th in the league.

In those 21 games, a starter failed to go six innings 10 times and failed to go five innings four times. There were also two extra-inning games to add to the overuse of what had been a dominant bullpen.

With a starting rotation that is as likely to exit before the sixth inning as it is to complete it, it is truly remarkable that the team is even above .500 right now. We can thank the offense for that.

The offense is still ridiculous

It almost seems monotonous to keep saying this, but the Orioles offense is really, really good. Chris Davis leads the world in home runs, Manny Machado leads the league in doubles and Nate McLouth leads the American League in stolen bases.

Five everyday players (Davis, Machado, Jones, Markakis, McLouth) are batting .293 or higher. Six players (Davis, Machado, Jones, Markakis, Wieters, Hardy) have driven in 32 or more runs.

As a team, the Orioles lead the Majors in homeruns, extra-base hits and slugging, are second in doubles and stolen bases, are third in average and fifth in runs. And they’ve done all of this with little-to-no production from their second basemen and designated hitters.

Team Chemistry

There is a reason teams like the Angels and Dodgers are completely stacked with talent and yet are under .500. Baseball is a team game.

A team can have all the individual superstars it wants, but you can’t teach chemistry. You either have it or you don’t. Guys like Nick Markakis, Nate McLouth, J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis (until this year) have never been in the headlines. They just show up every day and go to work. That’s what shows in the standings.

This team absolutely loves to play together. They believe they can win and never feel like they are out of any game. This is evidenced by the Orioles success in the late innings.

As a team, from the seventh inning on the O’s lead the majors in batting average, hits, home runs and runs scored. As a result, the Orioles have won 17 games in which they were trailing at one point or another.

So how do they improve and get better?

It’s no secret that the Orioles are a good baseball team. They have the best record in the majors since last June. But that record doesn’t mean anything. It sure would be nice if last season’s success gave Baltimore an automatic bid for the playoffs, but the reality is that it does not.

The O’s need better starting pitching. The team felt as though the in-house talent was good enough to stand pat and not sign or trade for a veteran starting pitcher in the offseason. Guys like Zack Greinke, Kyle Lohse, Edwin Jackson, Anibal Sanchez, Ryan Dempster and Dan Haren were out there and available and the Birds said “no, thank you.”

Granted, some of these guys were never going to come here and some of these guys haven’t had the best starts to 2013, but the fact remains that the O’s are paying for it now as their starters have pitched to the tune of a 4.80 ERA.

Kevin Gausman has made it to the majors and will be good—eventually—and Chris Tillman is establishing himself as the best and most consistent starter in the rotation, at least until Wei-Yin Chen makes it off the disabled list.

Jason Hammel is showing signs of returning to last season’s form and Miguel Gonzalez is proving that the blister on his throwing hand was a bigger factor than we all thought it was as he has been very solid since his return. But the team still needs another starter not named Freddy Garcia.

The same holds true for a second basemen and a DH. While Ryan Flaherty is 8-25 since being re-called from Norfolk, this team sorely misses Brian Roberts. And While Steve Pearce, Chris Dickerson and Danny Valencia have hit a few timely home runs, none of them should be considered everyday players in any Major League lineup.

The Orioles can stay afloat with the current makeup of the roster, if for no other reason than the offense is insane, but if you ask me, the Birds should be wheeling-and-dealing as the trade deadline approaches next month. That may be what pushes them over the hump.