Reality: The O’s added Johan Santana to the 40-man roster this week.
Perception: The roster shuffle will continue, especially when it comes to the pitching staff.
It appears Tommy Hunter will be activated from the disabled list no later than June 9th. Johan Santana opted out of his minor league deal with the Orioles, so they moved him to the 15-day DL, and subsequently on the 40-man roster, meaning he’s on the big league club, not a minor league contract anymore. They had an opening on the 40-man roster when they designated Evan Meek for assignment last week. But that means Santana will need to be activated in a couple of weeks. So what are the Birds to do when Hunter comes back and Santana joins the club?
You get the sense that Brad Brach, Preston Guilmet, or TJ McFarland would be options to be sent down to make room for Hunter and Santana, as all three have already moved between Norfolk and Baltimore this season. I see Brach going down to make room for Hunter.
However, when Santana joins the club, he’ll join the rotation, which means someone needs to move to the bullpen or get sent down. Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette will need to make a tough choice. Who goes from the starting rotation, and where do they go?
Chris Tillman is safe, as he is the ace of this staff with no options. Ubaldo Jimenez is safe because he signed a big contract to be a starter for this team. Miguel Gonzalez has pitched out of the pen before, but he has pitched pretty well in the rotation. Bud Norris would have seemed likely to move to the pen in spring training, but might be the best starter the O’s have had this season. Wei-Yin Chen seems like the most likely option, but I don’t see the O’s moving him.
Fans will disagree with whichever starter gets moved in favor of Santana, but whoever it is will most likely move to the bullpen, leaving the Birds with the choice of moving Guilmet or McFarland down to the minors.
Reality: The O’s still don’t have a solid everyday left fielder.
Perception: Buck loves giving his players a chance to work out of a slump. He will continue to watch the numbers and watch trends even if it means not sticking with the hot hand.
Steve Melewski of MASN had some great thoughts yesterday:
Track record is what [the Orioles front office] see [in David Lough]. Some fans don’t like that term for whatever reason, but Lough has a track record of hitting for a solid average. A long track record.
He is a career .297 minor league hitter in 677 games and 2,593 at-bats. Last season he batted .286 in 315 at-bats with Kansas City and finished eighth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting and was first in Wins Above Replacement among all AL rookies.
Lough hit .338 at Triple-A last year, giving him a .303 average between the majors and minors last season. You read that right, Lough with a .303 batting average last year.
So with 2,800 at-bats of a nearly .300 average, I didn’t expect to see the O’s brass bail on Lough after just 88 at-bats this year. He came up with a big two-run homer and three RBI game Sunday.
Lough brings needed speed and defense as well. He can play small ball, something this team lacks. He is batting just .176/.242/.253 this year and needs to do better. Maybe Sunday was a start.
Lough is now 28 and manager Buck Showalter has said many times he believes some players start to get it and really come into their own around that age.
So what do the O’s see? They see nearly 3,000 at-bats and a decent hitter.
I agree. The first month of the season, I was the president of the “David Lough for Everyday LFer” fan club. Yes, he started off slow, but I really felt like he was the best option out there because of his defense, and the speed he brought to the bases. But after a second month of a terrible drought at the plate, I had moved on from Lough to someone who was producing… Steve Pearce. Not only was Pearce hitting the ball extremely well, but he was also playing a very good outfield when given the chance.
Some fans wanted Lough released. But as Melewski pointed out, his potential will keep him on this team. We saw some of that potential over the weekend in Houston.
For now, I say Nelson Cruz needs to be the everyday DH, and Pearce needs to be getting a majority of the starts in LF. Lough can spell Pearce a few times but also can come in late inning situations as a pinch runner or defensive replacement until he gets his bat going more frequently.
Reality: The Orioles and Blue Jays are the only AL East teams on a winning streak.
Perception: Last night, the Yankees lost, the Red Sox lost, and the Rays lost. The O’s and Blue Jays have each won two in a row. The Jays hold a 4.0 game lead on the Yanks and a 4.5 game lead on the Orioles, who are one game over .500. The O’s are also 0.5 behind New York and Los Angeles for the AL Wild Card.
The Orioles wrap up a road trip with a three-game set in Texas this week, but then they head home for 10 straight games. They hit the road for six games in the middle of the month before ending it with an eight-game home stand (which includes a double header). That’s 18 of their next 24 games at home, where they are currently 11-12.
If the Orioles want to be a real contender come fall, they need to start learning how to score runs and win at home. This is a big month for the Birds.
