It may not feel like it anywhere outside of Florida and California, but it’s baseball season! I have already been to my first game, as I went to opening day at the University of South Carolina and watch the Gamecocks drop their first game against the College of Charleston. It was a frigid 40-degree night, but I didn’t care. I was at a baseball stadium, watching baseball, with my dad. There may not be anything better.
As the Orioles get ready to start Spring Training, I have been trying to get my thoughts together on this year’s squad… and it hasn’t been easy. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. But they won’t be answered for another month. Buck likes competition in spring training and will let everyone get their fair share of playing time this spring in order to see who are the best 25 guys to bring to Baltimore. Normally, veterans don’t play road games during the spring, but Showalter has already said that Matt Wieters and Manny Machado will be playing road games this spring. They need innings, and we want to see them give innings.
So let’s go through some of the questions that many of us may have.
Who is going to fill the hole left by Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis?
Let’s not look at the lineup as much as the positions they played. With those two guys missing, the O’s need to find a RF and a LF/DH. Buck likes to play many guys, and the way the roster is shaping up, he will have both corner outfield positions to move guys in and out of the lineup, as well as a DH.
I think we can all agree that Steve Pearce takes one of those positions nearly every night (as long as he hits like he did last season). So for this discussion, let’s put Pearce in as the everyday RF. If it’s not him, then it’s Travis Snider, but let’s stick with Pearce.
So now you have Snider, Delmon Young, Alejandro De Aza, and David Lough to share duties between LF and DH.
Buck will play the hot hand as well as play the match-ups with the pitcher, but I see Snider and De Aza sharing LF duties while Young plays more DH and Lough comes off the bench.
I’m okay with that OF/DH. It doesn’t make up for the lost home runs, but if Machado and Wieters can stay healthy and Davis can be better than last year, I think we can be okay in that department. Frankly, I’d rather use more small ball to manufacture runs.
Who plays second base?
That just got more interesting with the signing of former all-star Everth Cabrera. Does he get handed the job? No, but he will push Jonathan Schoop and Ryan Flaherty to work hard in the spring to earn their spots.
Looking at the numbers, the only thing that makes Cabrera any different from Schoop and Flaherty is his base stealing potential. But I think I’d rather stay with what I know, at this point. Schoop is developing and when he slumps, Flaherty is a quality back-up.
I can hear the voices already…“quality back-up”? I will never understand why Flaherty takes so much heat from the fans. He plays just about every position. He plays hard. He is a really good defensive player. Yes, he struggles at the plate, but that’s okay. As a back-up, he is better than Billy Ripken was as a starter.
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But Flaherty has one thing hurting him: he has an option left. Cabrera does also, and Schoop has several. One of those guys will be sent down and will wait for their chance.
I don’t think Jayson Nix makes the major league club.
How do the Orioles replace Andrew Miller?
They don’t. That guy is not human. But guess what? The Birds only had him for two months last season. They were in first place before they acquired him. They can do it again without him.
Darren O’Day is also a beast. If he can have as successful a season as he had last year, perfect. The O’s also need their other relievers to be as productive as they were last year. The Orioles bullpen was one of the best in baseball last year with the 3rd lowest ERA in the AL, so they just need to stay consistent.
Can the starting rotation be good enough to lead this team to the playoffs?
They were last year. No, they are not flashy. No, they aren’t household names around the country. But they kept the team in games. Oriole starters last year had the 5th lowest ERA in the AL. If they can stay consistent, there is no reason to believe they can’t keep this team in games again this year.
Chris Tillman three out of four times out performs like an Ace. Bud Norris is a very good pitcher. Miguel Gonzalez may be the most underrated starter in the game. And Kevin Gausman and Wei Yin Chen give the Birds a chance to win every time they pitch.
Are they Felix Hernandez, David Price, Max Scherzer, Steven Strasburg, or Madison Bumgarner? No. But as Buck says, “I like our guys.”
Can the Orioles win the AL East again?
Why not? No one thought they would go to the playoffs two years ago, and no one thought they’d do it again last year. So who cares if they are picked to finish last in the AL East. I “Back the Birds” and will not stop cheering them on each night. There hasn’t been much turnover, so there is no reason to think they won’t go out there and do what they have done the last two season.
If they do, Dan Duquette and Buck will do what they do best and find us a gem at the trade deadline to take us to the promise land.
The negativity of the offseason is over. Baseball and the Birds are back. So let’s get the positive vibes going and color the city Orange once again.
