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. Some are probably feeling sentimental this morning about Delmon Young. After being designated for assignment by the Orioles yesterday, his days in the orange and black are over. He’ll likely be traded in the coming days. Everyone will look back to Game 2 of the ALDS last season, when Young roped a three-run double in the eighth inning and created perhaps the best moment in Orioles baseball in the last 15 years.
As tough of a pill as this may be to swallow for some, it was the right move. Young had performed surprisingly well in the outfield this season, even leading the team in outfield assists. His bat has gone cold, however, and his playing time dwindled drastically. Young’s best role last season was as a pinch hitter, something at which he thrived. The O’s simply need more than a pinch hitter in that spot right now. They need help in the bullpen during a roster crunch. Someone had to go.
2. The news of Dylan Bundy’s shutdown is heartbreaking, but it shouldn’t be surprising. Bundy has been nothing but bad news injury-wise since he was drafted. The thing that makes this especially tough for Orioles fans, is knowing that his contract dictates he be placed on the major league roster next season. The guy has virtually no big league innings under his belt, which basically relegates him to a bullpen role, IF he’s healthy.
Many will lambast the O’s for failing to trade Bundy when they had the chance, but this isn’t on the team. It’s simply an unfortunate instance of injury. I did hear an interesting theory, which has been brought up before, on Bundy. It involves that scary “S” word that no one likes to talk about that is normally linked to injuries.
Everyone made a big deal about what a gym rat Bundy was when he was first drafted. Could it be that certain supplements have gone by the wayside and injuries have caught him in the process? I don’t know if steroids are at play here, that’s just speculation on the parts of some, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
3. Kevin Gausman will start for the O’s today, but is he going to get more than say, six more starts after that this season? The Orioles are looking for ways to include Gausman in the mix, but the fact that he has options makes him moveable between the minors and the O’s roster. I’ve been a long supporter of the #StartGausman movement, but at this point that really would require some shifting of parts in the bullpen.
Unless there’s a trade pulled off, which is always a strong possibility in July, the Birds would have to dump someone out of the rotation into the bullpen, and then get rid of someone in that pen to make room. None of the bullpen stalwarts (excluding folks like Tyler Wilson) have options. The only player who would maybe get consideration for a trade or DFA would be Brian Matusz, but he’s your only left-hander aside from Zach Britton. Once Wesley Wright gets healthy, perhaps he can fill that role, but it doesn’t change the fact that you have to make room.
I’ve heard some call for Tommy Hunter to be gone, which seems logical, but Hunter has actually been pretty decent. If you can work out a trade and slip Bud Norris into a similar role as Hunter, that’s a scenario I would support. I just want to see the Orioles stop screwing things up with Gausman.
4. A few weeks ago, I opined that the Orioles would likely have just one All-Star. Things have changed. If the O’s don’t get at least three, there’s something wrong. I have a lot of issues with the fan voting (as many non-Royals fans have had), but there’s no way Adam Jones, Manny Machado and Zach Britton shouldn’t head to Cincinnati. Jones is a lock. He’s one of the best center fielders in the American League and will be selected by the players/manager. Machado’s month of June puts him squarely behind Toronto’s Josh Donaldson (who should be a deserving starter) in the conversation. Britton has almost quietly been one of the top closers in the game, not just the AL. Britton may even get consideration to finish the game if the Junior Circuit has the lead in the ninth inning.
5. If the Orioles were to start a postseason series right now, Wei-Yin Chen is getting the ball in Game One. Chen has been absolutely fantastic lately, and has somehow figured out how to go deeper than five innings in games. The fact that he was able to toss eight innings on just 87 pitches last night impressed me more than almost anything. That kind of pitch efficiency is so important, not only to the health of a pitcher long term, but also to getting his team off the field and back into the dugout quicker during a game.
I understand that Chen was upset about being optioned a while back, but he’s responded in the best way possible by doing what he’s done on the field. I think if there’s one player I want back on the 2016 team that’s due to be a free agent this offseason (aside from perhaps Matt Wieters), it’s likely Chen. Hopefully those tweets and Scott Boras don’t stop it from happening.
6. I’m really excited for the Orioles to get Jonathan Schoop back in the near future. I felt awful for Schoop when he went down with a knee injury in April. I really felt he was on the verge of a breakout type of season, and while that might have been slowed by the PCL ailment, there’s still time. Schoop will give the Orioles something they haven’t had in a very, very long time – a virtually healthy roster.
Think about it this way. The O’s haven’t had the likes of Matt Wieters, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and J.J. Hardy together at any one point in a very long while. All of them have missed time due to injury, or in Davis’ case suspension. Pair that crew with Adam Jones, and you finally have a healthy core roster.
From a pitching standpoint, the O’s are finally getting to full strength as well. If you can exclude Wesley Wright, who know one really knows what to expect from, the pitching staff is at full strength. Kevin Gausman is no longer hurt, Miguel Gonzalez has come off the DL, and even for all of his struggles, Bud Norris is healthy. As the O’s continue to churn towards the All-Star break and sit near or on top of the AL East, these are all good things.
7. There was an interesting bit of information from NESN about Eduardo Rodriguez this week, and as much as I hate to give credit to anything Boston sports media, they got this one right. The Orioles were able to rock their former farmhand last week to the tune of six runs in less than four innings, and it might have been because they knew what was coming.
If you missed it, here's the NESN graphic on how Eduardo Rodriguez was tipping his pitches last time out vs. the O's. pic.twitter.com/MkaCoSYFf6
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 30, 2015
NESN points out that E-Rod was tipping his pitches. The 22-year-old left-hander has been up and down through his first six big league starts. He began with two really nice outings, one of which included six shutout innings against the O’s in Baltimore. Then he was pegged for nine runs in 4.2 IP against the Blue Jays, who always seem to be able to hit no matter what. But in his most recent start against Toronto on Tuesday, at Rogers Centre (where some believe the Jays are especially good at stealing signs for “unknown” reasons) mind you, Rodriguez tossed six innings of one-run ball and looked good once again. It’s all part of the maturing process for a guy the O’s can expect to see more of down the road, as painful as that might sound.
8. Looking ahead just a bit, the Orioles are scheduled to see Chris Sale this Sunday in Chicago. If you’ve been living under a rock, you wouldn’t know that Sale is the dominant lefty that just tied a mark set by Pedro Martinez by striking out at least ten hitters in eight straight starts. He’s been very impressive. He set that mark on Tuesday against the MLB-best St. Louis Cardinals by fanning 12 and put himself in great position to be the All-Star Game starter.
He’s currently striking out over 42% of the hitters he faces. Sale’s W-L record doesn’t look great (6-4) because he plays on a bad team, but his 2.87 ERA and 141 K’s on the year are fantastic. Sale could break Martinez’s mark on Sunday against the free-swinging O’s. I’ve seen a lot of talk about the possibility of the White Sox shopping the southpaw, but don’t bet on it. Just admire his work, and hope the Orioles can break that streak this weekend.
