Reality: The Baltimore Orioles hit 12 home runs in the last four games in Toronto.
O's scored 24 runs and hit 12 homers in series but gave up 30 runs, losing of 3 of 4 at Rogers Centre to fall to 36-26.
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) June 12, 2016
Perception: I’m shocked at how many fans, on twitter, give up on the O’s in the early innings of games. The O’s have scored more runs than any other American League team from the 7th inning on, and they have the most comeback wins this season. They proved it this weekend, pulling within one run after being down early against the Blue Jays.
This team can hit and they continue to prove that. They have the most home runs in baseball, and they have scored the 8th most runs in MLB (4th most in AL). If they had any pitching that they could count on outside of the 7th (Givens/Brach), 8th (O’Day/Brach), and 9th (Britton), this team might never lose. The Birds don’t even need great pitching, or even really good pitching… they just need mediocre pitching that is consistent. Instead, they have a bunch of guys that cannot be counted on in the early/mid innings of the game.
The O’s have nine games with 4+ home runs this season… no other team in baseball has more than six. When you are hitting that many home runs, and scoring 6+ runs per game, you should not be losing. The Orioles are scoring 6.75 runs per game in June. That should be good enough to win most games.
Reality: The Orioles bullpen has the same amount of wins as O’s starters.
Chris Tillman has 8 wins, but you’ll never guess what #Orioles starter has the next most… Ubaldo, with 3.
— Joe Polek ????????⚾????⚽???? (@JoePolek) June 12, 2016
Perception: Does that stat say something about the Orioles pitching staff or what?! Tillman has 8, Ubaldo has 3, Wright has 3, Wilson has 2, Gallardo has 1, Worley has 1, and Gausman has 0. So Orioles starters have 18 wins.
But the bullpen is another story. Brach has 5, Givens has 5, Britton has 2, Bundy has 2, O’Day has 2, McFarland has 1, and Worley has 1…. That is 18.
Outside of Tillman, Gausman is the only Orioles starter with an ERA under 3.50. The rest are all over 5.00. That is not going to do it.
Having an offense like the Orioles do will win you a bunch of games in the regular season, but baseball changes like no other sport when it comes to the playoffs. Pitching is what really matters in the fall, and right now, the Orioles do not have the pitching to win in the playoffs. Can that change? Absolutely, but entering the playoffs with only Tillman (and maybe Gausman) to count on will set the O’s up with quite the hill to climb.
Hopefully Gallardo comes back and can prove to be a reliable guy in the rotation, but if he can’t, the front office will have to make a move for a starter, or this power-hitting team won’t last long in October.
Reality: Ubaldo Jimenez is now 3-7 with a 6.89 ERA.
Buck on UJ: "We have to look at other possibilities. But if we do something he is going to hear about it from us long B4 he reads about it."
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) June 12, 2016
Perception: This is a sensitive subject for O’s fans. It’s easy for people sitting on their couch to say “cut him,” but they aren’t the ones who have the eat the millions of dollars that Peter Angelos will be eating if the O’s just let Ubaldo go.
“Trade him”… for what? What team wants what he is giving? None.
“Move him to the bullpen”… does that do anything? If he can’t even get through one inning as a starter, what makes you think he can come in and help out the team in relief? He didn’t the last time the Orioles tried to “hide” him in the bullpen. He only came in the game in mop-up duty and if the O’s do that again, they are basically playing a man down in their bullpen. The Birds are having trouble giving the bullpen enough rest as it is. If you play a man down, you hurt the other guys, who are producing, even more.
The easiest answer for fans is to just cut Ubaldo, and if Angelos wants to show the team that he truly is “all in” this season, then eating his contract would show that, just as paying Chris Davis showed that to fans and the team. But, I can totally understand if he doesn’t want to do that. It’s his money to do with as he wants.
So I’m fascinated to see how this all goes down…because leaving him in the rotation is not the answer.
Reality: The Orioles lost their second series out the eight they have played in 2016 against the American League East.
Perception: As I’ve said over the last couple of weeks, this month would say a lot about where the Orioles stand in the Hunt for (Orange) October. With a tough month of games against the AL East and some of the better teams outside the division, just going .500 this month would be a huge accomplishment.
So far, the Birds are 8-4 this month with a big three-game series in Boston coming up this week. Then, they are home against the Blue Jays for another big series, before some games against San Diego and Tampa.
The O’s entered June 6 games over .500. They are currently 10 games over. If they go 3-3 against the Red Sox and Blue Jays over the next week, they should be able to finish up the month over .500, which should keep them at the top of the division heading into July.
The good news? The Orioles have lost their last three games, but are still 10 games over .500 and tied for first place in the AL East.
