O’s Still Have Lineup Hole(s) to Fill

The Baltimore Orioles have their catcher. After some discussion about Matt Wieters sticking around, the club decided to sign Welington Castillo to fill the void. You can read ESR’s reaction to the signing by clicking here.

That leaves the O’s with one more hole to fill in their starting lineup. It is expected that at some point this offseason that they will bring in someone to play one of the corner outfield positions. Who will that be? We probably will not have answer this year. Knowing how this front office operates, we might not know who it is until a month before the season starts. That was the case heading into the 2014 season when they signed Nelson Cruz just before the start of spring training.

But just for fun, let’s say they stand pat and the current 40-man roster is what the Orioles enter the season with. What would their Opening Day lineup look like? Here is my uneducated guess:

CF Adam Jones
RF Hyun Soo Kim
3B Manny Machado
1B Chris Davis
DH Trey Mancini
2B Jonathan Schoop
SS J.J. Hardy
C Welington Castillo
LF Joey Rickard

There are a couple things that stand out about this lineup. The first thing that jumps out is both Kim and Rickard in the lineup. Again, we expect the O’s to bring in someone at one of the corner outfield positions. They have little depth behind those two and neither is ready for an every day role (in fact, they’re quite an effective platoon).

While the O’s would love to move Jones further down the lineup, he would be the de facto lead-off hitter because of his experience there last season. Dan Duquette would love to find an outfielder that can handle this role as well. Rickard could also lead off, but let’s be real, he is better off in the ninth spot than leading off.

What’s discouraging is the fact that only two lefty bats would be in that lineup. Ryan Flaherty would also be the only lefty on the bench, unless one of Rule 5 picks make the club (Aneury Tavarez bats left and Anthony Santander is a switch hitter). That’s where the O’s are going to miss Wieters the most. His ability to hit on either side of the plate is what made him such a valuable asset.

Speaking of catchers, Castillo figures to be the primary catcher, but how often do we see Caleb Joseph in the lineup? Some will argue he doesn’t deserve to be in the lineup often after not recording a single RBI last season, but that was a fluke season for him. He was terrific the prior year when Wieters went down with his injury. What Buck Showalter will be hoping for is to get around 20 home runs and 75 RBI from the position. This could be one of those situations in which whoever has the hotter bat gets more playing time.

The biggest question might be, who gives Chris Davis the protection he needs behind him? With Mark Trumbo gone, the O’s do not have another slugger on the roster that can force opposing pitchers to go after Davis. That would put more pressure on Crush to stay patient at the plate. That could also lead to even more strikeouts because he feels the need to go after limited opportunities.

There will be a good deal of questions heading into the new season. With Trumbo gone, does the club go with Mancini as their DH? Could Pedro Alvarez come back? Is there a true lead off guy in the mix? When is the corner Cruz/Trumbo-like signing coming? One would assume it’s coming soon because this lineup still has some holes to fill.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the O’s, but outside Castillo, there has been little action. They will have to make a move if they hope to compete in the American League East once again.