Here’s the good news: the Baltimore Orioles are 23-20. They aren’t 10 games under .500 so the season isn’t over.
The bad news is what we’ve seen over the past week doesn’t bode well if it continues.
The starting pitching has been brutal (minus Chris Tillman), and their all star closer Jim Johnson has blown his last two save opportunities after converting 35 save chances in a row dating back to last season. Games like the game Tuesday against the Padres will happen over the course of a season. Johnson came in with a one run lead and just didn’t have his good stuff. Everything was up and the Padres were able to string together some base hits and steal the game.
Yesterday vs the Tampa Bay Rays was a different story, as Johnson got the first out but then fell apart. He gave up a home run to Kelly Johnson, then two walks and a broken bat single loaded the bases. After a double by Matt Joyce, Johnson was done for the day.
Unfortunately, his pitching line wasn’t. Darren O’Day came in and gave up another double. Johnson ended up giving up five runs on three hits and two walks in only 1/3 of an inning. Two blown saves in a row has me concerned.
Lets face it: if the Orioles cannot start games well or finish them well, then there’s legitimate reason for worry.
One final bit of good news: it’s still very early in the season.
Buck Showalter and company have a lot of time to fix this.
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