This is a weekly wrap up of the goings on in with the Orioles and all throughout Major League Baseball. Each week I’ll dive into a few news items and include what teams are hot and cold. I’ll also give you the Orioles player of the week, as well as one from the American and National League.
I’m going to remind you of something right now, and it may come as a shock, so get ready. The Orioles had a REALLY good week. A lot of the good can be clouded by Sunday’s rough loss and that is enhanced by the struggles of Jake Arrieta, but I’m here to recap the entire week for you, which was really positive for the O’s.
The Birds were 4-2 in their six games, winning a series against the Rays before taking one from the high-paid Dodgers in the first interleague tilt of the year. If you look back to last week’s “A Bird’s Eye View” I told you that taking two-of-three from each of these teams would be a very good thing. The O’s find themselves right in the thick of it after three weeks in the AL East, which as you’ll read in a minute, is still the toughest division in baseball.
Baltimore gets its first glance at the new-look Toronto Blue Jays this week with a three-game set at OPACY, followed by a trip west to play the Oakland Athletics for four games. It will be interesting to see what Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette do about Wednesday’s starter against Toronto. T.J. McFarland could’ve been an option before he was extended in Sunday’s game. I have a feeling we will see either Jair Jurrjens or Zach Britton called up from Norfolk for the spot start. The O’s could need help as soon as today from the Tides to get an extra arm in the bullpen.
Now let’s get to Jake Arrieta. I would be absolutely shocked if Buck Showalter allows Arrieta to make his next start. I have to think someone in Triple-A is going to get a shot to take his place in the rotation. What this means for the depth of the big league pitching staff, including the bullpen, is purely a guess.
Arrieta is the most frustrating pitcher I can remember watching. He looks like he has the best “stuff” on the planet at times, but then once someone gets on base, it all goes away. The fact that he has only allowed 15 hits in 19 innings of work over four starts this season is great. The problem is he’s given up 16 walks to 20 strikeouts in that same time. His ERA is an inflated 6.63 because of this.
There’s no reason not to give someone else a chance at this point, because Arrieta has minor-league options left. The story is different with a guy like Chris Tillman where no options are available. I’m not convinced that Arrieta can or ever will work out whatever it is that bothers him between the ears (and that’s all it is, between the ears) in Triple-A, or in the bullpen, but it’s time to let him try. Give me Jair Jurrjens, Zach Britton, Freddy Garcia, T.J. McFarland, Zach Clark or anyone else worth their weight to take Arrieta’s next start.
Now on to news from a more national perspective.
The nation was obviously captivated by the horrible events in and around Boston, Massachusetts this week. It was remarkable to watch from a distance and great to see a city bond together. I’ve never been a fan of Boston, despite having never stepped foot in Massachusetts. The people I have met from there, mainly the fans of Boston’s sports teams, have put me off more than once. It’s a sports rivalry thing really, nothing more. I’d love to visit the city some day and see a game at Fenway Park for sure. All that said, it was outstanding to see the citizens of the area bond together through the tragic time.
I WAS a little put off by Red Sox DH David Ortiz and his actions before Saturday’s first game back in Boston. If you haven’t seen it, take a look – But be warned, the language is salty.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csC0y_vek4o[/youtube]
I’m all for passion and saying what you feel, but Big Papi sure picked the wrong moment to drop the F-Bomb. This game was nationally televised on the MLB Network and obviously heard by millions of fans and kids. The FCC even let this off the hook way to easily! Let’s try to pick our spots a little better next time, Papi.
A few other things you may have missed from this week –
–No matter how you slice it or dice it, watching Neil Diamond sing “Sweet Caroline” on Saturday at Fenway Park was two things — Awesome and Excruciating. I am not a fan of the song, but only because it’s been so adopted by the Red Sox. I don’t mind Diamond, and Saturday’s moment was raw and real. It was very cool to see that kind of energy and passion. That said, singing the song over top the actual recording was hilariously bad and awkward. If you didn’t see it, take a look:
http://deadspin.com/neil-diamond-performed-sweet-caroline-live-at-fenway-476606921
–A strange moment happened in Saturday’s Brewers-Cubs game in Milwaukee. It was quite possibly the oddest play I’ve ever seen happen on a baseball diamond. I won’t even try to explain before you see it:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130420&content_id=45334346&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
What on earth was that? The umpires not only botched that one, but Jean Segura just looked foolish. Why would he try to run BACK to first base? Luckily for the Brew Crew, it didn’t end up costing them the game.
–Did anyone know that the Texas Rangers have a super fan that catches home run balls just like our own Tim Anderson? Trent Williams is his name and if you haven’t seen what he did to Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutierrez on Saturday night, it’s worth a look:
I only wonder if our boy Tim is going to start celebrating like Trent the next time he snatches a ball at Camden Yards.
We may only be about three weeks into the season, but there are a couple of early-week series starting tonight that could intrigue you. Four out of the top five teams in baseball (record-wise) will clash in three-game sets starting tonight as the Red Sox (12-6) host the Athletics (12-7) at Fenway and the Rockies (13-5) welcome the Braves (13-5) to Coors Field. That series in Denver will be weather permitting because they are expecting more wintery stuff in the mountains there this week. It should still be fun to see a couple of teams that are playing well to start the season clash. I think the Red Sox, A’s and Braves all have staying power throughout the year, but I’m not quite sold on what the Rockies have done thus far. Colorado has an outstanding lineup. They can hit with absolutely anyone and have the best offense in the NL West. Their pitching leaves a lot to be desired and it will be a test on first-year manager Walt Weiss to patch together enough to keep them in it throughout the season.
I’ve taken a look at the standings over the first three weeks of the season and made one small observation over the small sample size: The American League East is not nearly as mediocre as some thought it might be. Many predicted the AL East to be down this season, mainly because it was so wide open. Record-wise, it’s actually the best division in baseball through the first few weeks. Here are the facts:
American League EAST (48-42) Win%: .533
National League WEST (48-43) Win%: .527
National League CENTRAL (45-44) Win%: .506
National League EAST (44-47) Win%: .484
American League CENTRAL (41-44) Win%: .482
American League WEST (43-49) Win%: .467
I get that this is a small sample size, but it’s still nice to see the challenge of the division right in front of you. The O’s will have to earn it this year if they want to compete in the toughest division in the game.
Orioles Player of the Week:
C- Matt Wieters: The Orioles backstop really showed up this week. Wieters hit two homers, none bigger than his walk-off Grand Slam in Thursday’s victory over the Rays. He hit .278 and could be starting to heat up after a slow start average-wise.
American League Player of the Week:
OF- Mike Trout (LAA): The young sensation in Anaheim tore it up this week for the Halos. Trout hit .391 with a homer and nine RBI. He posted an OPS of 1.052 while helping the struggling Angels to a weekend sweep of the Tigers.
National League Player of the Week:
OF- Carlos Gomez (MIL): Carlos Gomez of the Brewers had a very strong offensive week, but his team’s was even better. Milwaukee completed three-game sweeps of the Giants and Cubs and has won seven straight overall to climb out of a 2-8 start and move to 9-8 overall. Gomez only hit .500 with two homers and an OPS of 1.471 along the way to help out.
That’s this week’s Birds Eye View. Go O’s!
image c/o Beth Tenser
