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THE RUNDOWN: Jones Playing Too Shallow?

Adam Jones makes a catch in spring training
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Exactly a week ago I wrote about the Orioles completing a four-game sweep of the Oakland A’s and how they were sitting pretty in the wild card picture. Now, the team has lost five straight, are back to .500 for the first time since late July and are 2.5 games out of the second wild card position. Who knows what the storyline will be next week, but the confidence looks at an all-time low right now watching these guys play and even though I respect the comments Manny Machado made the other day, it shows how tense the team is becoming as the losses mount.

 

GONZALEZ TRIES TO BE THE STOPPER

Doesn’t this make you confident as you settle in tonight to watch the Orioles? Miguel Gonzalez takes the ball after allowing seven runs in five innings against the Twins in the game that started the current losing streak.

The right-hander has been absolutely brutal since returning from a groin injury in late June. Gonzalez has thrown five innings or less in eight of his 11 starts since June 25. The Orioles are stuck with him due to injuries and lack of depth regarding their minor league starters. Here’s hoping Gonzalez strikes lightning in a bottle and can somehow shut down one of the best teams in baseball and a team that rarely loses at home.

 

OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES CONTINUE

The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in five straight, which coincides with the five-game losing streak. As hot as Chris Davis was a few weeks ago, he has almost been as equally cold recently. The pending free agent is 4-for-26 in his last eight games with 14 strikeouts which included four K’s on Sunday against the Twins. Despite Manny Machado’s breakout season, the consistency of Adam Jones, and the addition of Gerardo Parra, the offense goes as Davis goes. I’m on board with bringing back Davis in the offseason, but the biggest question the O’s will have to ask; can they live with the extreme highs and lows of Davis and is he worth the money he will receive?

One of the bright spots recently has been Steve Clevenger, but he will now miss the remainder of the Royals series for the birth of his baby. Not good news for an offense that can’t score four runs. I’ll be curious to see who they bring up for the next couple days, especially tonight with a left-hander in Danny Duffy on the mound. Steve Pearce will start in left field or be used as the designated hitter, but I’m not exactly confident in Jimmy Paredes entering the lineup or having Henry Urrutia face a lefty. I guess they could always use Matt Wieters as the DH, but it’s not like he is hitting either.

Ugh, brutal options right now for Buck Showalter and that is why this team has a .500 record.

 

JONES PLAYING TOO SHALLOW IN CENTER

Adam Jones has won gold gloves playing shallow in centerfield, but this season it has costs the Orioles a lot. Is it just bad luck? Maybe, but the point is the team needs to address this and they probably should have a long time ago. The triple that Omar Infante hit last night didn’t even hit the warning track, but Jones was unable to track it down because he played too shallow. Ubaldo Jimenez made an awful pitch to a guy with one home run this season, but a team can overcome a single, not a bases clearing triple that doesn’t even hit the warning track.

My brother sent me this picture of Jones and the entire Orioles outfield playing shallow in a recent home game. Doesn’t make much sense.

Does Adam  Jones play too shallow?

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