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.
The Orioles have reached that first point in the year where they are starting to make people doubt them. If you are a fan of the team and follow them with any kind of regularity, you know that this was obviously a pretty terrible week. Five games, five losses and lots of questions will come from this week. The good thing that everyone will tell you is that it was just one week, just five games. Those people are very right. I’m not here to play one side of the card or the other. If you have read my weekly wrap up before, you will know that I don’t jump off the deep end like many fans do. I’m also not here to attack those “fans” who want to jump ship. That’s their choice and their option. If five straight losses cause you to bail out on this team, you have other issues.
This team DOES have issues. They are the type of problems that were magnified this week in five losses. One of those so called “issues” that I’m seeing really isn’t an issue at all though. Jim Johnson is still one of the premier closers in the game right now. There you go. I said it. Jim Johnson had a bad week, there’s no doubt about it. He blew two saves, the first of which ended his string of a club-record 35 consecutive saves. For anyone that forgot, Johnson had a similar stretch like this on his way to saving a club-record 51 games last season. He blew two straight saves in July in a seven-game stretch. I’d say he still worked out all right. Location has been an issue for Johnson of late, but he will get that worked out. Start to panic when he blows six out of eight games or ten out of the next 14. I don’t see that happening.
We saw a TON of turnover on the roster this week. Ryan Flaherty was fitted for a Norfolk Tides cap while O’s fans got to see their first glimpse of Yamaico Navarro. Nolan Reimold finally succumbed to the hamstring injury he’s been battling and was sent to the disabled list. In comes Danny Valencia to take his roster spot. Jake Arietta is also back on the 25-man roster, as is Jair Jurrjens, who made the start Saturday.
Things are a mess right now, but the O’s get their chance to bounce back this week as the first-place Yankees invade The Yard. It would be a nice time to take a few from the Bronx Bombers and get back in line with the rest of the division. Tampa Bay has suddenly climbed back even with the Birds at 23-20 and each sit four games back of New York. Boston is still there only a half game back of the Yanks. Later this week the O’s head up to Toronto for a four-game set against the Blue Jays. It will be yet another chance for some division wins. As I said, things are a mess right now, but winning four or five out of seven this week would make it all better.
I suppose it’s also time to address the atrocious job MLB umpires have done the last few weeks. We saw it first-hand in Baltimore on Sunday after the men in blue couldn’t decide for the longest time what to do on Matt Joyce’s long fly ball in the sixth inning that was foul, then a double, and eventually called a home run. In my mind, it was the correct call, so credit goes to the umpires for at least getting that right. It was the way they went about it that really ruined everything for me. If there is a question about the call, rather than discussing it on the field for 15 minutes, let’s just go right to the replay! We have the technology. Let’s use it.
In terms of a national outlook this week, I thought it would be a good time to hand out some quarterly awards. Every team has played right around 25% of their schedule, so let’s dive into who would be taking home the hardware if the season ended today.
My American League Rookie of the Year goes to White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie. None of the rookie crop in the AL really stands out thus far, but Gillaspie is hitting a respectable .283 with three homers and a .348 on-base percentage. Like I said, there isn’t much to chose from with AL rookies.
The National League Rookie of the Year is starting pitcher Shelby Miller of the Cardinals. The NL rookie field is much deeper and St. Louis’ crafty right-hander stands out. Miller is 5-2 in eight starts and is pitching to a 1.40 ERA this season for the Redbirds. He’s also struck out 57 compared to just 12 walks. Also worth mentioning in this category are Didi Gregorius of the D-Backs, Evan Gattis of the Braves and Dodgers pitching import Hyun-Jin Ryu.
The pick for American League Cy Young Award winner is Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma. If I told you I was handing a Mariners pitcher the Cy Young, your response likely would’ve been, King Felix again? Hernandez’s teammate has been just a bit better though. Iwakuma is 5-1 with a 1.84 ERA but even more remarkable is his 0.78 WHIP and .183 opponent batting average. There are plenty of candidates for this award right now, including Hernandez, Boston’s Clay Buchholz, New York’s Hiroki Kuroda, Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore and Chicago’s Chris Sale. Iwakuma is the big surprise thus far and gets the nod.
The choice for National League Cy Young Award winner goes to Mets youngster Matt Harvey. This choice wasn’t as difficult as the AL Cy Young. Harvey has lived up to the billing this season, going 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. Hitters are batting just .149 off Harvey, who is every bit of ace New York hoped he’d be. Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, St. Louis rookie Shelby Miller and Arizona’s Patrick Corbin also get mention here.
My American League MVP is Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. The reigning AL MVP is at it again in Detroit. Cabrera is hitting .387 (yes, that’s .387) and now has 11 homers after clubbing three on Sunday against Texas. Cabrera leads the AL in OPS at 1.116. The only other player close is Baltimore’s Chris Davis at 1.066. He’s my second choice along with names like New York’s Robinson Cano, Mark Reynolds of the Indians, Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Manny Machado of the Orioles.
The selection for National League MVP is Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt. Not many expected the Diamondbacks to be able to replace the offense of Justin Upton so simply, but Upton is the only player in the NL with more homers than Goldschmidt’s 12. “Goldy” is also hitting .333 with 35 RBI for the D-Backs and carries a stellar glove with him at first base. Upton is also a candidate here along with Cincinnati’s Shin-Soo Choo, Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki and Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers.
Orioles Player of the Week
SS- J.J. Hardy: It might be a little tough to find one guy who stood out over five bad losses, but Hardy fits the billing here. The O’s shortstop has awoken from an early-season slumber and hit .316 last week with two homers and an OPS of 1.034. Many criticized Hardy over the first month, but he’s swinging the stick nicely of late.
American League Player of the Week
3B – Miguel Cabrera (DET): As I mentioned above, Miguel Cabrera is on a tear. “Miggy” hit three homers Sunday to make it four on the week and batted .429 over seven games. He’s the early and obvious leader for the AL MVP award.
National League Player of the Week
1B – Joey Votto (CIN): The Reds first baseman batted an astonishing .583 this week while taking two out of the park and posting an OPS of 1.572. Votto is right there along with Paul Goldschmidt in the NL MVP race early in the season.
That’s this week’s Birds Eye View. Go O’s!
