“I like our guys.”
A now infamous quote and rallying cry for Orioles fans, but would Buck Showalter say that about this year’s edition of the birds?
The more I watch this team, the more I just don’t see the fundamentally sound squads that Buck had in the past. The team thrived because it did the little things right and that made up for a slight to moderate lack of talent compared to some other clubs.
Boneheaded base running has been an issue, most recently Jimmy Paredes and Everth Cabrera. While Paredes’ mistake was blown up to be a fairly big deal, it was the less egregious of the pair. Honestly, Jones gets a hit there and the O’s score a run. Instead, he grounds out and screams like a little kid.
Cabrera’s recent blunder was just dumb. Either it’s a suicide or a safety squeeze and there are ways to run the bases based on both of those calls. He ran down the 3rd base line like he had a bet on how the 2nd out of the inning would be made.
Outfield play has been abysmal. Part of the issue has been talent, though in a bit of irony, Delmon Young turned in the best outfield catch of the season this past weekend (then later in the series threw to the wrong base). Young is an outfielder the same way that Nelson Cruz is an outfielder…play the guy there as a way to keep his bat in the line-up.
Travis Snyder has been a real disappointment. His play out there has been scary, literally because I am scared every time the ball is hit to him that he will not catch it.
And good old Mr. Jones. Adam is a cocky son of a gun that hasn’t figured out he’s lost half a step. His playing shallow has cost the O’s a couple times. Strategically it makes very little sense as you open yourself up to giving up extra bases in exchange for perhaps catching a ball that otherwise would have dropped in for a single. Dumb.
Buck seems to be in one of those old coffee commercials…we’ve replaced Buck’s gourmet espresso with Folger’s crystals. Let’s see if he notices.
I think he does.
