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PERCEPTION IS REALITY: Can O’s Hit Reset Button on “ReOpening Day?”

Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore
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REALITY: The fans have proclaimed today “Re-Opening Day.”

PERCEPTION: The Baltimore Orioles need a day to re-start. After starting the season off 13-16 and in last place in the AL East, they are 5.5 games out of first. The Boston Red Sox are also three games under .500 and have already had a closed-door players-only meeting.

The Orioles season is far from lost, but at this point it just seems that they are struggling to put any sort of consistency together. After a losing road trip, they are just 5-11 on the road this year. However, they are 8-5 at home. Tonight, they open up an extended home-stand. They played 16 of the next 19 days at home, which is 17 of the next 20 games at home, due to a double-header May 28th.

If they can continue to win 61% of their home games, they will go 12-8 during this stretch. That would put them at 25-24 at the end of May. At the end of May in 2014, the Orioles were 27-27.

If the Birds could get back to .500 by the end of the month, that would be a great positive step in a season that has started with a lot of frustration.

REALITY: Jimmy Paredes leads the O’s in slugging percentage and OPS, is second in average, and tied for second in home runs.

PERCEPTION: After Adam Jones, he’s been the O’s second-best hitter. Back in March, if I had told you that Paredes would be the Birds second best hitter, you might have assumed their season was headed down the drain.

It might not be according to fans or players plans, but it is far from a wasted season. Paredes has simply been a pleasant surprise.

The biggest downfall to Paredes is that he has pretty much been exclusively a DH. He is labeled a 3B, but he won’t be playing there. He has started at 2B, but just about every fan had a heart attack every time the ball was hit. It’s fine that he is the everyday DH, but that also means that Delmon Young will see more time in the outfield. And if that’s the case, you have to take the good with the bad, as the defense is bound to suffer somewhere.

REALITY: Chris Davis has struck out 46.6% of his at-bats this season.

PERCEPTION: In just 28 games, Davis has 48 strike outs. And when he is up, it seems to be all or nothing. He leads the team with seven home runs and is hitting .243 which is 10th on the team, but when he misses, he missed badly.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Steve Pearce get some starts at 1B to get him more consistent playing time, but he hasn’t helped my argument starting the season hitting just .179.

Davis is a very good defensive first baseman, and if they can handle him striking out every other at bat (or four times straight), then don’t change things. But I would like to see Buck Showalter move Davis down in the line-up. He isn’t doing it for me batting clean up.

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