The Orioles will look to even the series against the Boston Red Sox tonight, with Kevin Gausman taking the mound against former O’s prospect Eduardo Rodriguez. I hate labeling games must-win at the end of May, but the Orioles need to keep pace with a team that has been clicking on all cylinders for the entire month. These are the games you like seeing Gausman start as it will only benefit him later in the season.
WILSON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Tyler Wilson will never be a top of the rotation pitcher, but he is a guy every team needs. Wilson is perfect for the back end of a rotation as you know every start you will get a guy who battles for six innings and allows three to four runs. The upside isn’t much more than that and obviously there will be starts where he struggles a lot. However, you never have to worry about him walking hitters all game or if the moment is going to be too big for him.
The Red Sox have three of the top five hitters in the American League batting average-wise and have been making starting pitchers look like minor leaguers for weeks, but Wilson managed to pitch 6 2/3 innings, strike out four and allow only three earned runs. Even more important was Wilson facing hitters for the fourth time in a game.
The Orioles always have a chance to win when Wilson is on the mound and that is one of the best compliments you can give a young pitcher.
DAVIS CAN’T WAIT FOR MAY TO END
It has been a bad month for the Orioles slugger, as he has a .219 batting average with only three home runs, 11 RBIs and a whopping 40 strikeouts. However, looking back to last season, Chris Davis finished the month of May with a .196 batting average and also struck out 40 times. Davis did hit seven home runs, but only drove in 14. It’s safe to say Davis is not a fan of the month of May. We’re still waiting for Davis and Adam Jones to get hot and stay hot as both have only shown flashes, but have not been consistent. It’s actually a miracle that two guys in the middle of the order have struggled so badly and the Orioles are where they are at this point in the season.
We know Davis can carry a team for stretches at a time. Here’s hoping it begins sooner than later.
WHAT TO DO WITH UBALDO?
I don’t need to bore you with the stats, as we know the right-hander has been a disaster this season. Yovani Gallardo is expected to start a rehab assignment on Thursday and will only need a couple of starts before he returns to the rotation. If the Orioles care about winning – and we can all agree that they do – Ubaldo Jimenez’s time in the rotation should come to an end when Gallardo returns. The question is do they release the veteran or move him to the bullpen? It’s hard to put a guy in the bullpen who can’t throw strikes, but it’s nearly impossible to cut a guy with so much money owed to him.
This is going to come to a head as early as next week and I’m curious to see what the team decides to do. I guess Jimenez could actually pitch well in his next two starts, which could lead the team to decide to remove Mike Wright from the rotation. However, we have watched enough to know Jimenez will quickly revert back to a guy who can’t throw strikes or hold runners. This situation is a mess.
That, along with the team trying to find a lefty reliever who can get left-handers out, are two issues Dan Duquette and company need to figure out if the Orioles are serious about making a run at returning to the postseason.
