In recent years, the Boston Red Sox have always been public enemy number one for me, but over the last two seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have taken over that spot. Between their manager looking like he is coming off a Saturday night bender every time he walks to the mound and Jose Bautista always thinking someone is trying to hit him on purpose, the team annoys me. This just made the Orioles taking two of three from them at their place that much sweeter as they now head to Boston for a three-game series and look to continue their season turnaround.
TILLMAN’S STRUGGLES CONTINUE
As the mysterious case of Chris Tillman continues, you wonder how long Buck Showalter will continue to throw the right-hander out there. Tillman’s leash is longer than most due to his past success for the O’s, but eventually the team has to make a decision.
The Orioles managed to get through Ubaldo Jimenez’s brutal season last year, but he missed the entire month of July due to injury and stopped being used as a full-time starter in the last two months of the year. Due to Showalter’s loyalty, I think he continues to throw Tillman out there and hope the pitcher we have become accustomed to seeing returns. The coaching staff has to figure out why Tillman’s command is off and how a pitcher has gone from 2.9 walks per nine innings to a major league leading 4.5 (among qualifying pitchers).
ANOTHER ROSTER CRUNCH LOOMING
Miguel Gonzalez, Wei-Yin Chen, and possibly Jonathan Schoop will all be returning to the Orioles this week and the front office will once again be faced with difficult roster decisions. I don’t think Dan Duquette will be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat on this one and there is a strong chance the team has to let a quality major leaguer go. The team can continue to carry an extra fielder and use the last reliever on the Norfolk shuttle bus, but someone still has to leave when Schoop returns.
At this point, Steve Pearce has been the odd man out over the last couple of weeks, but his versatility makes him valuable. After the demotion of Chen, I have stopped trying to figure out how Duquette will manipulate the roster this time, and have decided to sit back and see what the next magic trick will be.
ALVAREZ HEATING UP FOR THE TIDES
GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld
With the numerous outfielders on the big league roster it’s easy to forget about the players at lower levels who could eventually make an impact with the O’s. Barring trades or injuries, Dariel Alvarez isn’t heading north anytime soon, but looking ahead to later in the year and next season, it’s good to see the strong-armed outfielder playing well.
For the month of June, Alvarez is batting .388 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. The hot month has raised Alvarez’s batting average to .282 and he now has 11 home runs on the season.
