The O’s may be 3-3, and have been playing well enough to at least be 5-1, but there is one glaring issue that nobody saw coming – the Orioles DH spot is a sickening 1-for-20 with eight punch outs. With a tandem of Nolan Reimold and Spring Training slayer Steve Pearce, expectations were set a little bit higher.
This year’s Orioles lineup is dangerous up and down when healthy, but now that Brian Roberts is out for 2-4 weeks and the DH spot is underperforming, it’s left massive gaps in the order.
By the end of Spring Training, fans and bloggers were raving about the possibilities and options at DH. Reimold was finally healthy so when he was not patrolling left field the O’s could easily slot his bat into the DH spot. If a left-handed pitcher was on the mound the Orioles could put red-hot Steve Pearce in the lineup. The O’s could also use Nate McLouth as DH when plausible, and not to mention all the depth down in Norfolk that could step up. But none of the options the Orioles have plugged in – Reimold, Pearce, or Ryan Flaherty – have been able to produce yet.
Nolan is temporarily sidelined with a tight hamstring, which he said has been nagging him since Spring Training. An injury like that could easily pull his focus away from his at bats. It was quite clear Nolan was not 100% by watching him run down the first base line. Usually Reimold tears down the line, putting the pressure on fielders to make the quick play – that wasn’t the case if you were watching the first few games. Plus he only played 16 games last year, so it may take some time for him to find his timing again and get his bat going.
Pearce on the other hand is confusing. The man hit .340 with seven homeruns and 18 RBI’s during 26 games in Sarasota. So far Steve has yet to transfer his Spring Training successes to the regular season, going 0-for-7 with three K’s. To me it must only be a matter of time before he starts stroking the ball again, because watching his at bats he continues to foul the ball straight back or straight up which means he is only just missing. Maybe some consistency and at bats would do him good, because I don’t think seven at bats is enough of a sample size to jump ship just yet.
But as I mentioned before, now that Roberts has gone down and the Orioles are relying on backup caliber players like Flaherty and Alexi Casilla, the DH spot cannot be another weakness. Having weak spots in the lineup allows for pitchers to pitch around guys like Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Matt Wieters in order to get to the bottom of the lineup. We saw some evidence of this last year when the middle of lineup did not see as many fastballs because of weak bats like Robert Andino, and Endy Chavez at the bottom.
I don’t believe it is time to start looking elsewhere for help just yet, but if the players occupying the DH role continue to underachieve I can guarantee Buck will call on guys like Connor Jackson or Lew Ford. Buck believes in his players, and gives them the opportunity to prove themselves. The question though is how long will Buck wait for Reimold to live up to his hype? Or for Steve Pearce to put it together at the Major League level? Keep a watchful eye on both, and any activity going on down in Norfolk.
