Last week, the first article in our new “Hot Take Tuesday” series was posted. I argued that Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard is not the next big thing. He had a good spring and notched a couple hits on Opening Day but I was not ready to crown him an everyday player.
It looks like, unlike Joey, I swung and missed.
Rickard has played very well in his time thus far, notching at least one base hit in all six games and earning his way into the leadoff role. Fans affectionately chant “JO-EY JO-EY” when the 24-year-old is at the plate. Especially in the absence of Adam Jones, Rickard has stepped up and played very well.
Needless to say, I’ll try to do better this week. For the second edition of Hot Take Tuesday, I’ll take a less “stop being happy” approach.
The Orioles are 6-0 for the first time in team history and perhaps even more shocking is the fact that they lead the majors with a 2.50 team ERA. Only three pitchers on the staff (Mychal Givens, Vance Worley, and Yovani Gallardo) have allowed more than one earned run this season. The bullpen has been solid as usual and the rotation has been steady enough to keep us in ballgames.
Despite the zero in the loss column, I am still concerned about our starting rotation for a few reasons. First and foremost, in the six games played, the starters have pitched a total of 28 2/3 innings. That’s an average of just under 4.8 innings per start, second-worst in baseball, better than only the Miami Marlins. I understand that Chris Tillman‘s shortened start on Opening Day knocks this number down a bit, but even if we pretend Tilly went 7 innings that day, we would be near the middle of the pack in terms of innings pitched per start.
We have a very strong bullpen. Brad Brach has yet to allow a hit in 5 1/3 innings of work. Givens struggled out of the gate but appears to have settled down. We know what we’re getting from Darren O’Day and Zach Britton. A healthy and effective Dylan Bundy could be a huge asset to this team. The issue is that if we’re digging into the bullpen starting in the sixth inning of every game, our relievers will be worn out by the All Star break.
GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld
Ubaldo Jimenez is the only Orioles pitcher to exceed five innings in a start this season. He turned in a great performance on Thursday night, striking out nine Minnesota Twins in seven innings of work. Most important for Ubaldo was the fact that he surrendered no walks. The free pass has been Ubaldo’s biggest issue since coming to Baltimore but if he can keep the walks to a minimum, that will help to preserve his pitch count, allow him to go deeper into games, and he’ll put up better numbers in general.
Tillman’s two innings of work on Opening Day were a good sign but I get the sense that much of that can be attributed to the adrenaline rush that comes with pitching on Opening Day in front of 45,000+ screaming fans. His velocity was uncharacteristically high. Matt Wieters remarked that it was the “best stuff I’ve ever seen him carry.” That’s not to say that Tillman can’t continue pitching at a high level but we certainly cannot let a small sample size give us the wrong impression. Wouldn’t it be great, though, if Tillman puts together another season like he had in 2013 and 2014?
Kevin Gausman is perhaps my biggest concern when it comes to the starting rotation. A shoulder injury for a guy who throws 98 is nothing to sneeze at. Gausman pitched fairly well in his rehab start with Double-A Bowie on Sunday but doesn’t look as sharp as he needs to be. His fastball sat around 92-93 and he maxed out at 96. Gausman is a huge X-factor for the O’s this season and the team really needs him to be on his game.
The bottom line here is that the O’s rotation looks OK right now but has a lot of room for improvement. I understand that it’s the beginning of the season and that it takes a little while for pitchers to get stretched out. However, we certainly need to be able to go deeper into ballgames if we want to keep the bullpen sharp for the duration of the season.
On the other hand…they’re 6-0 with “meh” starting pitching! Once the starters get it turned around, who knows how far this team can go? Should be fun to watch…
Stay tuned for next week’s Hot Take Tuesday when I announce that Joey Rickard is, in fact, better than Mike Trout.
2 Responses
It’s a trend around the league not pitching beyond the 6th…..boxscores prove it. I believe we have a real shot at becoming stronger and more consistent….they have proven themselves before. Time will tell.
Ryan…. it’s ok to root for the home team. Look up Pascal’s Wager online. That’s what you’re doing.