This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.
1. I don’t know how much longer Jimmy Paredes is going to keep this up, but I’m going to embrace it as long as it lasts. Most people outside of the Baltimore area have to run to their Google machines to figure out what exactly a Jimmy Paredes is, but Orioles fans have embraced the Dominican-born switch-hitter into the lineup.
Some have already declared Paredes as this year’s “Steve Pearce,” but there’s more to it than that. Paredes is a different player in many ways. Firstly, he doesn’t really have a position. The 26-year-old played in his 27th game last night, and has been the designated hitter in 23 of them. He started three games at second base and appeared for one inning at third base. It’s quite obvious that Buck Showalter doesn’t trust him that much in the field. We wouldn’t be seeing Pearce manning second base if that were the case.
Showalter has never been the type to enjoy locking one player into the DH role, but Paredes seems to have “bucked” the trend because of his hot bat. If Paredes continues to hit and really has the type of season Pearce did last year, more power to him. If he starts to cool off here in the next week and the Orioles are forced to do something about it, then it was nice while it lasted.
2. The more I see fans freaking out about the Orioles on social media, the more I remember not to. Not only is it mid-May and a long season, but the Orioles are right in the thick of things and haven’t played nearly to their capability. The bottom line is that the American League East is pretty lumped together. Just last night, every team in the AL East lost. None of the five teams are very good and there are reasons for each one to be confident in the rest of the season.
The reasons for the O’s are quite simple. The team hasn’t been fully healthy, but also has proven the depth is strong enough to stick around. The Yankees have age working quickly against them, the Rays have lost 60% of their starting rotation, the Red Sox have absolutely abysmal starting pitching and the Blue Jays are youthful and already dealing with rumors about their coaching staff being fired.
No one is perfect – especially in the AL East.
3. Speaking of freaking out, let’s talk about Nelson Cruz for a minute. Obviously with the Mariners in town this week, the subject was going to come up. I would like to say I’m amazed at the number of Orioles fans who are still freaking out over the fact that Cruz left Baltimore in the offseason for a four-year, $57-million deal with Seattle.
I’m not.
It’s amazing to me though to see the number of people that like to play armchair GM and declare that because of baseball’s lack of a salary cap, the Orioles should be spending money everywhere they can. We aren’t even going to dive in on Nick Markakis and Andrew Miller (the other two hot topics of discussion from this past offseason). Let’s stick to Cruz, and realize that he has been an all-world hitter to start the season. He’s also making over $14-million this season, and next year, and the year after that and one more year after that.
The Orioles aren’t going to pay a player that.
It’s also important to remember that Cruz did this last season. He hit the cover off the ball in April and May, then fell off the face of the planet in June and July. While he picked things back up later in the season and had a great year overall, the Mariners are paying him that $57-million for four years, not two months.
I had someone ask me the other day if I would’ve paid Cruz what the Mariners did if it guaranteed a World Series in Baltimore. Firstly, it’s not my money, so it’s hard for me to even quantify that with an answer. Everyone who plays that card immediately loses credibility in my mind. Saying “it’s not my money” is like saying “I don’t really care enough to have a legitimate debate about this, so I’ll just spout something out.”
If you ask me if the ORIOLES would have paid Cruz had it guaranteed a World Series, I would tell you there’s no doubt in my mind. The thing is, paying a 34-year-old corner outfielder who is poor defensively and who is sure to see his hitting skills decline doesn’t come with any guarantees.
Having players like Cruz, Markakis or Miller on this team doesn’t mean the Orioles make it to the World Series, let alone back to the ALCS like last year. The O’s are doing it differently, and over the last few seasons of success, they’ve earned the right to ask us to wait and see how that works out.
4. It’s nice to see that Mike Wright will get another opportunity to start for the Orioles. He turned in a dominant debut on Sunday against the Angels, and now has the chance to duplicate it on Saturday against the Marlins. Wright was touching 97 MPH with his fastball in his first big league appearance, which had to do with some adrenaline no doubt. I was ultra impressed that he not only showed velocity in the early innings, but was able to dig down deep and touch that mark in the seventh as well.
I am not expecting Wright to go and pitch the way he did Sunday each time out. It might look easy to slip Wright into the rotation on a full-time basis, but it’s important to note that he’s only getting this opportunity because Bud Norris is suffering from bronchitis and Chris Tillman is just returning from his back spasms. Injuries give players like Wright these chances. Taking advantage of them is one thing, but sticking around is quite another.
5. As bleak as the starting pitching has seemed for the Orioles lately, they have still been able to eat up innings at a good rate. O’s starters have turned in at least seven innings in six straight games, including seven of the last eight. While early in the season it looked like the bullpen was being overworked, that trend has turned a bit of late.
Part of what made the Orioles such a successful team last year was the way the rotation was able to produce strong outings as a collective unit. There isn’t one pitcher that sits at the top and always goes out and gives you eight innings of one-run ball or turns in the occasional complete-game shutout. You won’t see that with this team. You’re going to see a lot of six or seven inning performances where they allow three or four runs.
Most nights, that’s going to be good enough. When the offense that the Orioles are capable of putting together produces, it will win a lot of games. Eating innings is a large part of that, because it only makes your bullpen stronger down the road, especially once the dog days of summer strike.
6. The term roster crunch has been used an awful lot with the Orioles this season, and I wouldn’t expect it to go away anytime soon. The Birds have a lot of players on the disabled list, and many of them are going to be healthy soon.
Bud Norris, Matt Wieters, Wesley Wright, Everth Cabrera, Kevin Gausman, Ryan Flaherty, Jason Garcia and Jonathan Schoop are all banged up, but all are on the road to recovery. With some of these players, it’s easy to see how room on the roster is made. With others, it’s a big mystery.
The lack of flexibility the team has plays a big factor. Players like Rey Navarro, T.J. McFarland, Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson can all be moved back down to Triple-A Norfolk, but beyond that there are issues. Cabrera and Wright are out of options, and Garcia has Rule 5 status. Norris has struggled this year, but is a move to the bullpen the right one? Gausman could go to Norfolk to be stretched out as a starter, but does he fit into the bullpen? My head is spinning just thinking about all the scenarios; I can only imagine what Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter are going through.
7. I wrote last week in this space about Hunter Harvey and how things didn’t sound good for the young prospect. After a second opinion from Dr. James “You’re going to have Tommy John surgery now” Andrews, I don’t feel any more confident. Harvey received a platelet-rich plasma injection earlier this week and is being shut down for six weeks. I understand that the Orioles want to avoid surgery at all costs, but at this point you have to wonder why that isn’t their plan for Harvey.
We saw this same type of thing happen last year with Matt Wieters. There was a shutdown, the PRP injections and eventually, Tommy John surgery. The O’s are expected to lose a portion of their rotation next season, and Harvey was expected to compete for one of those spots. This injury could knock him squarely out of that view.
8. Late-night legend David Letterman has completed his run, signing off with his final show last night. I’ve always been a big fan of the late-night talk show scene, and Letterman was one of the best to ever do what he does.
In honor of his run, I’m dedicating the last “thought” today to him with my own “Top Ten” list. Letterman’s Top Ten lists became part of our everyday lives. These are the top ten Orioles I ever saw play. It’s important to remember that I was born in 1989, so there’s not a ton of history to go on here. These also aren’t the “best” Orioles I ever saw play, just my favorites. My only personal rule I had for this was that the player had to spend three years with the club during years I saw them play, which excluded one of my all-time favorites in Eddie Murray. I’d love to hear your own Orioles “top ten” in the comments.
10. Rafael Palmeiro
9. Jeff Conine
8. Brian Roberts
7. Manny Machado
6. Mike Mussina
5. Melvin Mora
4. B.J. Surhoff
3. Roberto Alomar
2. Cal Ripken Jr.
1. Adam Jones