Well, Birdland, the All-Star Break has come & gone and with that, I’ve been able to reflect upon the season to date. Also, with no baseball the last few days it’s been nice to be on the “good side” of my significant other for a change (usually I’m in the doghouse by this time of the season for spending too much time on the O’s). Nevertheless, the second half of the season is almost upon us and I’m already going stir crazy – eagerly awaiting the return of Orioles baseball.
As I look back at our season thus far, one thing is for certain: the season has been a rollercoaster ride – a very fun rollercoaster experience (hey, we’re still in first place), but a bumpy one for sure. In just 87 games of baseball, we’ve already seen our fair share of “ups & downs”, including:
Upswings & Positives
– Three separate seven-game winning streaks (April 4-12, May 7-14, June 22-29);
– Prolific home run-hitting, with 137 hit thus far (#1 in MLB); and
– Elite bullpen with a top-five ERA.
BUT ALSO…
Downswings & Negatives
– “Rough patches” that include losing eight of 12 (April 13-26), seven of nine (May 22-31), five of seven (June 10-17) and a five-game losing streak (June 30-July 4);
– Starting pitching that ranks 28th in the league for ERA and 30th in the league for innings pitched by starters; and
– Meaningful injuries to J.J. Hardy, Yovani Gallardo, Darren O’Day, Caleb Joseph and others.
GulfBird Photo/Craig Landefeld
Not to mention, we’ve already seen some other rarities occur already, including:
– Hitting 56 homers in June;
– The Machado / Ventura rumble;
– Wieters’ dramatic HR in Anaheim;
– Trumbo’s two-homer inning in Texas; and
– Hyun-Soo Kim’s meteoric improvement (and subsequent cult following in Birdland).
Overall, the first half has been a fun one. My stress level has been high at times, but the Birds continue to win ballgames and sit atop the division. We’ve also seen the return of Orioles Magic (we were seemingly devoid of it in 2015), and we’ve seen flashes of the 2014 greatness that propelled our team to the AL East title. While I have great optimism for the 2nd half of the season, I also have anxiety about how things may play out…
With that, I’d like to share a few predictions for the coming months:
The Offense Will Regress
The offense can’t be this good, right? The first half of the season has been spectacular. In addition to ranking 1st in HR’s, the O’s rank 2nd in OPS, 5th in Average, and in the top 10 of virtually every offensive category. However, I just can’t see us keeping up this feverish pace. I predict that the O’s will ultimately regress a bit, but the drop-off won’t be as dramatic as 2015.
Other Predictions: Kim continues to impress, Trumbo comes up big in his contract year, Hardy’s power numbers improve, and Joe Angel finally starts promoting my term for Trumbo & Davis: #SmashBrothers
The Pitching Will Improve
The starting pitching can’t be this bad, right? I really hope that’s the case because if it doesn’t improve, the O’s chances of going far in the playoffs will be toast. That said, I believe that the Orioles are a hot streak away from seeing significant improvements in the pitching staff. Good pitching can be contagious, and I’m cautiously optimistic that the starting pitching will get better while the bullpen will remain steady.
Other Predictions: Za h Britton ends up leading the league in saves, Gallardo eats up innings but maintains a 4+ ERA, Kevin Gausman gets hot down the stretch, Dylan Bundy stays in the bullpen, and (unfortunately) O’Day continues to battle his hamstring injury through August.
Help Is On The Way
The Orioles have been active in the trading market the past few years under Dan Duquette, and I see no reason why this won’t be the case this year – particularly with our current pitching situation. I expect one big trade to be made, and it will most certainly hurt our farm system. My guess: Rich Hill for Hunter Harvey and Chance Sisco.
Other Potential Trades: (1) Ervin Santana for Trey Mancini; (2) Francisco Liriano for Mike Yastrzemski, D.J. Stewart, Jason Garcia & T.J. McFarland; (3) Ubaldo Jimenez for two Bushels of Crabs & a case of Natty Boh.
Attendance Will Spike
One of my biggest criticisms of the first half is how lame the attendance has been at OPACY. The Orioles currently rank 20th in average attendance (26,685/game), and 17th overall (1,254,220). By way of comparison, in 2014 the Orioles ranked 13th in attendance (30,805/game) and 14th overall (2,464,473).
The early-season weather did not help, and league-wide attendance is down this year, but I still believe that Birdland can and will do better. In the second half of the season, I predict that the playoff race will significantly improve attendance and OPACY will be rocking down the home stretch.
The Orioles Will Return to the Postseason
The Good: The AL East is going to be tough, but at the end of the day, I think our team is too good not to earn its 3rd playoff berth in five seasons.
The Not-So-Good: If our starting pitching doesn’t improve, our playoff berth will most likely be a wild card spot and anything can happen in one game.
So there you have it…my recap of the first half and my predictions for the 2nd half. The rollercoaster ride is definitely going to continue, but I think it will continue to be a fun one. One thing’s for sure, I can’t wait for the Birds to return to the Bay Area (where I currently reside // #BirdlandWest) in just a few short weeks!
Enjoy the rest of the season and let’s all hope that the question we hear most often in the coming months is none other than “Ain’t the Beer Cold?!?!?!?”
