This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. This year, I’ll be cutting it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver–Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. – A.S.
1. Spring training finally closes today as the Orioles play their final game of the Grapefruit League season at Ed Smith Stadium. After a stop in Norfolk, the team is Baltimore bound and the games can start to count. This year’s spring training felt long, and that’s because it was. It’s always long, but the World Baseball Classic made it seem even longer.
Anticipation for this season is high in Birdland. Many fans feel the beginning of a window starting to close. Ironically, I don’t sense a bitter taste in the mouths of O’s fans. After the way last season ended, you’d think that would be the underlying theme of this season.
I feel more of a “hold on for dear life” rather than a “let’s complete our unfinished business.”
2. News on Chris Tillman continues to make me roll my eyes. It’s more of an “I’ll believe it when I see it” type of feeling now. While Buck Showalter continues to express optimism, and tells the media that it’s a matter of “when” and not “if” Tillman pitches for the O’s this season, I can’t feel as confident in it.
Tillman is scheduled to play long-toss today and have bullpen sessions over the next week to build up his arm. His first game action won’t come until April 11th in extended spring training, and that’s only if there are no more setbacks. Right now, the plan is for Tillman to be ready by May to pitch for the Orioles. Again, that’s if everything goes as planned.
3. Tillman isn’t the only rotation question mark entering the season. While we still don’t know exactly who is replacing Tillman, Wade Miley is also still somewhat up in the air. Miley pitched on Tuesday following a battle with the flu. But Showalter was non-committal to having Miley start the year on the roster as opposed to the disabled list.
It will be important to hear how Miley feels over the next few days. It’s hard to imagine the O’s trying to replace Tillman in this starting staff, but having to replace another arm would just seem chaotic. Luckily there are off days built into the early schedule that could make it possible to avoid using an extra starter to get Miley back.
The rotation depth simply isn’t there, however, and all of these issues continue to shine a bright light on that fact.
4. The last month and a half has built up many decisions for the Orioles to make. One of the easiest was making Kevin Gausman the Opening Day starter. It’s a well-deserved honor, if nothing more. With Tillman out of the picture for now, it’s going to be nice to see Gausman start the first game for the O’s, followed by Dylan Bundy for game two.
Some of the more difficult decisions are starting to be made as well. The outfield is taking shape after Aneury Tavarez was placed on outright waivers. The Rule 5 selection likely won’t make his way back to the Orioles organization unless something can be worked out with the Red Sox. The O’s appear set in the outfield and are somehow going to keep six (maybe seven) players there. Adam Jones, Hyun-soo Kim, Seth Smith, Mark Trumbo, Joey Rickard, Craig Gentry and maybe Trey Mancini are going to make up this team’s outfield. It’s odd to see a Rule 5 pick leave the team, just because the Orioles normally make every effort to keep them.
Fellow Rule 5 selection Anthony Santander is likely to start the season on the disabled list, and now we can all sit around and see if the O’s can somehow find a way to keep him in the organization for as long as possible. These roster decisions always seem to work themselves out one way or another for the Orioles. The important part appears to be over, at least for now.
The next step is finding out how Buck Showalter uses these players and which ones get the playing time on a regular basis.
5. I’m not real big on making predictions. I’m more of a “sit back and watch it all play out” type, to be honest. But for fun, I like to prognosticate just a bit and take a look into the crystal ball. Ironically, when I look ahead across the MLB landscape this season, much of it looks the same as it has over the last few years.
I’ve got the same five teams in the National League making the postseason. Instead of the Nationals winning the NL East, give me the Mets. I’ll take the Giants over Washington in the Wild Card game, with San Francisco falling to the Cubs in the NLDS. I’ll take the Dodgers beating the Mets in the other NLDS, with Los Angeles winning the pennant over Chicago. It’s hard to repeat as champions in this day and age.
In the AL, I’ve got the same three division winners from last season, but two totally different Wild Card teams. Instead of the Blue Jays and Orioles meeting, give me the Mariners hosting the Astros. I actually think the O’s and Jays finish in a tie for third place in the AL East behind the Yankees. Let’s call it an 83-79 record for the Birds and in a battle to the end for one of those spots.
I hope to be proven wrong, of course. Let’s play ball.
