Reality: The Orioles are 10 games over .500 and have a 4.0-game lead in the AL East.
Perception: That fact is truly remarkable when you look at all the O’s have gone through this season. MASN’s Roch Kubatko wrote all about that in his column Monday morning. If you haven’t read it, you need to for proper perspective on the Birds season so far.
But here is just a glimpse… Manny Machado missing the first month and then being suspended. Matt Wieters having Tommy John surgery. Jonathan Schoop and Ryan Flaherty hitting in the .220’s – still, unfortunately, a lot better than Chris Davis. Tommy Hunter removed from Closer’s role. Ubaldo Jimenez losing 8 of 11 starts. Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris going on the DL.
If we told you in March all that would happen, there is no way you would say the O’s would be in first place and 10 games above .500.
Things are going the Orioles’ way… last time that happened was 2012 and the Orioles went to the playoffs.
Reality: According to Chris Cotillo, the Orioles shopped Nick Hundley to the Cardinals, since their catcher Yadier Molina went on the DL.
Perception: Even with Matt Wieters out for the season, the Orioles are still looking at their catching spot as a position of strength. With Hundley, Caleb Joseph, and Steve Clevenger, they are happy with any combination of those three, so one is expendable. It seems to be Hundley, if the report is true.
Reality: The Orioles traded AAA first basemen Brett Wallace to Toronto for cash considerations.
Perception: It doesn’t seem like a big deal, and it’s really not, but it does begin to show what the Orioles future holds.
In May, the Orioles named Christian Walker their Minor League Player of the Month. Walker, 23, is batting .302/.367/.522 with 20 home runs and 77 RBI through 92 games for Double-A Bowie this season.
The Orioles announced over the weekend that Walker would be moved up to AAA-Norfolk for the second half of the season. With that promotion, and the trade of Wallace, the Orioles have made it clear that Walker is the future at first base.
The interesting question is “when is the future?” Chris Davis is a free agent after the 2015 season. Will the Orioles fork over the money to pay him? Will they try to trade him between now and then to get some value from him, if they feel they can’t re-sign him?
My guess is that Christian Walker is the starting first basemen for the Baltimore Orioles to start the 2016 season.
Reality: The Orioles’ first 26 games after the All-Star break are against teams with winnings records.
Perception: It starts with a 10-game West Coast road trip… four against the Athletics (best record in baseball), three against the Angels (2nd best record in baseball), and four against the Mariners (seven games above .500). Even when they return home, they play the Angels and Mariners again.
This is the key part of the schedule. With a four-game lead in the AL East, the Orioles need to win half of the games on that 10-game trip, to show themselves and the rest of baseball that they can hang with the top teams in the league.
