PiR: Plenty of Questions for O’s as Season Kicks Off

REALITY: As we approach Opening Day, the Baltimore Orioles starting pitching rotation is still not set.

Why not try a piggyback system for #Orioles this year: Tillman/Worley; Wright/Wilson; Jimenez/Bundy; Gallardo/McFarland. #Ifallelsefails

— Jon Meoli (@JonMeoli) March 30, 2016

PERCEPTION: The Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli put out an odd idea the other day… but the more I thought about it, the more I actually liked it.

Look, unless something miraculous happens, the Orioles will have the worst staff in the AL East and possibly in all of the American League. To make sure that the team has a back-up plan for every start, it might not be that bad of an idea for Buck to have something like this in the back of his mind. The O’s don’t have a lack of arms, they just have a lack of top SP arms. So if we don’t have many guys who can give us seven strong innings every time out, why not have two guys who can each give the team three-four decent innings?

I know, it’s not going to happen, but the more I ponder Meoli’s idea, it makes sense for a team with the staff like the Orioles have.

REALITY: The Orioles spent $243 million in the offseason, but did their pitching improve?

With Gausman opening on the DL, the Orioles rotation is now:

Tillman
Gallardo
Ubaldo
???
???

That team spent $243 million this offseason.

— August Fagerstrom (@AugustFG_) March 30, 2016

PERCEPTION: That might be the most telling tweet I’ve seen in a long time. How can a team spend so much money, but still be so far away from contending? So many things have to fall together in order for the O’s to contend with their current roster.

Yes, there are going to hit a lot of home runs. But baseball comes down to one thing… pitching. You can lead the league in home runs all you want during the regular season, but pitching prevails in the playoffs. The Orioles might have a powerful enough offense to keep them contending during the regular season, but can their current pitching staff help them win in October?

The Orioles spent $243 million this offseason and they still don’t have one guy who would be a top-two pitcher in any other rotation in the majors. The only way Baltimore returns to the playoffs is if Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Yovani Gallardo all exceed expectations, while Kevin Gausman finally makes the long-awaited jump.

REALITY: The Orioles spent $243 million in the offseason, but did their defense improve?

PERCEPTION: Going into the 2015 season, Orioles fans wondered who would play LF and RF. What they found is a rotating door of guys, with not one proving worthy enough to be an everyday guy.

Fast forward a year, and the Orioles spent a record amount of money and yet the questions are the same. We thought we found an everyday left fielder with Hyun-Soo Kim, but he had a weak spring and the team doesn’t even want him on the major league roster. So Rule 5 guy Joey Rickard or Nolan Reimold are going to get a chance. In RF, you are going to find a guy who can hit the ball a long way, but might also not catch the ball when hit to him. The Orioles are just hoping that the ball doesn’t get him to Mark Trumbo very often. After they signed Pedro Alvarez, Trumbo was now forced to play in the field. He has a great arm, but is he a liability covering the field in the corner?

I’m just confused about how the Orioles could have spent so much money yet have so many unanswered question with their roster.

I know most of this article has been a “debbie downer”, but that’s what I love about sports… every season starts new and everyone has a chance to win. The Orioles are predicted to finish at the bottom of the AL East and I don’t agree. I think they will fight for an AL Wild Card, but it truly depends on their pitching.

REALITY: The Orioles’ Opening Day is Monday.

PERCEPTION: Monday is one of the best days of the entire year. Spring has sprung and the boys of summer return. Everyone has a fresh start and has a chance to make the playoffs and play for the World Series.

There is nothing like walking into Oriole Park at Camden Yards with all the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day, the smell of Boog’s Barbecue, and seeing the stadium packed to the brim in Orange and Black. Kids cut school. Parents skip work. Everyone is excited for the start of baseball.

I have my rituals too. Like wearing orange, even if I am not at the stadium, or watching a couple of YouTube videos on repeat all day, and of course, changing my ringtone.

You have three options: “Orioles Magic”…

Or the 1989 Anthem that has sort of made a bit of a comeback over the past two winning seasons, “Why Not”:

There’s another song that I really like from a local band… the players may have changed, but the chorus is still fantastic… “How Bout Dem O’s”:

So let’s turn off the negativity that we might have had during one of the strangest offseasons we have ever seen, and let’s get behind this team and fight along with them, hopefully pushing them to the playoffs.

Let’s Go O’s!