After losing to the Boston Red Sox, and the comeback victory by the Toronto Blue Jays in New York, the Orioles find themselves one game out of first place and tied for second in the American League East. If that wasn’t bad enough, Chris Tillman is unable to make his start tonight and has been pushed back to (hopefully) Saturday due to a sore shoulder.
The Orioles need to be firing on all cylinders, but another injury to Darren O’Day and nagging injuries to Steve Pearce and Chris Tillman are holding them back from doing exactly that.
Davis Continues to Struggle
Chris Davis struck out two more times on Tuesday night, which gives him a major league-leading 164. The worst part about all of this is the fact he is looking at so many strike threes.
I don’t know what changed from the end of June, but Davis is not the same player. There’s a point when a player is being too patient, which basically means he is not comfortable at the plate and that is where we are with the first baseman.
Davis is top 10 in walks in all of baseball which is a positive, but he’s striking out more than he ever has.
We have all accepted the fact that Davis will strike out, but that was when he was hitting the ball over the fence 40 times a year. Davis can’t hit home runs when he isn’t swinging the bat.
It’s beyond frustrating watching his at-bats as most of the time he is watching hitable pitches pop the catcher’s mitt. There’s no other way to put this: the Orioles won’t make the playoffs if Davis plays this way for the remainder of the season.
Brach Comes Back to Earth
We have been spoiled watching Zach Britton and O’Day pitch over the last couple of seasons. They’ve done so at an elite level, and have sustained that level for entire seasons. That’s an anomaly. Relievers struggle all the time and Brad Brach is now the next one to go through it.
Unfortunately, it’s coming after he made the All-Star team, and late in the season. Despite not being in the top 25 in appearances, Brach ranks fifth in innings pitched for relievers. There’s no doubt that the right-hander is tiring.
The issue is with the injury to O’Day, Buck Showalter doesn’t have many other late-inning options so he’s forced to use Brach. Mychal Givens is starting to handle left-handed hitters better so he is the natural fallback option. However, that will then put someone in the seventh inning that may not be ready for that role.
This all leads back to the fact that Ubaldo Jimenez is still on the roster and wasting a valuable spot for a pitcher who could make an impact in the bullpen. The team just needs to get through the next two weeks before rosters expand, but will they be able to?
Alvarez’s Lack of Playing Time
Unfortunately, this is what happens when you are a limited player. The Orioles have faced a string of left-handed starters and played in a National League ballpark which means one of their top hitters since June – Pedro Alvarez – has received five plate appearances since August 10th.
His lack of at bats should continue tonight with David Price on the mound. This is one of the main reasons I was high on the Orioles acquiring more right-handed hitters at the trade deadline. Steve Pearce is fine, but with Joey Rickard still remaining out, the team is in desperate need of another hitter as Nolan Reimold continues to struggle.
The Orioles using Chris Davis in the outfield on Tuesday night signals that they are comfortable with him out there. If that is the case, then it may be time to recall Trey Mancini and allow him to get some playing time.
It amazes me that with the dead weight like Jimenez and Reimold, along with a backup catcher that has yet to record an RBI this season, the Orioles are once again in the thick of a playoff race heading into late August.
