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THE RUNDOWN: O’s Poised to Make Another Run

orioles third baseman machado throwing pitch with stadium in background
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The start of the regular season has finally arrived and the Baltimore Orioles are primed again for another deep run in October. The O’s have the depth at pitching needed to get through a long season and the lineup is deep enough to cause problems for opposing pitchers on any given night. As we head into the first game later today, let’s take a look at a few of the top stories surrounding the birds.

 

Kevin Gausman starts the year in the bullpen

I came to the realization this would happen a couple of weeks ago, but it still doesn’t take the sting away. In the end, the talented right hander will make an impact in the big leagues and at some point, will be called upon to start for the Orioles.

This spring training proved that the pitching depth for the Orioles is insanely good and that is how this organization will be able to compete at a high level year after year. Gausman is still primed to have the breakout season many expect, but it will just be delayed a little longer than most would have hoped.

 

Will the Orioles run more?

With J.J. Hardy starting the season on the disabled list, the Orioles will have two guys in the lineup in Alejandro De Aza and Everth Cabrera that have had more than 25 stolen bases in a season. This team is built for the home run and that will never change, but I’m curious to see if Buck Showalter will give the green light more often this year.

Even Manny Machado ran a little bit during spring training. We know this team will never draw walks or move runners over regularly, but I think it would be in their best interest to play to the strengths of De Aza and Cabrera and let them run some.

 

Will the O’s play at full strength at any point?

If you remember last year, every time one of the injured players were set to return from the disabled list, another player would go down. The Orioles were never able to go long stretches of having their entire core group healthy and they begin this year the same way with Hardy and Matt Wieters missing the start of the season.

Hopefully when Wieters returns later this month, Baltimore will finally have their entire complement of players, but as we learned last year, this team always finds a way to overcome tough situations.

 

How good can the O’s be this season?

When talking about contenders in the American League, you can’t name many teams before the Baltimore Orioles are mentioned. The lineup is one of the best in all of baseball, the bullpen will continue to be near the top, and the starting pitching staff is one of the most underrated in baseball. Also, on most nights, the best manager on the field can be found in the dugout of our home team.

Baltimore is in store for another exciting summer that will lead to hopefully a happier ending in October, but the expectations have been raised and rightfully so.

The Orioles should once again win over 90 games and, as Showalter likes to say, “get a chance to roll the dice in October.”

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