The West Coast View: June 17

This is my new-look weekly view of everything Orioles and baseball. It’s a wrap up of the last seven days and a look ahead for Baltimore’s baseball team. I’ll provide a unique perspective on the game from a different place, the west coast.

A lot can be said about a team that wins a good majority of the series they play in. The main thing that’s typically said about such a team is that they get to enjoy playing baseball in October. Right now the Orioles are on quite the roll, having gone 6-1-1 in their last eight series. Overall the O’s have a 15-6-1 series record this season, which now has them 1.5 games out of first place in the AL East. They qualify as one of those “October Baseball” type of teams. Things are good in Birdland, and the rest of baseball is starting to take notice.

Each week when we break down what has happened to the O’s over the past seven days, we look at such a snippet of the season that it doesn’t really piece together perfectly. Seven-day fragments don’t tell the real story. The players and coaches look at things even more chopped up as they take things one game at a time. When all these little pieces start to add up though, we realize that we are looking at a special baseball team that is getting the job done on the field.

By the way if you haven’t noticed, there are a few special players that are the ones getting their specific job done…

–There’s a first baseman by the name of Chris Davis, whom many people (myself included) questioned coming into the season. Could he provide the power lost with the departure of Mark Reynolds? Could he play first base well enough for his defense not to become a topic of discussion? After Sunday’s homer, Davis leads all of baseball with 23 round-trippers and has played pretty stellar defense, recording just two errors all season.

–There’s a young stud at third base who is on pace to shatter the ML record for doubles in a season with 32 already to this point. Manny Machado is a hit machine with his .327 average and continues to shine while manning the hot corner for the O’s. Not only has he avoided a sophomore slump, he’s found himself among the game’s elite players.

–Then there’s a guy who roams right field that always seems to get overlooked in my mind. Nick Markakis went 4-for-5 and scored three times out of the leadoff spot on Sunday. The steady stick is on the verge of his first All-Star appearance, which is long overdue in my mind. More on that in a bit.

–If you look at the pitching staff, sure there are a few questions, but there’s also some answers that we aren’t quite seeing. There are a few special arms on this roster too. After his win on Father’s Day Sunday, soon-to-be daddy Miguel Gonzalez improved to 5-2 and now carries a not-too-shabby 3.75 ERA. He’s another that has avoided a sophomore slump of sorts with this team.

–Chris Tillman also deserves a little bit of an atta boy at this point in the year. Does anyone even realize that Tillman is sporting a 7-2 record with a 3.61 ERA? He’s been sensational of late. Honestly if you are a starter on this staff and can hold a team to three or four runs each time out, you’re going to give the offense a chance to win the game for you.

–Then there’s that anchor in the back end of the bullpen that everyone was so worried about a few weeks ago. Jim Johnson has his ERA back under four at 3.93 right now and is atop the American League with 25 saves. Johnson is tied for the ML lead with Pittsburgh’s Jason Grilli. Any questions?

This team is setup well for the long haul. The best part is that we all get to sit back and watch. Another real test comes this week with three games against the big bad Detroit Tigers and three more against the suddenly reborn Toronto Blue Jays. Don’t look now, but our neighbors to the north are only four games below the .500 mark and have won five straight following a four-game weekend sweep of the Rangers in Texas. Buckle up this week, indeed.

I mentioned that Nick Markakis is in line to make his first All-Star Game and that’s a fact. After another voting update on Saturday, Markakis leapfrogged Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter for the third and final starting spot in the outfield. The O’s still have Adam Jones leading the way in the outfield too. Pair those two along with Chris Davis at first base and J.J. Hardy at shortstop, and Baltimore could sport FOUR players as STARTERS on July 16^th at Citi Field. Wouldn’t that be special? Keep voting if you want that to happen.

I made you wait, but it’s finally time for my over-the-top completely irrational reaction to the Orioles optioning Kevin Gausman to Norfolk. Actually, I’ll make you wait a bit longer because I had absolutely no issue with the move. Gausman didn’t pitch well enough to justify keeping on the roster right now. The move was made more so to provide bullpen depth, which will see first-hand tonight when Jake Arrieta takes the ball in a spot start against Detroit. The question (and cliché) when it comes to Gausman isn’t if he will be back up with the big club, it’s when. My guess is very soon.

Orioles Player of the Week:

P – Miguel Gonzalez: Normally this is the type of award for an offensive player, but I decided to give the nod to Miguel Gonzalez because of his stellar performance in two starts over the last seven days. Gonzo picked up two victories and pitched to a 2.51 ERA over 14.1 innings and held hitters to a .184 batting average. Well done, Miguel. Now go enjoy being a new dad for a few days and come back to do it again.

American League Player of the Week:

1B – Adam Dunn (CHW): On a team with basically no offense like the Chicago White Sox, Adam Dunn sure stood out like a sore thumb this week. Dunn clubbed four homers and drove in eight while hitting .389 for the Pale Hose. His 1.510 OPS led the AL, even though the Sox managed to win only one game and lose three straight to the Astros.

National League Player of the Week:

OF – Carlos Gonzalez (COL): The thin air of Denver might help some players offensively, but I have a feeling Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez doesn’t even need the boost. CarGo went deep three times this week and drove in eight while hitting .476 for the Rox. His 1.617 OPS led the way on the Senior Circuit and charged Colorado’s already potent offense.

That’s this week’s West Coast View. Go O’s!