Thursday Thoughts: Don’t Fret Over Spring Results, or Loss of Pies

This is a weekly column that dives into eight random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. Why eight? It’s a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. of course. That, and doing 2,632 of these would be a little overboard. – A.S.

1. We’re now a week removed from the fiasco that was the Dexter Fowler situation, and I am still not entirely sure what happened. Last Thursday was one of the more remarkable days in “Orioles Twitter” history. It seemed no one had any clue what was happening or why, and seven days later I’m still perplexed by those two questions.

I’m not going to re-hash much of what’s been said about Fowler or the O’s over the last week. That’d be repetitive. The Orioles were supposed to have a new right-fielder and leadoff hitter, and now they don’t. It’s all a shame really, but perhaps this is how it was supposed to work out.

I heard a lot of chatter about “karma” for the way the Orioles “treated” Yovani Gallardo during his physical last week. That’s silly. The team wanted to make sure it knew what it was paying for in Gallardo. The Fowler situation was completely separate. Perhaps the most confusing part of it all was related to Adam Jones, who seemed sure Fowler was heading to Sarasota. I don’t think Jones lied, but it was definitely odd.

GulfBird Sports/Craig Landefeld

2. The real issue that failing to sign Fowler to a contract has created for the Orioles is that they still don’t have a real right-fielder. Many names have been floated from outside the organization, but none that excite the masses. Austin Jackson isn’t a real answer and frankly neither is Jay Bruce. Ian Desmond, a career infielder who was being considered by teams as an outfield option, already signed with the Texas Rangers.

When you look in-house, the options aren’t much better. Playing Mark Trumbo in the field is terrifying. He’s a designated hitter and needs to stay in that role. Buck Showalter should actually hold a campfire event for the team and use Trumbo’s gloves as fuel. If the event runs long, there’s always Jimmy Paredes’ gloves to use as well.

There are less experienced options, such as Henry Urrutia and Dariel Alvarez. Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard is a decent bet to make the club and there’s always L.J. Hoes and Alfredo Marte. None of these choices inspire any bit of confidence. Then there’s Nolan Reimold, who seems to be the best bet to get the first crack at the job. But there’s a problem there too. Reimold is like the ex-girlfriend who you know is bad for you, but you can’t seem to completely break it off. She causes you to start smoking again, she pulls you away from your family and causes you to slip at work. She’s really not even that attractive, but there’s just something about her that draws you in.

That’s an issue for this team. It has been for many years. The Orioles have had a corner outfield issue now for some time. If we are being really honest, we aren’t even sure LEFT field has worked itself out. We are all hopeful that Hyun-Soo Kim will be a productive player, but there’s simply no guarantee of that.

3. Now that spring training is officially underway, we can all finally overreact to things. We can look at box scores and see how bad Ubaldo Jimenez looked in his first start (0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 3 BB). We can see that Chris Davis already has a home run under his belt, as does Jonathan Schoop. We can see that Kim is going to get plenty of playing time as he transitions to baseball in the U.S.

While it’s great that baseball is back, this is that important reminder that everything before April 4 isn’t real baseball. The overreactions will happen. You’ll see them on social media and your friends will tell you how awful Jimenez looks or how Davis is bound for another 50+ HR season. We’re all excited that baseball is back, but it’s not REALLY back for about another month. For now, enjoy seeing blurry photos of workouts and the occasional fake game on MASN involving players that may never see a big league game.

4. Just days into spring training and we already have our first injury for the Orioles. Chris Tillman has hip flexor tightness, and it’s pushed his spring debut back to at least the middle of next week. This isn’t an overly concerning injury for the O’s, it seems, but it could push Tillman out of the role of Opening Day starter (for those who care about such things). Tillman has time to get himself ready for the start of the season, but any more delays could work into early April.

Starting pitchers are the ones that really need time to build up their arm in spring training. I’ll be watching closely to see if Tillman is actually healthy, because it’s important to remember that the O’s don’t really have more than five solid starters. There are a few fringe guys like Mike Wright, Vance Worley or maybe T.J. McFarland outside the rotation, but that’s it. Depth in the position is going to be at a premium.

5. The Orioles aren’t the only AL East team dealing with an injury to a key starting pitcher this early in the spring. Former O’s prospect and Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez was shut down this week with a subluxation of the patellar tendon in his right knee. That’s a fancy way of saying a scary knee injury that could’ve been much worse.

E-Rod did throw yesterday from flat ground and the team is confident he can be healthy to start the regular season, but they aren’t committing. The Red Sox are expected to do big things this season after making a few splashes in the winter such as bringing in David Price. I have a big eye on Rodriguez, who the O’s traded to Boston a few years back for Andrew Miller. I want to see what he turns out to be, and while the O’s have already seen their fair share of him in a Boston uniform, they are sure to see more of him in the years to come.

6. When I heard the Orioles would no longer be using pies in their postgame celebration, my first reaction was honestly relief. Let me start by pointing out that I’m not one of those who is against celebration. I love when players flip their bats after home runs and have fun playing the game. It is, after all, a game. But I’ve seen Adam Jones slam a pie in the face of players over the years, and I’ve seen it a lot. I’ve seen it, honestly, too much. The act was played out, and it was time to end it.

I don’t really know that there was a “safety issue” with using the pies, but I do know that those pies come in there fast and hard at times. To me, anyone getting upset over this is just getting upset for the sake of being upset. Lots of teams have one of these postgame celebration routines, and this one is fairly common – perhaps too common. I’m glad it’s gone.

7. Listening to Orioles games on the radio this season may be the last time you hear Fred Manfra. The longtime broadcaster will cut back his schedule after a series of health issues in recent years. Manfra joined the team in 1992 and will do just 50 games this season, with Jim Hunter and Ben McDonald filling in on the others alongside Joe Angel. A Baltimore native, Manfra’s voice is the one many have grown up with listening to O’s games on both WBAL and 105.7 The Fan.

I’ve loved hearing Fred in the booth over the years, but I’m also excited to hear more of McDonald. Since the Orioles Radio Network has given him the chance over the last few seasons, McDonald has been a joy to listen to. He brings a great perspective as a former player and explains things in a very raw, and real way. I haven’t spoken to anyone who doesn’t enjoy McDonald and Angel chopping it up on a hot summer evening over an O’s game.

8. One of the things I’m most interested in seeing with the Orioles this year is how Hyun-Soo Kim transitions from Korea to the United States. The Orioles tried to make that a bit easier for him this past week: Click for Video

I was very interested in watching Kim’s friend Jung-Ho Kang last year with Pittsburgh. He made an impact with the Pirates before suffering a devastating injury that ended his season. Kim is going to be a very important player for the O’s this year, but it’s clearly more than just an on-field type of thing with him. As proven by the efforts of Buck Showalter to give him a “traditional” meal at spring training, the club is pushing to help get him acclimated to the States. It’ll be a fun thing to watch develop throughout the season.