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. The Orioles are back home following a west coast trip that looked rough, but could’ve been much worse. Following yesterday’s marathon 14-inning affair, the Birds managed to go 4-5 on the swing.
Can you imagine if the O’s had run into Felix Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw on the trip? Luckily for them, both of those star pitchers are down with injuries.
The fact that they ran into their kryptonite last weekend in Seattle and lost all four games, but still managed to go 4-5 on the trip tells me something. It’s also important to note that they are still in first place. For all of the bad facing this team, they still have that going for them.
West coast trips are hard, and this was already the second one for the O’s this season. It’s also not the last as they still visit Oakland and San Francisco next month. Last season, the Orioles traveled to the Pacific Time Zone just one time, knocking out the Mariners, Angels and Athletics all in one trip. The Birds won’t make any excuses related to their travel, but it’s a tough road to go down.
2. The Orioles will be well-represented next week in San Diego at the All-Star Game, and rightfully so. This is what happens when you have a good team. Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Matt Wieters, Zach Britton and Brad Brach will all take part in the exhibition, which still shouldn’t determine homefield advantage in the World Series.
It’s also strange that the American League will be the home team in San Diego next week. MLB should’ve kept the tradition of alternating AL and NL ballparks for the Midsummer Classic, but I digress.
You have to feel great for each of the O’s All-Stars, but especially for Brach. ESPN’s Keith Law aside, I think everyone respects and appreciates what Brach has done for the Birds this year. For all the examples of odd trades made by the O’s over the years (more on that in a bit), Brach is a deal that absolutely crushed.
3. It’s no secret that the Orioles pitching is bad. This is something we’ve been waiting on for some time. The question now becomes, how far can the O’s go with what they have? Many believe the answer to be “not very far,” but I think they can win the AL East.
It’s not a glowing endorsement on the Orioles, it’s more a representation of the competition. The Red Sox and Blue Jays don’t have much to offer in their pitching staffs either. I feel like the pitching woes have been written about extensively, and it’s almost like beating a dead horse at this point. This is all a result of failing to acquire legitimate starting pitchers over the last few seasons.
Growing the arms surely hasn’t worked, and they haven’t been bought either. You can’t include Yovani Gallardo in that, either. He was never going to change the rotation. At this point, the best idea for the Orioles at the trade deadline would be to acquire to relief pitchers. Get a lefty and a righty, and shorten the game that way. If you can get five innings out of a starter, you can shorten the game by adding arms in the bullpen.
They will come much cheaper anyhow.
4. If you missed it, I wrote about Manny Machado’s baserunning over at MASNSports.com earlier this week and while many agreed with my take, some lumped me in with others in the “media” (which is funny) who have a bias against Machado. I found that even funnier.
Bias against Machado? Jim Palmer, Joe Angel and others on the national scale have also bashed Machado’s baserunning mishaps, but it hardly means there’s a bias against him. Someone even messaged me implying that I was being racist because Machado has Hispanic heritage.
If you disagree that Machado’s baserunning is a big deal and don’t think he needs to change, that’s your opinion. But if you don’t think Machado has made baserunning mishaps this season, you’re just wrong.
Either way, there is definitely no bias against Machado, who is a starting All-Star and possibly the AL MVP. Everyone, including this guy, loves him.
5. I’ve found it very strange and somewhat concerning that the Orioles have paraded a bunch of no-named pitchers out through the bullpen over the past week or so. Oliver Drake, Ashur Tolliver, Chaz Roe, Ariel Miranda and Jayson Aquino aren’t difference makers. They can help eat up some innings while Darren O’Day is out or others need more of a rest as the All-Star break approaches. But none of them are long-term options in the pen.
I understand that some of this is necessary to keep arms healthy deeper into the year, but it’s also a tell-tale sign that the Orioles are in trouble in the minor leagues. There is no one down there itching to make an impact on this club in the near future. All of these players are extremely borderline major leaguers.
6. The Orioles will mark the 50th anniversary of winning the 1966 World Series tomorrow night. They got the celebration started a bit this week in Los Angeles, against the team they swept to win their first title.
Did anyone notice the patches the team wore with their championship logo while playing the Dodgers? They looked fantastic. I’m excited to see what’s in store for the celebration. I’ve always found it incredible that the Dodgers scored a single run in the second and third innings of Game One of that series, then didn’t score again. They never led, and really never came close. The Orioles were able to beat Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale (twice) in that series on their way to victory. It ended up being the last real spark for the Dodgers of that era, and kicked off a run of success for the Birds.
7. There’s a little more bluster to the idea of trading Mark Trumbo this week. Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun wrote a piece about it and some of our writers here at Eutaw Street Report have even tossed around the idea.
It sounds great on the surface: deal your hot player who may very well leave after the season anyhow for a pitcher that can help now. What people don’t realize is that Trumbo doesn’t have all that much value on the trade market. Sure, he’s hitting a ton of homers and has had a great first few months of the season, but does anyone expect that to continue? I can guarantee you there aren’t many MLB GMs that do.
Remember, Trumbo was traded just over eight months ago along with a pitcher in exchange for a backup catcher. How much is he really valued and why does a few decent months change things that much? The Orioles aren’t likely to get a game-changing starting pitcher for Trumbo. They may be able to swing getting someone similar to the guys they already have in their rotation, and that’s about it.
8. I’ve found it a bit funny in recent months seeing everyone up in arms about pitching prospects that the Orioles have traded away coming up to the majors.
The most recent was Steven Brault, who was drafted in the 11th round by the Orioles in 2013. The 24-year-old made his MLB debut Tuesday for the Pirates. Brault was of course traded for Travis Snider, who of course, didn’t work out for the Orioles. In his first game against the Cardinals, Brault tossed four innings and allowed two runs (one earned) while making 82 pitches. Nothing spectacular, but it’s early for him.
We’ve seen other examples of players doing this so far. Zach Davies earned his sixth win of the season this week for the Brewers, and has a 4.10 ERA. He was drafted in the 26th round in 2011 by Baltimore before being traded away for Gerardo Parra, another player who didn’t work out.
Then there’s Eduardo Rodriguez, who has seen his share of struggles with the Red Sox this season. He’s back down in Triple-A now and looking better. As many know, Rodriguez was signed as a free agent out of Venezuela and traded at the deadline in 2014 for Andrew Miller, a deal that definitely helped the O’s.
It remains to be seen what any of these players will become, but it’s also tough to see them elsewhere knowing the Orioles don’t have much going on in that department. It’s hardly fair though, to completely rake the Orioles over the coals for trying to make things happen. They have been in positions over the last few years to try to improve their roster to make a deep postseason run, which is more than they could’ve said a decade ago.
all photos: Craig Landefeld/GulfBird Photo
0 Responses
No everyone does not love Machado as you state! He is a whiny punk! Nuff said!