After last night’s game, if you’re still trying to figure out this team then you’re gonna find yourself going mad.
Through the first 7 innings of last night’s rubber match against the Chicago White Sox, the Orioles were getting shut down – and I mean SHUT DOWN – by a pitcher who owns a career 4-17 record with a 5.44 ERA as a starter. That man was Hector Noesi. I thought to run, not walk to bet with William Hill on the O’s.
Never heard of Noesi before yesterday’s game? Me either.
Seems like the story-line for the Birds every time a team puts some no-name starter on the bump; the O’s turn Mr. Irrelevant into Mr. Cy Young.
Luckily for the Orioles, we have Nelson Cruz.
But as much as a blessing as Nelson Cruz has been for this Orioles offense – some might say he IS the offense – the Birds cannot rely on Cruz to carry this team. Clearly the Orioles have plenty of other offensive weapons up and down the order, but one position that has lacked offensive production is second base.
Jonathan Schoop, touted as one of the Orioles top prospects, has looked outmatched, and has yet to show he is capable of making the necessary adjustments to succeed at the Major League level.
In his first full season in the MLB, Schoop is batting a measily .220/.266/.341 with 6 home runs, 21 RBIs, and an ugly 0.14 BB/K ratio. In the last 14 days – during the Orioles tough stretch of games against the AL East – Jonathan went 5-30 and struck out a total of 8 times.
Like his mentor Adam Jones, Jonathan has bought into the team’s free-swinging mentality. As a result, Schoop is swinging at 11.4% more pitches outside the strike zone than the league average (Schoop: 41.5%; MLB average: 30.1%). His lack of plate discipline has made it easy for opposing pitchers to stay away from the strike-zone, and have Schoop swing himself out of the at-bat.
What works for Jonesy, may not work for everybody.
Even with his obvious struggles with the bat, Buck has given Schoop every opportunity to try to figure things out.
And why not?
Schoop is still young and in every at-bat he grows a little bit as a player. Besides, what other in-house option do the Orioles really have? Flaherty? You mean the guy batting .205/.271/.295 and even with everyday at-bats was unable to provide much of anything offensively?
You might be able to make a case for Steve Lombardozzi who batted .288 in his time with the club this year and is currently hitting .265 at Norfolk, but is he really a solution? Or is he just a band-aid?
A solution just might come via a trade.
Yesterday, Hardball Talk tweeted that the last place Arizona Diamondbacks were preparing to go on a fire sale, and with the O’s 1.5 games out of first and a lack of production at second base, the two teams may be a trade match.
Current second baseman for the D-Backs, Aaron Hill, has been a name thought to possibly be on the trading block. Hill is a former All-Star second baseman and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner who spent the majority of his career up in Toronto. Just last February, Aaron signed a 3 yr/35 million dollar extension with Arizona, locking him up through the 2016 season.
In 2014, Hill is hitting .251/.288/.381 with 6 home runs and 40 RBIs. As far as plate discipline, according to Fangraphs Aaron is only swinging at 32.9% of pitches outside of the zone, and he is making a higher percentage of contact on pitches outside and inside the strike-zone than the league average marks.
Hill may not be having the same type of year he has had the last two years – hitting 291/.356/.462 with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs in 2013 (only 87 games) and .302/.360.522 with 26 home runs and 85 RBIs in 2012 – but he is still an upgrade by any standards.
The Diamondbacks haven’t said what they would expect in return for Hill, but with an average salary of around 10 million dollars per year the D-Backs are gonna have to be willing to pick up some of his contract if they want to unload the veteran.
I imagine the Orioles could get away with sending one of either Eduardo Rodriguez, Tim Berry, Dariel Alvarez, or Christian Walker and a low value prospect for Hill (just speculation). If the talent is there, the Diamondbacks will be more likely eat some of Aaron Hill’s contract.
Buck loves defense, and that could possibly be the only thing holding Schoop and Flaherty’s roster spot, but at some point the Orioles cannot overlook the lack of performance at the plate.
Bringing in a veteran hitting second baseman would really round out this already dangerous line-up.
Last year some speculated that the Orioles were interested in a veteran second baseman.
Could this year be the year they pull the trigger?
