The Birds’ bats continue to slumber in the Bronx. They’ve scored just one run in each of the first two games against the Yankees, both losses. And here with them being lucky enough to miss Masahiro Tanaka in the four-game set, I thought we’d be in for a bunch of early runs…silly me. Some pitcher is gonna pay for this…hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.
Mark Trumbo’s Power Output is Here to Stay
Worried that Mark Trumbo will regress in the second half? Well, he shouldn’t! Thanks to some help from Edgar Martinez when he was in Seattle, Trumbo has evolved as a hitter and should keep launching dozens of dongs for the rest of this season and beyond. Ryan Pollack of Camden Chat says the peripherals show that Trumbo isn’t just getting lucky.
More Home Runs are Hit Because of the Middle Infield
Speaking of dongs, everybody is looking for reasons why homers are spiking here in 2016. Juiced players? Juiced balls? Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot floats a very interesting theory – remember when second basemen and shortstops looked like Billy Ripken or Cesar Izturis? Guys who were on the team for their glove, but who swung wet noodles at the dish? Now we have guys like Jonathan Schoop and Carlos Correa, mashing home runs from middle infield spots. Are defensive shifts allowing teams to forgo rangy middle infielders in favor of bulkier guys with more pop?
O’Day Will Pitch Friday at Bowie
Finally, some good news. Darren O’Day pitched a sim game this week, and he’ll go on a brief rehab assignment Friday. He could be activated as soon as early next week. Fingers crossed for no more setbacks.
Bird’s Eye View Episode 172: Law and Batting Order
Jake and Scott are back for episode 172, where they talk about crimes and potential punishments against Birdland. In addition, I seem to have cyberbullied Scott into retiring from singing, which was never my intent!
And in Ravens news…
2016 Positional Preview: Secondary
Paul Lukoskie continues his training camp preview over at RSR, moving onto the secondary. The DBs were woeful in 2015, so the hope is that a slew of new players and even a new coach (Leslie Frazier) can turn things around this year.
