A Mind is a Terrible Thing

Brian's brain still hurts. Obviously, that sucks. The procession of lead-off hitters Buck has inserted in his place haven't exactly lit the world on fire. In fact, they haven't even lit a match. As evidenced last year, Brian's an important part of this team - maybe one of the most important parts. Having him missing from the top of the order for even a short period hurts us on both sides of the ball. Add in the fact that the Orioles don't have a true backup worth a damn for the second base position and your talking about a recipe for disaster.

Andino's done his best but a) he's not a lead off hitter and b) his natural position is shortstop. There have definitely been times were he's looked out of place - not Wiggy out of place, but out of place non the less (see Britton pickoff attempt). Ryan Adams set the minor league record for errors - can you really trust him? Though I would like to see him get some playing time just to find out what they have in him.

Ed Norris, baseball expert, loves to imply that Brob is "soft". He'd probably tell you he's never said that but when you ask the same question every morning, people are going to pick up on your implications. While I don't think Brain is soft, his recent injury history is more that a little concerning. It seems like ever since that ugly arm injury sustained while covering first base a few years ago, it's been one thing after another. And the most concerning thing for me is this latest concussion or whatever it is occurred without him actually hitting his head. I didn't even know that was possible. I watched the replay a couple of times and his head hits nothing but air. When you can get a concussion without taking a blow, you've got problems. I wonder if the guys in the locker room hold their breath when he walks by?

So, the ultimate question: Is Brian a reliable option at second base moving forward and do the Orioles need to address the position from a standpoint of organizational depth? I want to have faith in Brian and believe that he can get passed this latest injury and contribute for the rest of the season. However, if the Orioles took a second basemen in the first or second round of next years draft, or traded someone like Luke for a deal that included a promising two bagger at the double A level, I wouldn't blame them.

On a positive note, the O's bounced back from two embarrassing defeats and won the final two games of the Nats series. See, I can be positive.

Wishful Thinking

via Bostonherald.com (Also, why God? Why?)

Just once, I'd love for the following scene to play out:

When asked by the reporters about a lack of run support, following an 8 inning one run allowed game, ideally Zach Britton (but not likely since he's a rookie) or more likely Jeremy Guthrie would answer, "Well, I know the team's not going to score runs when I'm on the mound, so I've just got to go out there and do the best I can for me. I can't worry about wins and loses. I'm out there for individual stats like ERA and WHIP. It is frustrating, sure, but I'm seeing a Buddhist about it, you know. I've also contacted Mike Mussina."

Throw the assholes under the bus, guys. Why not? Could they do any worse?

Bullshit Pen

Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images North America

A friend of mine from high school had a favorite saying: "The sun shines on a dog's ass every once in a while." Apparently, during the stretch between April 30th and May 8th the clouds broke and the sun shown for Mike Gonzalez. Unfortunately, as always, the weather changes, the clouds return and the sun disappears. And when the sun goes down for Mike, you wonder whether it'll ever come up again. The reasons I don't like Mike have been documented (see current 1.89 WHIP among others) and I won't rehash. However, I can say the bullpen's problems, as demonstrated by last night's performance, don't start or end with Mike.

Really, if you think about it, is there anyone in that bullpen that you trust with a lead? Most of them have been getting shelled lately and throughout the season. This bullpen that was supposed to be strength not one of the biggest worries. This bullpen with all the closer experience. Preseason, people were wondering who should be in the closer role. People are still wondering who should be the closer but for a very different reason.

Gregg's blown three saves, two of which resulted in a loss. Additionally, both the losses were to AL East opponents, compounding the problem. With a WHIP of 1.63, he's among the worst closers in the league in terms of putting people on base. Clean sheet is not in his vocabulary. He's a heart attack waiting to happen and I don't think that's changing.

Accardo's given up a run in his past five appearances and has only one clean sheet in the past 10. His ERA's a deflating 4.76 to go along with a 1.71 WHIP. Even those times when he does come in and gets a 1-2-3 inning, he'll come back out for the next inning and give up a couple hits and a walk leading to a run. He and Gregg look like carbon copies of each other. And that's not a good thing. They can both go back to Jays for all I care. (Sidenote: Both these guys were allowed to walk by the Bluejays. Shouldn't that have told us something? It's not like the Jays have a bullpen/minor league system that's bursting with pitching/closer talent.)

Then you've got Berken, who didn't pitch last night, but can you imagine if he had? Statistically, he's the worst out of all of them. He's the top of the WHIP ladder at 1.96. That's worse than the much maligned Gonzalez. In 6 out of his thirteen appearances this years he's given up at least one run. That's right, he's almost batting .500. Which is only slightly lower than his opponents batting average against him (I didn't really look that up).

Rapada's a left handed specialist who can't get lefties out and he's given up more earned runs than he's pitched (6 IP, 7 ER). That sweeping, bathtub flat whatever it is pitch at 77 mph must be pretty hard to catch up with.

Jimmy's been the only bright spot and even he's started to succumb to his brethren's disease, giving up a run in two of his last three games. But at least he hasn't gotten the walkitis like the rest of them. Koji's been reasonable too, but I think the stigma of that Arod homerun has stuck with him. Giving up a couple bombs this year hasn't helped to lay that to rest.

So what's the answer? Who knows. Matusz will be back soon, which will push someone out of the rotation. If it's Bergesen, they'll put him in the pen and send someone else down like Berken or Rapada - a course of action that I'm fine with. Originally, I would have been apprehensive about Bergy in the pen, since he's a sinker baller without overpowering stuff. But really, this year he hasn't been relying on the sinker, since it hasn't really been there for him, which makes him a better candidate. Tillman could also move to the pen but would you really trust him any more than the other guys we've got right now? Featuring a new 89 mph fastball, he's not the power pitcher he was and the control issues make him unreliable. However, at this point, I'd rather he stay up and go to the pen as opposed to being sent down to AAA. Let him sit in the pen and learn how to pitch to major league hitters. So few teams do this anymore and I have no idea why. That used to be the way. Most of the Oriole's greats pitched a season or two in the pen before moving to rotation. If we're going to bring back tradition, let's bring back that one. Duke coming back could bring about the same moves as Matusz. And then there's Simon, who will now go to trial in the homeland, making him a complete crapshoot. If he comes back (to the US of A) relatively soon, he might even be in the running to close depending on how he looked, but at this point it may not be in the cards.

Overall, I'm just really disappointed in this 'pen.  I drank the kool-aid and thought they'd more than get the job done. Unfortunately, they're not and there's not a lot of hope banging down the door.

What's in a Week

via Baltimore Sun

What a difference a week (roughly) makes.

Adam Jones' batting average on May 2nd: .228

Adam Jones' batting average today (May 12th): .286

Tillman and Hyde

(Icon Sports Media)

It seemed like last night, on my drive home from downtown (kickball not the baseball game), everyone wanted to talk about Chris Tillman. Surprisingly, even after a good performance against a weak lineup in the Mariners, it seemed like most people were still down on him. That is, except for Steve Melewski of MASN/105.7 who apparently thinks he's the second coming and was staunchly defending him. Obviously Steve and Keith Law don't see eye to eye on the current subject. Also, just as a side note, the people who call into 105.7 post game, pregame and pretty much all hours of the day, in general, are retarded. I know that's not politically correct, but I can't think of a more appropriate word to describe this group. So I'm going with it.

In reality, I'm not sure anyone knows what we've got in Chris. His stat line is a roller coaster ride. So far, when he's good, he's decent but not great. And when he's bad, he's really bad. Sitting on a 6.15 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, it's clear the bad games have more than hurt him.

Obviously, what you want out of a starting pitcher is consistency - to know that at the very least every time he takes the mound the team's got a shot to win. Chris has been the epitome of inconstant, but he's young, so let's forget about that because there's no debate there. What I'm more concerned about is the lack of velocity combined with a lack of command. You can lose one or the other, but if you don't have either, as Keith Law put it, "You're throwing batting practice" (Mr. Melewski suggested last night that you have to have command to be successful to which I will retort with Liriano's no-hitter the other night).

The fact is that Tillman sees himself as a power pitcher and has been pitching that way throughout his minor league career (when he had a mid to low 90's fastball). He's never been known for his command and, frankly, that's been one of the biggest knocks on him over the years. Too many walks, too many men on base. It's an odds thing. You keep spinning the cylinder and pulling the trigger, eventually that bullet is going to chamber. Chris only allowed 7 base runners in 6 innings last night by my count. He had his command. But I don't think it will last. A tiger's not going to change his stripes but on some nights he might wear a jacket.

So, when Chris steps to the mound for his next start and he doesn't have the best command and he's throwing 89 MPH straight as an arrow fastballs over the middle of the plate, what do you think is going to happen?

Premonothing

Photo: John Smierciak / AP

Jesus, O's. You didn't have to prove me right that quickly. 11 hits, 5 walks and only 2 runs. 16 total base runners and only two came across home. In the ninth. On a home run. By D Lee (maybe he reads here). 16 total base runners is normally a good night. 16 total base runners will win you most games. If you can hit situationally 16 base runners is plenty. We should have gotten at least 5 or 6 runs out of that. I'm not even going to get into Buehrle's numbers with men on base and in scoring position. Let's just say they were pathetic and we helped him out plenty last night. Needless to say, we should have won either via the big hit or smart hitting. Unfortunately we didn't. And Josh Rupe...ugh. Don't let the door hit you in the vagina on your way out (wishful thinking).

Spring Sweeps

With the birds on the verge of an elusive four game road series sweep (knock on wood), I find myself having to give them props (Do people still use that word? Just white people? Great.).  This weekends games featured good starting and relief pitching and, most surprisingly, the return of timely hitting. So many hits with two outs and men on late in the game it almost warmed my cold, shriveled little heart.

The O's have always been a team that played for the big inning and lately (read: the last 13 years) we just haven't been able to get it on a consistent basis. Personally, I've always found their reliance on the big inning to be a bit disturbing based on their inability to manufacture a run or two when times got tough. There are going to be games when you've got to play a little small ball and I'm not sure they're there yet. The guys aren't hitting situationally on a consistent basis but at least they're hitting. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a double to the left centerfield gap with a man on first and second anytime I can get it. Combined with their renewed emphasis on stolen bases  (or more appropriately any emphasis) and working the base path, I think things are turning around. Hopefully they can keep it going.

Speaking of base running, I've got to mention how much better the base running has been this year. I can remember times in the not-so-distant past where it looked like little-leaguer's running around out there. I swear they had no idea what they were doing. But this year I can't think of a blatant base-running error. Andino has been especially impressive (much like the rest of his game lately).

So, let me conclude with this: I'm actually excited to watch tonight's game. Sure, it's against a slumping team, but they've got players on the White Sox. It wouldn't surprise me if they went on a run sometime soon and started to turn things around. I don't think anyone believes the other Sox are going to finish the season 56-106. They'll start hitting and pitching sooner rather than later. So let's just hope they don't start tonight and we can hold them down for one more game.

P.S. After going off the gushing deep end, I do have one thing to say: Derek, if you could get a couple hits with runners in scoring position, that would be great. I gave you a pass for April as it was basically your spring training. But it's May now and it's time to get going. Full disclosure: My fantasy team would appreciate it.