The Orioles were once again irrelevant in the AL East last year, but once they hired Buck Showalter and started playing “Bucky Ball” in the later part of 2010 they adopted their role of the spoiler and gave a lot of better teams fits. In 2011 the Orioles have an exciting young roster that will be slugging the ball in the hitter friendly Camden Yards, but until they actually prove they belong with the big boys in the AL East they’re still on the countdown in February.
No. 24 Baltimore Orioles
Projected Rotation
- Jeremy Guthrie-RHP
- Brian Matusz-LHP
- Justin Duchscherer-RHP
- Brad Bergesen-RHP
- Jake Arrieta-RHP
Projected Bullpen
- Koji Uehara-RHP
- Kevin Gregg-RHP
- Jim Johnson-RHP
- Jeremy Accardo-RHP
- Jason Berken-RHP
- Mike Gonzalez-LHP
- Mark Hendrickson-LHP
Projected Lineup
- 2B Brian Roberts
- RF Nick Markakis
- 1B Derrek Lee
- DH Vladimir Guerrero
- LF Luke Scott
- 3B Mark Reynolds
- CF Adam Jones
- C Matt Wieters
- SS J.J. Hardy
Analysis
The O’s have plenty of offense and it doesn’t just look good on paper. Bringing in Vlad The Impaler will fill the cleanup role and he’ll be the feared bat in the middle of the lineup. The 36-year-old hit 29 homers with a batting average of .300 for the AL Champion Rangers in 2010 and will put up even better numbers playing all his home games in Camden Yards.
The top of the order is solid as well with Roberts and Markakis in the 1-2 spots, and if Derrek Lee can overcome his disastrous 2010 this could be one of the better lineups in the division. Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous but that’s how much potential they do have. Time will tell if they fulfill that potential but the optimism in Baltimore is certainly justified at this point.
After the top four in the order the Orioles still have plenty to be optimistic about. LF Luke Scott hit 27 home runs and .284 last season and the addition of Mark Reynolds adds another 32 home runs to the lineup.
The O’s also brought in 2007 all-star J.J. Hardy, but Hardy hasn’t been able to put a healthy season together since then and he struggled with Minnesota in 2010. Hardy won’t return to his all-star form but he has the ability to be a solid number nine hitter this season.
The real potential lies with center fielder Adam “Don’t Call Me Pacman” Jones. Jones is one of Baltimore’s youngest players and hit .284 with 19 homers in 2010. The O’s acquired him in the Erik Bedard deal with Seattle three years ago and he’s improved each year since then. Look for Jones to have a breakout year in 2011 and if he does it could mean big things for the usual cellar dwellers of the AL East.
The real concern for the O’s is pitching, which is filled with youth and question marks. To help fill the void they brought in Justin Duchscherer for his experience, but he’s struggled mightily the last two seasons due to injuries and isn’t a very reliable arm at this point.
Jeremy Guthrie will be the ace of the staff and if it weren’t for poor run support last season he would’ve posted a much better record than 11-14. Guthrie’s ERA was 3.83 and he struck out 119 batters, with the more powerful O’s lineup Guthrie should get the run support needed to have his best season in the pros.
In the bullpen the O’s still aren’t sure who the closer will be. The best bet is Uehara who had a nice finish in the 2010 season. Showalter likes him a lot and if he pitches well in spring training the job will be his. In case Uehara doesn’t work the O’s signed Kevin Gregg to a big contract so he will take over if Uehara doesn’t pan out. Other than that the rest of the pen won’t be determined until the end of camp so we’ll know more by opening day.
So to sum up the season the O’s should have a year that gives the Oriole faithful reason to believe in a bright future. However, the pitching staff won’t be able to put it all together to make it happen this year and a last place finish in baseball’s best division appears imminent.
They’ll be fun to watch and hard to keep off the scoreboard, but I don’t see them outplaying any of the league’s best teams with the game on the line. Not this year anyway and that’s what solidifies them as the 24th best team in baseball.
Leave a Reply