It’s no surprise that Lou Montanez and Brad Bergesen were recalled from Triple-A after Ryan Freel headed to the disabled list after being in the head and Radhames Liz was sent after back-to-back performances in the big leagues.
Lou Montanez — who probably should have been rightfully brought up to the majors to begin with — should be perhaps be the 4th outfielder, or come off and serve as a pinch hitter. The boy can hit, and did his job well in Spring Training; therefore, let’s hope he stays up in Baltimore in the long term.
Meanwhile, Bergesen will start against the White Sox tonight. A lot of fans have been clamoring about him, and he does one good thing well — throw strikes and pitch to contact; however, his problem is that he doesn’t throw hard. The fact he doesn’t hard throw should not hinder him at all, but if he’s not on — the scoreboard could get ugly.
That being said, the Orioles have escaped Boston where they got swept in a four game series and return home to face the Chicago White Sox for three games. The White Sox are tough customers, much like the Red Sox, and while their pitching may not be as good as Boston’s, they have a realtively strong offense — albeit, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, and Jim Thome are aging — they have some nice complimentary young pieces that should only get better.
Meanwhile, Baltimore needs to lick their wonds and get back on track. The offense struggled to score in the final three games, but even more shocking, there are quite a few members of the team batting under .200 to start the season. That will need to improve as well as the bullpen which has been shaky more than it has been consistent.
Prediciton: I say the White Sox take 2 out of 3.
Matchups:
Tuesday: Jose Contreras, RHP (0-2, 6.97) vs. Brad Bergesen, no record
Wednesday: John Danks, LHP (1-0, 0.75) vs. Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (2-0, 4.32)
Thursday: Bartolo Colon, RHP (1-0, 3.86) vs. Adam Eaton, RHP (0-2, 11.25)
