As pretty much everyone in the media and among the fan base predicted, Corey Patterson is back to Baltimore; meanwhile, Nolan Reimold has been optioned to the minors. At 9-23, the Orioles had to do something to wake up an anemic offense and also put the batters on notice.
The message: hit or your job might be in jeopardy.
I think Nolan’s fate was sealed yesterday as he was just plain terrible out in the field and his struggles at the plate – a .205 average with only two homers and 10 RBI’s sealed his fate. I figured Lou Montanez might have been a candidate to be sent down; however, Reimold is a part of the Orioles future at the major level, so he must play every day.
He’ll get an opportunity to do it in Norfolk.
As for Patterson, he’s not done much since he left the Orioles. In fact he’s been terrible…
From Roch’s Blog: Patterson’s production took a major dip after he left the Orioles. He batted .205 with 17 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 34 RBIs, 14 stolen bases (in 23 attempts) and a .582 OPS in 135 games with the Reds in 2008. He appeared in only 16 games between the Nationals and Brewers last year, going 3-for-29 with 13 strikeouts.
The Orioles signed Patterson to a minor league contract on April 21 after he failed to make the Mariners’ roster out of spring training. He batted .368 with five doubles, a triple, two RBIs and a .911 OPS in 14 games with Triple-A Norfolk.
He’s an insurance policy for now and is on the roster to provide a spark – that’s it.
Patterson is a good athlete, a solid defender and has incredible speed; however, his lack of plate discipline is troubling. Now, I can’t imagine he’d suddenly revert to becoming Ichiro Suzuki at 31, but if he can get on base at an average clip, flash some power, bunt and steal some bases, it can only help the Orioles.
I don’t know if promoting Corey Patterson is necessarily the change I really care for or want; however, something had to be done. What the Orioles have been doing for the past six weeks hasn’t been working and it’s too bad that Nolan had to be sent down.
Then again, let’s hope Nolan finds his way in Norfolk and gets back to Baltimore soon enough.
